Rental real estate platform Zumper has released an in-app messaging experience that will allow renters to communicate directly with Zumper’s leasing partners, the company announced on Tuesday.
The new messaging feature will also allow renters to store all of their conversations in one place, as well as share any application materials or rental documents with landlords. Sharing sensitive information via Zumper’s secure platform will help prevent renters from becoming vulnerable to having any of their private information accessed by bad actors through less secure platforms, like general email.
Zumper’s press release also noted that, based on the platform’s own studies, the new messaging experience stands to increase landlord response rate by 30 percent, reducing the risk that correspondence between potential renters and property managers or landlords falls through the cracks.
Shalin Amin | Credit: Zumper
“A lack of response is the single biggest and most consistent concern that we hear from renters,” Shalin Amin, Zumper’s chief experience officer, said in a statement. “Truthfully, the rental market is plagued with communication problems. Unanswered emails, lost applications, and ghosting, has created an endless cycle of disappointment for both renters and leasing partners alike. And yet no one in the industry has created a solution that adequately addresses these issues.”
The messaging system that’s integrated with the rental platform will be an industry first, Zumper noted, and will be available on all Zumper web and mobile platforms. The new system will also have alerts to remind renters when they need to submit important information or documents for rental applications.
“At Zumper we’re on a mission to remove the friction from the rental experience,” Amin added. “Our messaging feature was built from the ground up with the sole purpose of building a responsive rental marketplace that finally solves the communication challenge, from the initial point of contact, through submitting an application.”