Rent the Backyard shows there's room for real estate innovation

by Startacus Admin

Rent the Backyard will build a studio apartment in your backyard, splitting the rental profits with you 50/50. Intrigued? 

Have you ever wanted to live in a small studio apartment in someone’s backyard in the San Francisco greater Bay Area? Yes, it’s a specific question and yes, most of our audience is in the UK and Ireland, but there's a wider point to this article...

Owning a home in California is expensive, and in cities, there is little room or support for construction, yet there is a shortage of housing. To keep up with housing demand, some estimates put the amount of houses that need to be built in the Bay Area at 500,000 in the next 15 years! So perhaps smaller dwellings that can be rented is the way to go for a lot of people, and for those looking to make some extra money from renting out a home without any expenditure of their own.

San Francisco-based startup Rent the Backyard certainly thinks that is the way to go. Working out of the Y Combinator accelerator, Rent the Backyard will put up a prefabricated studio apartment in your backyard - built by their neighbours, Node - take care of all of the permits and things like plumbing and electricity, list it online, and maintain it, and you can rent it out to whomever you want.

The startup takes a cut of half the rent, meaning if you want to rent the apartment to friends or family, you can offer them up to a 50% discount. All you need to qualify is to live in the Bay Area (the trickiest requirement), have at least 30 square feet of backyard space, and live at home most of the year. Every year, you will gain equity on the apartment until, after 30 years, you will own it outright without ever having paid a penny for it.

The apartment is a little over 22 feet long and a little under 18 feet wide, so it’s not exactly a family home, but for those just moving out of their parents’ house or trying to get a foot in San Francisco’s door, this could be a perfect opportunity.

For those who own the backyard, a decent income could be made. Obviously, having a home in San Francisco is something that, we think it’s fair to say, most people can’t claim, but as the startup proves itself and these studio apartments show to be popular and effective, we reckon it has the potential to take hold elsewhere...

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• #node
• #rent the backyard
• #real estate
• #property
• #san francisco
• #proptech

Published on: 21st August 2019