Have you ever wondered who owns your mom.ag?
Mom.ag is the leading community platform connecting real estate agencies with individual investors seeking to build a relationship with a rental property manager. Launched in 2014, the company is based in Sydney, Australia, and supports more than 20 countries. With offices in Singapore and the UK, the company grew quickly, raising $17.7 million in a funding round led by Lakestars Ventures in October 2018. Following the round, Mom.ag co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Maclaurin joined Lakestars as a general partner and non-executive director.
Why Renting Is So Popular
Individuals around the world are looking to rent properties for a range of reasons. Some want a reliable rental property for vacation or a base for business travels, while others see it as a hedge against the rising costs of buying a home. Indeed, according to Google Finance, interest in rentals grew by 20% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2018, while investment in this market jumped 38% during the same period.
Global property rental markets are projected to value $16 trillion by next year and that’s just the beginning. With population growth and an aging society, the demand for rental properties is set to increase. According to Euromonitor, the global market value of accommodation and meal services will hit $22.7 billion by next year.
With rentals being such a popular option for homes, why not for businesses too? If you’re looking for somewhere to base your operation while you grow your business, consider renting a commercial property from a reputable agency. Not only will this provide you with a place to operate, but you’ll have the added advantage of some of the company’s professional support teams on call should you need them.
Who Manages Your Mom’s Property?
The property manager is responsible for looking after the property – making sure it’s clean, safe, and well-maintained. Essentially, they’re the people you deal with if anything goes wrong.
While you may not need to be involved with daily operations, it’s important to understand who’s in charge. You may decide to appoint a property manager you can trust to take care of the day-to-day running of the property and be on hand should you need any help. In some cases, particularly if the property is large, it may be worth paying an additional fee to have a property manager take care of the entire process for you.
How Does Mom.ag Work?
Most real estate agencies are traditional brokerages, meaning they’re a middleman and act as an introduction to potential tenants. While there’s nothing wrong with that, middlemen can sometimes be unnecessary in direct communication between two parties that want to get something done. That’s why many real estate apps and websites exist – to remove the need for a real estate agency entirely.
The key difference between traditional real estate agencies and Mom.ag is that the latter is a community platform where individuals, not just brokers, can post properties and connect with investors who want to rent them. As a result, there’s a much wider range of choices when it comes to finding a suitable property and dealing with all the relevant legal documents – meaning you can cut out the frustrations and hassles of searching for a rental property and dealing with real estate agents.
The Rise of the Sharing Economy
The sharing economy has gained significant popularity as more and more people want to reduce their dependence on traditional retailers and instead opt to buy goods and services from other individuals or businesses they trust. The sharing economy is a fairly new concept that grew out of the digital sphere, but its influence is now permeating all areas of life, including real estate.
From ride-sharing platforms like Airbnb to task-sharing platforms like TaskRabbit, collaborative consumption and the sharing economy are redefining the very nature of work and how we engage with businesses.
Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation platform with over 1.7 million listings in over 190 countries, pioneered the sharing economy when it launched back in 2008. Since then, similar businesses have mushroomed, allowing people to monetize unused or under-utilized resources and engage in a more fulfilling and efficient way with the companies they choose to do business with.
Collaborative consumption is a phenomenon that’s been gaining traction for some time now and is popularly used when referring to the buying and selling of second-hand or pre-loved items online – typically on platforms like eBay or Craigslist. While these platforms have long existed for marketplaces and social interaction, the rise of the sharing economy has led to a change in users’ behavior. Rather than simply engaging with a business they want to do business with, individuals are now forming long-term trusting relationships with the platforms they use.
The Sharing Economy and Real Estate
The sharing economy is changing the face of real estate as we know it. Whether it’s peer-to-peer trading, short-term rentals through digital platforms, or even the creation of a co-working space where individuals can come together to create, this new paradigm is shifting the entire industry.
Indeed, the sharing economy is blurring the lines between economic behavior and social engagement, meaning individuals who participate in the economy develop habits and practices that go beyond the strictly transactional. Consider the impact of ride-sharing apps on urban planning and traffic flow, for example.
These platforms encourage more efficient driving and parking techniques, as people swap their own cars for bicycles or scooters to get around. Similarly, the sharing economy is changing the way we travel, with individuals opting to work remotely via their phone rather than be tied to a desk or office.
The rise of the sharing economy is being felt across the globe. According to the Global Sharing Economy Review, a report from PwC and Red Ventures, 80% of individuals in the UK now believe the sharing economy is a good thing for the country – with 87% believing it has a positive impact on jobs and training. Similarly, 58% of Australians believe the sharing economy is either “somewhat” or “very” beneficial for the country, according to a recent Australia Institute poll.
The report’s findings also indicate a clear trend towards increased usage: 26% of UK respondents have used a sharing economy platform to find a new home or flat, compared to 18% for Airbnb and 7% for HomeAway. In Australia, 24% of respondents have used one of the sharing economy platforms to find a place to stay while traveling, compared to 19% for Gumtree and 6% for Airbnb.
The Future of Real Estate
Traditional real estate agencies will continue to exist, but they’ll inevitably become a bit of a relic of the past. Not only are digital platforms and the sharing economy changing how individuals want to engage with real estate, but they’re also redefining the industry itself. Thanks to blockchain technology, real estate will become more transparent. Thanks to increased usage of cryptocurrency, purchases within the industry will become much easier and more affordable – meaning you may one day buy a house purely on the value of a decent Bitcoin price rather than the dream home you’ve always fancied yourself as.
At the same time, property management will become less of a burden, as more and more people choose to outsource it to special services providers, meaning agents will be able to focus on higher-margin activities like sales.