Name: Stoop  

Legal: Stoop LLC

Location: New York, NY

Founded: 2017

Founder(s): Zach Ehrlich

Website: mystoop.com

Social Media Following: Instagram: 14.8k followers

INDUSTRY – Sharing Economy

Size: $15B (2014) (Source: “The Sharing Economy Is Still Growing, And Businesses Should Take Note”)

Projections: $335B by 2025

Introduction

Stoop is a platform for furnished home rentals in New York City, helping customers lease and sign homes with the same ease and convenience of booking an Airbnb. Starting at $1,000 a month or more, Stoop connects individuals with live-ready homes, helping them bypass tedious and complicated paperwork as well as a host of utility bills. Instead, Stoop customers pay a flat fee which covers not only Wifi and utilities such as heat, hot water, gas, and electricity but also maintenance and a bi-weekly cleaning process. The site includes an easy search engine which divides New York by neighborhoods and customers by budget, giving you the ability to lease a home for a minimum of one month within minutes. Rooms always come pre-decorated, with high-speed Wifi connections.

Features

Stoop offers a modest network of rooms – around forty as of 2018 – starting at $1,000 a month. The average bedroom costs around $1,683, while the average full apartment costs $3,575. Customers choose their budget range as well as their desired neighborhood, and are able to take virtual tours of the space in order to get a sense of the room. The minimum rental period is 30 days, with a required one-time $50 background check for each renter.  Stoop does not, however, check customer credit, relying exclusively on a background check to determine candidate reliability. The customer cannot, however, learn about their potential roommate, though they may or may not be able to meet them on the arranged tour. All bookings have a flat security deposit of $1,000 and are required to be pet-free. Stoop does not charge a broker/finder fee to customers. The lease is quite flexible, meaning the customer can easily extend their stay. A bi-weekly cleaning is covered by the monthly fee. Once the time is up, renters are expected to leave the building at 11AM sharp, after which the company will inspect the house to make sure there is no damage to the apartment or its furniture. If no damage is reported, Stoop will return the $1,000 within 7-10 business days.

Origins

Zach Ehrlich is the founder and CEO of Stoop, which he founded in 2017. Ehrlich gained his experience in real estate during his six years at Mdrn., a company where he works to this day. Mdrn. is a real estate investment firm and marketing company, specializing in condominium renovation in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Gaia Sabogal works as Director of Operations, having previously worked as a project manager at Mdrn. alongside Ehrlich. Stoop works in a kind of partnership with Mdrn., with Mdrn. using Stoop to mitigate unnecessary vacancies in their properties and expedite the rental process through the web-based platform.