Online letting agency pays tenants to conduct property viewings

Mashroom.com says it will pay tenants a week's rent if they successfully help market their soon-to-be former home to new renters.

virtual tours viewings

An online lettings platform has launched an unusual incentive scheme to persuade tenants to help market the properties by conducting viewings or making virtual tours.

Launched by Mashroom.com, which a year ago bought Emoov from its administrators, the generous incentive offers to pay tenants back a week’s rent if they organise a successful viewing and a new tenant subsequently moves in.

Mashroom says that if physical meetings are impractical, tenants can either record a video to email or take people on a virtual tour using a phone or tablet with live commentary and Q&A.

Rent quicker

According to the company, this means that properties will hopefully rent more quickly so landlords avoid void periods and should work out cheaper than paying upwards of £300 for a lettings agent to do the work, it estimates.

“Outgoing tenants aren’t usually thinking about new tenants coming in, so properties often look messy when it comes to property photos and viewings,” says founder Stepan Dobrovolskiy (left).

“By using our free tenant team-up we incentivise outgoing tenants to present a clean and tidy property. They’re also the best people to speak to, to get an honest opinion about the property, which new tenants appreciate.”

It’s still early days for the UK-wide platform, which has big plans to grow the concept, but it’s encouraged by the positive feedback so far.

Dobrovolskiy claims that while tenants showcase a property and build a relationship with incoming tenants, tenants also leaving the house in a much better state.


2 Comments

  1. How can the actions and promises of a student/tenant be monitored?

    Professional diligence and the general prohibition against unfair commercial practices
    3.27 The CPRs place a general prohibition on unfair commercial practices (regulation 3). These include practices where a business fails to act in a professionally diligent way (meaning fails to act in accordance with honest market practice or in good faith) in its dealings with consumers. To be unfair, the practices concerned must materially distort or be likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer. This means that it would impair the ability of the average consumer to take an informed decision, causing them, or leaving them likely, to take a transactional decision they would not otherwise have taken.

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