Deborah Johnson Wood
Job losses and a struggling housing market are just a couple of the reasons a growing number of families are opting to lease a home or condo rather than buy one, says Kurt Seyferth, owner of
The Home Rental Company LLC, a free home rental locater service in West Michigan.
Another reason is that people moving into an unfamiliar area often like to "try on" a neighborhood or city before buying.
Seyferth and his wife, Lyndsay, launched the business last fall from their
Fulton Heights Neighborhood home with a focus on helping families find rental houses and condos that suit their needs. Kurt Seyferth, 33, is a licensed real estate broker with five years' experience in the mortgage industry.
"Renters fill out the form on the web site telling us what size house they need and the school district," Seyferth says. "We try to get back to them in 24 hours to get clarification on some things, such as if they are not realistic about the rents in the school districts they want." In a case like that, Seyferth may ask if they would choose a different school district or pay a higher rent.
Seyferth matches the renters with rental homes and condos in his database. If he doesn't have any that fit the criteria, he finds rentals on the Internet or by driving the desired neighborhood to find what they need. The service is free to renters; homeowners and landlords compensate Seyferth.
The company offers two contract options: exclusive, where Home Rental does all the advertising, handles the inquiries, showings and vets the credit applications; or non-exclusive, where the homeowner/landlord handles advertising and inquiries.
Source: Kurt Seyferth, The Home Rental Company LLC
www.thehomerentalcompanyllc.com
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Have a development news tip for Rapid Growth? Contact us at [email protected].
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