On March 21st 2018, Replay Listings launched for download in the App Store, fundamentally changing the traditional landscape of the rental brokerage industry. Replay Listings is a mobile based, peer to peer, video-streaming platform that allows agencies to post real-time video listings of all types of rental apartments in Manhattan. Foundationally, due to the fragmented nature of the Rental Brokerage community made up of brokers/agents, homeowners/renters, property managers, developers and brand advertisers, tech disruption is inevitable. Replay Listings is disrupting the Real Estate market by empowering Brokers and apartment seekers to live stream rental listings as they truly exist, as easily as scrolling through social media. Historically, agencies hire Brokers as independent contractors to license their respective brand, empowering Brokers’ clients with best in-class data to make the most informed decisions in renting and leasing apartments. Due to the nature of being an independent contractor, Brokers are left to manage their marketing budgets indepently, often incurring exorbitant annual carrying cost to run their business, directly eating into their bottom line.

Replay Listings aims to create greater transparency in the rental market and alleviate market frictions to create a more seamless process for renters and save money and time for Brokers. Forbes claims, “In 2018, the firms that will succeed are the ones with sustainable, tech-driven models that serve agents and consumers better.”

Replay Listings has the potential to be that exact sustainable, tech-driven platform for the entire Rental Brokerage community. Currently, StreetEasy, a NYC e-listing service, a subsidiary of Zillow Inc., is the go to platform for brokers/agents, homeowners/renters, property managers, developers and brand advertisers. But, there are some problems with it - video streaming is not easy to use and the platform can be very costly.

Furthermore, as StreetEasy reaches a greater market saturation, it faces the challenge of providing timely and accurate listings. Lori, a registered renter and user of the App, provided feedback during our initial market research. She stated, “I love Replay Listings and their time-stamped videos, I started out looking for apartments on StreetEasy, but the pictures were very deceiving. I will recommend this App to my friends and family.”  Furthermore, StreetEasy imposed a new fee of $3 per day per listing, adding high carrying cost to the Brokers and their agencies. Replay Listings is the solution to this market friction, cutting out marketing fees as well as the sunken cost of acquiring photos and listing them as well. Replay Listings will always give Brokers the power of unlimited listings and it has a sleek, easy-to-use interface, providing Unedited, 60 second videos.

Also, Replay Listings provides an instant relationship with representatives, advertising on-the-go and is as easy as scrolling through social media. In just a couple of months, Replay Listings has already helped over 7,000 renters find their new home. With  over 300 active, licensed and verified Brokers using the App. Gathering over 3,600 unique video-listings created from within the app

At this rate,  the company will gather at least 50% of the rental market share in Manhattan listings by the end of 2019 without any syndication offering genuine content that can be found nowhere else.

Real Estate Agents, winners of the "Replay Listings June Challenge", each winner of $500 and a bag of Replay Listings goodies!

On top of tech advances in the listing of rental apartments, the entire ecosystem of the Real Estate industry is changing. Traditionally, a sophisticated Brokerage firm that harnessed the power of Google Analytics was at the top of its game, but due to the surge in venture funding that has poured into the Real Estate Tech sector, technological advances are the new norm. The technology surge has stirred fears of alternative brokerages as well as technology replacing agents flat out. Technology even has the power to spur deeper connections and potential partnerships in the existing eco-system by allowing direct engagement and connection with peer to peer platforms. While the internet allows you to cast a wide net its also provides the opportunity for targeted marketing approach. Other peer to peer platforms like Nextdoor, create a sense of hyperlocalism, which Brokers can leverage to target deeper connections with the target population. In addition, top producing firms like Douglas Elliman are getting in on the action - The Real Deal reports that “The brokerage launched “Douglas,” an internal platform that will give agents access to corporate resources like marketing tools as well as an app store. So far, the platform has more than a dozen partnerships with third-party apps and is exploring additional ones.” This highlights the power of platform to platform connection. As Replay Listings grows it will leverage this capability. Ultimately, Brokers shouldn’t fear the technology revolution, rather they should learn to leverage the power of technology to empower agents!

Replay Listings fundamentally has the power to reshape the traditional rental brokerage, empowering change across the entire market. It’s infrastructure allows it to scale quickly and launch in different cities, countries and even other Real Estate sectors. As a self funded startup, it will become the potential hub for venture capital funding for the Real Estate industry and the industry standard. In addition, Replay Listings has the power to harness other technologies like virtual and augmented reality as it grows and develops internal and external partnerships. Technology is here to stay and Replay Listings wants to empower you and your team to spend time on what matters, your business. Download the app today!