Web Site Helps Managers, Owners Find Short-Term Renters

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Roomorama.com, new peer-to-peer online platform for short-term room and apartment rentals, recently launched its improved web site.The service is available in Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Vancouver, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, New York and Toronto. The free web-based program allows hosts to post and manage listings to the user community.“We want to provide a transparent place for guests looking for accommodation and a way for hosts to manage their rental activity for short-term rentals,” Federico Folcia, co-founder of the site, tells MHN. He also says there has been considerable amount of interest from property owners and managers, which he believes could be attributed to high vacancy rates in the current market.Folcia who is from Italy and co-founder Jian-en-teo who is from Singapore, faced difficulty in finding a short-term accommodation as they traveled to many of the cities where this service is now provided. “We were frustrated with the whole process and found that there really wasn’t a good database, or even enough brokers who specialized in this area.”Each Roomorama.com host has their own personal web URL to allow guests to see all of their properties on one page. The web site’s “ShoutOuts” feature lets guests broadcast their short-term rental needs, allowing hosts to find suitable guests to fill vacancies.Roomorama.com hosts build their reputation/credibility by hosting stays and getting feedback from guests (much like ebay), adding to their Reputation Score. The site had no advertisements and the service is free to the host. “But we mark up the rents and the commission, paid by the renter, is our revenue,” says Folcia.The company is also working on a pricing guide with average prices of rentals. There are 3,000 users listed on the site right now and about 590 properties.