Inman

Kleard launches self-touring tech for rentals

Photo by Michael Browning on Unsplash

Kleard is a personal identification software app that ensures prospective buyers are who they say they are before being granted access to a home for sale or meeting an agent for the first time. It’s also used for open houses.

When partnered with a smart lock, the Kleard Now version of the technology allows people to tour homes without an agent present. After verification, the individual is given the lock code. The company does not, in any way, cut out agents.

In December, Kleard will be launching a new app, Kleard Rentals, for the rental market.

According to an email to Inman from company founder, Jonathan Martis, the new software “is the app landlords and property managers will use to manage their properties for self tours. The difference will be the questions landlords and property managers care about.”

The app, available for both major mobile platforms, will ask renters about expected number of residents and pets, and expected move-in dates.

Kleard Rentals should provide landlords of both suburban multifamily mid-rise communities and single-family residential a COVID-safe way to conduct tours. Those with online leasing processes could theoretically facilitate digital transactions from beginning to end.

The new app will push Kleard into a crowded market with some well-funded competition, including Zumper, Rently and Tour24.

As with each Kleard identification process, Kleard Rentals will execute a five-step verification workflow. After scanning a picture ID (Step 1) with a mobile phone, a text code is sent to link user and device (Step 2), followed by an email to confirm app setup (Step 3) and a selfie to confirm an actual person is behind the device (Step 4). Finally, the app keeps track of the phones’s GPS to ensure location after the showing’s end (Step 5).

Kleard’s preferred smart lock partner is Igloohome.

Agents who conduct open houses (where possible) using Kleard can choose to stay in front of visitors online through a partnership with Adwerx. The advertising company’s Sphere uses email addresses to target prospects with branding and listing ads as they browse popular websites.

The company also provides yard sign riders and open house signage for agents to advertise the opportunity to self-tour.

Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe

Craig C. Rowe started in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com boom, helping an array of commercial real estate companies fortify their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agents with technology decisions and marketing through reviewing software and tech for Inman.