Rentbetter raises $3.6M Series B as a third of Australian rentals skip agents
What's the deal? Australian property platform RentbetterDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised US$3.24M in a Series B round led by venture capital firm EVP. The platform lets landlords find tenants, manage expenses, and organise repairs online — without a real estate agent.
Why now? About a third of Australia's 2.2 million residential rentals are now leased without an agent, according to Rentbetter, and the company says the trend is accelerating as the market tightens after the federal budget.
The pressure is financial. Real estate site LocalAgentFinder says agents typically charge 5% to 9% of rent to manage a property, and Rentbetter says cutting them out saves landlords an average of US$1.55K to US$3.24K a year per property.
What's the endgame? Founder and chief executive Jeremy Goldschmidt started the company in 2018 after deciding the agent managing his own investment property was not worth the cost. He argues owners have more incentive to care for their assets than agents do, and that rentals are "an unloved part of the industry" for agents, who often value rental books mainly as sales leads.
What could go wrong? Savings may not reach tenants. Tim McKibbin, chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of NSW, said there is no evidence owners pass on the savings, and questioned why a landlord would share commission gains with renters.
Rental costs keep climbing regardless. DomainDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → data recorded Sydney rents almost 8% higher year on year in the June quarter, partly as landlords raised rents to offset weaker capital gains after May's tax changes drove sale prices down 5.3% in Sydney and 5.1% in Melbourne.
Leo Patterson Ross of the Tenants' Union of NSW said new rents are generally set by what renters can pay, not by an owner's costs. He would "believe it when they see it" on savings being passed through.
The signal: Rentbetter's raise reflects a structural shift in how Australians manage rental property, with landlords increasingly bypassing intermediaries to protect margins in a tighter market. Whether that reshapes costs for tenants — or just fattens landlord returns — remains the open question.
Read more: au.headtopics.com
Image credit: Mr.TinDC
