RentSpree milestone speaks to rise of long-term rental market

“People will be renting for close to 20 years now before they purchase a home,” he said of the delay in finding one’s own place exerted by current market conditions. “There’s a variety of factors that contribute to having that age median so late. For that reason, you’re seeing people who are older and older having to rent.”

At 30 years of age, Lucarelli told MPA how he’s able to relate to those of that generation faced with challenges toward ownership. He recalled first moving to Los Angeles looking for a place while watching his landlord working with little more than a fax machine – archaic transactions that helped inspire him to launch RentSpree, he said.

Since the Los Angeles-based company’s launch in 2016, RentSpree has experienced user growth surpassing 50% in the last year while helping 600,000 renters in their search to find their ideal home, company officials said. By partnering with three of the top five multiple listing services (MLS), RentSpree has been able to help transform the rental experience for all parties involved, according to company literature.

Company valuation rose from $620,000 in a pre-seed round in 2017 to $53 million in a 2021 Series A round – and the platform is poised for further growth with plans to provide bolstered technology for the rental industry. Platform revenue has exploded, growing more than 6,000% in just five years. Even amid the pandemic, company officials said the employee size grew more than 1,000% over the last three years.