How Residential Real Estate Owners and Renters Alike Benefit From Rental Innovations

Proptech is changing the game in many aspects of commercial real estate, but one area where it has lagged is in easing the rent collection process for residential real estate owners and property managers. The rental financial services platform Qira has recently emerged after the merger of two companies, Rentigo and HelloRented. Qira provides an end-to-end solution to reduce the friction at all financial touchpoints throughout the lease life cycle, easing the process for both renters and property managers. Partner Insights spoke with Qira CFO and COO Revital Gadish about the advantages the company provides to both constituencies.  

Commercial Observer: What exactly is Qira, and what service does the company provide?

Revital Gadish: Qira is the first end-to-end financial services platform for residential real estate owners, property managers and renters. Qira partners with properties to completely remove the hassle of security deposit and rent collection; claims processing; and issuing end-of-lease refunds. Owners and managers benefit from smoother leasing operations, guaranteed rent payments on their schedule, up to two times coverage on security deposits, claims processed in 48 hours and same-day electronic settlements. In addition, they benefit from the ability to leverage the financial data of their community to guide better decision-making in real time. Renters benefit from Qira’s non-insurance security deposit alternative, a range of payment options and flexible rent payments with payment deferrals at the click of a button.

What are some of Qira’s main functions?

We focus mostly on lease cycle frictions between real estate owners and renters. To start with, we support the onboarding stage, providing renter underwriting that is more sophisticated than a simple credit score. We drill into the renter’s affordability components, evaluating their financial strength and ultimately providing information on whether they can afford the rent. We do that in connection with our security deposit product, which helps renters enter an apartment without paying a security deposit up front while we still provide double the coverage to property managers.

Then, throughout the lease Qira completely removes the burden of rent collection and processing from the property and guarantees on-time payment. We also provide a unique form of flexible deferred online rent payments for the resident. The renter can use Qira to defer their rent, or part of their rent, for up to 14 days. By allowing the renter to defer payment through Qira, we’re able to ensure the landlord that 100% of the rent roll is paid on time, every month. We are also involved in all the touch points between the property owner/property manager and the renter anytime they need to exchange funds or assess each other throughout the entire life of the lease. 

Talk about how Qira is changing the nature of the security deposit, and how this benefits both renters and property managers.

Real estate owners or property managers calculate security deposits to determine, how much they can charge in order to be protected. What is my risk? Qira does that calculation for them, then provides the needed coverage. On the renter side, we help them afford an apartment without having to think about making the upfront cost. Many renters can afford an apartment — the monthly rent — before accounting for additional move-in costs. We give them the ability to step into an apartment and not have to think about whether they can afford it beyond just the rent.

Is Qira a form of insurance?

Although Qira provides coverage like insurance, we manage the product in a different way. We deposit funds into a dedicated account on day one, so property owners have access to funds whenever they incur a loss. That’s one differentiator. A second is the claim assessment process that happens under insurance. In our product, there is no claim assessment process, and funds are released very quickly — within 48 hours.

Talk about how Qira speeds up the application process for renters.

Our focus throughout the applicant screening process is not just on the credit score itself. We evaluate many aspects of the renter’s finances, really drilling into their financials to create a unique credit score that we assign to them. Our technology allows us to do this in a matter of seconds. In addition to approving applicants that meet general acceptance standards, Qira enables properties to approve renters that don’t necessarily have such a great credit score, but do have the ability to afford the rent. As such, we’re also able to evaluate non-traditional renters including students, freelancers or international residents. This allows properties to attract more qualified renters without taking on additional risk. 

Talk about how Qira changes the nature of rent deadlines for renters by allowing multiple payments, and discuss how that also benefits property managers.

We give flexibility to renters in managing their cash flow. In many cases, renters want to split the rent between two payroll cycles, and we enable them to do that. It’s a tool for giving peace of mind to the resident by allowing them to delay the rent without being stressed that they’ll be evicted from their home. For the property manager, they won’t need to deal with costly collection processes if the renter has the flexibility to delay the rent with Qira. Plus, if there is a real problem with the resident and they can’t afford the rent, Qira is the first line of defense. We know about this earlier than the property owners and give a heads-up to the property manager, allowing them to prepare for a potential eviction in the coming months.

How would you sum up the ways that Qira benefits property managers?

We are an end-to-end, one-stop shop that meets all the financial needs a property owner or manager has in managing their building. They don’t need to shop for payment or security deposit solutions through other vendors. Qira’s role is to offer financial services to support the building, for both the owners/managers and the residents. All of our services are free to the property manager, and our pricing for residents is extremely competitive and much lower than traditional lenders. 

And how would you sum up the benefits of Qira for renters?

The main role of Qira in the renter’s life is cash flow flexibility — the ability to enter an apartment they want and split the rent, or pay it later than usual, without having to go for bank loans or take on crazy credit card interest.

How many clients does Qira currently serve, and where do you anticipate that number will be by the end of 2022?

Today we are onboarding about 20,000 units nationally to our platform, and we see a growth of about three to four times that by the end of next year.

Why is Qira especially important now, given the affordability crisis affecting housing throughout the US?

The crisis brought a lot of new regulations into the rental market, which made property managers even more stressed about who they accept as residents. But with that, they still need renters to come to the building. Risk for property managers has increased significantly during this crisis. Qira is there to reduce that risk.

What are some of the things that Qira has planned for 2022?

We constantly evaluate the needs of the market, and we currently see a large need for, and interest in, short-term financing solutions for property owners. This can be for anything ranging from expanding their portfolio of properties to financing repairs or renovations, depending on the size of their operations. Qira is currently working to help property managers with short-term cashflow by developing a product that provides cash advances based on the property’s existing rent roll. In exchange for them bringing their payment processing to us, we’re able to help them leverage their rent roll and provide them with instant short-term working capital. We’re also planning on developing short-term working capital products for residents as well.