On current industry trends within virtually every Western developed country, the percentage of young renters is on the rise. As property prices and the cost of buying a home remains high, a third of the population (some even more than this) choose to rent. The world rental market is expanding across almost every major city.



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Adding to this trend is the growing popularity of short-term vacation rentals for travelers who want to avoid pricey hotel room charges.



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And where do the majority of these renters look to find their property? Online. More than half of them search on apps on their smartphones.



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However, a problem exists where many of the multiple listing service (MLS) websites and apps that are relied upon, end up offering incomplete lists. The listings are riddled with errors, out of date or repeat the same listing more than once.

These issues make the entire search process for a rental more frustrating and time consuming. Who can be bothered going through all of that if a lot of what you’re looking at online is wrong?

Renters deserve to be informed.

That’s where blockchain technology has come to the rescue. Decentralized platforms, such as PlaceToRent, can offer both tenants and landlords a much more efficient rental marketplace ecosystem to engage in the real estate leasing process.

For renters, the search process becomes streamlined as each property listed on the blockchain will be up-to-date. They also won’t have the risk of being listed more than once, which removes another hassle.

This is a key attribute of the ledger system incorporated into the platform’s protocol. All transactions and listings can be independently verified and automatically reconciled. As a result, PlaceToRent can offer renters a solution that makes their property search more enjoyable, reliable, secure and efficient.

A big change in the rental process will be the implementation of self-executing smart contracts. This will replace the need for a leasing manager to provide the checks and balances for both parties’ transactions.

In fact, automated transactions between the tenant and the landlord completely eliminates the need for a real estate agent altogether. This is an added benefit to both parties as the leasing manager’s fees (which can range anywhere from 3–12%) will no longer play a part in any transactions.

For renters worried about the security and reliability of their payments, PlaceToRent’s peer-to-peer distributed network is able to record a public history of all transactions. This is a key feature of blockchain and negates the risk of double spending, fraud, abuse and the manipulation of transactions. Both tenants and landlords make a gain with this benefit.

It’s pretty clear that blockchain will revolutionize the way real estate leasing and property rentals are conducted. All parties will engage in an experience that is fair, less costly and more secure. Platforms like PlaceToRent will eliminate the need for “middlemen” go-between third parties that presently complicate the process and take a share of the money paid.