Restore Rentals is a furnished housing/property management company specializing in short term rentals. The company concentrates on Production/Film Industry, Corporate Housing, Vacation Rentals, Interim Housing and Medical Housing. Priding itself on ensuring that guests have the perfect experience, all of their properties are beautifully furnished and designed to make you feel right at home.
We had a chance to chat with David Delpiano, the startup’s President. Catch our discussion below.
ABOUT RESTORE RENTALS
David Delpiano says, “At Restore Rentals, our mission is to redefine what a rental means and give you a luxury experience at competitive prices.”
The homes are therefore primarily luxurious spaces for customers. While the space design might show a bit of luxury feel, a lot of it shows from the interiors and furniture. He remarks, “We focus to make sure that our furnished rentals are aesthetically pleasing, comfortable, safe and in a great location. A place you can call your “home away from home”. Unlike similar companies, we own or control our rental inventory from A-Z.”
“Restore Rentals is able to do that by either buying real estate in fabulous sought after dentations or by securing long term contracts with major apartment communities. Once we have handpicked a location and unit we then style our units to look like a boutique hotel, not two rentals will be the same,” says the company’s President.
“Most traditional property managers have no say in their inventory as their clients can stop renting the home out which could lead to an unhappy customer who likes to always rent the same unit. Old fashioned corporate housing companies do not take the effort Restore Rentals does to furnish an apartment, they typically order out of the box furniture packages from major retailers.”
This must translate into rentals that require a certain level of clientele as well as affordability. It is not an easy task to make such customized rentals very affordable for a large set of the market base. “Restore Rentals is also able to create a product/services that are very competitive when it comes to price. Our model cuts out the middleman, which allows us to offer our properties at more competitive rates,” David retorts.
ABOUT FILM AND PRODUCTION HOUSING
Every year, as more films come out, producers and their teams are required to travel more around the world as they shoot. Such clients have very specific needs in terms of location, privacy and safety. “Currently in Atlanta we do have a strong pretence in the Film and TV industry,” the President remarks. “The reason is Restore Rentals is exactly what professional, creative and hardworking people in that work are looking for. They want a space in the best location with a décor that fits their personality. We understand that everyone has a different taste which is why we design all of our homes/apartments differently.”
He continues, “While we can name anyone’s name, we have been lucky enough to host everyone from A-List Actors and Directors to most of the Film/TV crews. Our industry clients have worked on movies like Avengers or Black Panther both Marvel Films, Son Of Shaft, First Man, Trial By Fire, Manifesto and much more!”
CLIENTELE
Having mentioned a few celebrities, and knowing that in the luxury home market things can get out of hand when dealing with famous people, a critical elaboration of your clientele is important. “Right now we are based out of Atlanta which some call the California of the south because of our living economy in the Tech Industry or the Movie and TV business. With that in mind we currently focus on Film/TV Production Housing, Corporate Housing and some Vacation housing as well.”
All of the divisions can grow really huge, but it is not every day that a film is cast in a particular location to warrant a serious interest from the production industry. However, businessmen and corporate teams travel around the world a lot more looking for business opportunities and attending conferences, or for a short stay. “As we grow national we predict that Vacation and Corporate housing will make up a large percentage of our business,” he comments.
CHANGING THE INDUSTRY
Looking at the business model and the entire concept of Restore Rentals it is fair to say that there is a lot of uniqueness in the company. Effects on the luxury home renting industry towards such a model would be definite. “Our business model is like no other company. We will own or control our inventory freeing us from outside owners or interest,” he remarks. “This will allow us to deliver a constant product every time for our client, which will also build a strong company.”
“It also gives us the ability to create products/services that are very competitive when it comes to price. Our model cuts out the middleman; we do not have to mark up prices to cover our management fee for the homeowner. All these factors allow offering our properties at more competitive rates.”
The ownership of the homes is definitely a big win. By eliminating the middlemen, services are even better provided for due to the cutting of that extra markup on the price. Delpiano agrees and adds, “Lastly by owning the Real Estate we are not only in control of our destiny. But year after year we are gaining a tremendous amount of equity in our properties.”
MISTAKES BY THE CUSTOMERS
When booking a place to stay, we have platforms like Airbnb, HomeAway, etc. They all do not cater to the high-end target market perse. If they do, it reflects by a huge amount on the prices. Restore Rentals needs to identify what mistakes customers make when they sign up. Book places to stay from such platforms.
“When most customers turn to Airbnb or HomeAway/VRBO. They are not always so lucky to find a true vacation/corporate housing like us on those sites,” he casually notes. “They oftentimes are booking with an individual who most likely is not a seasoned host, looking to make their trip perfect. When we market our vacant inventory on 3rd party sites like those we make sure people understand. We are a professional short term housing company.”
For this particular target market, it seems that there needs to be an understanding of the clientele in order to provide better housing within a great environment with proper landscaping and furnishings as a surety.
“While sites like Airbnb do a great job helping the consumer understand who they are booking with. We would always recommend when possible to pick out hosts that are true vacation housing companies or at best hosts with lots of great reviews.”
ORIGIN OF RESTORE RENTALS
Most times, ideas and platforms like Restore Rentals do not just happen. “Restore Rentals was first started to fill the need of short term housing in Atlanta. While there are traditional furnished housing companies in town, we wanted to create something different and unique. By achieving that we soon realized the same void could be filled by us nationally and one day globally.”
FUTURE PLANS
2018 is fast approaching. For most startups, this is the time to look beyond what they achieved in 2017. David in conclusion tells us what we should expect from Restore Rentals next year.
“After one year Restore Rentals is at about 50 properties. Our goal for 2018 is to grow by 200 properties. We plan to expand into 3-4 more markets like Nashville, Orlando, Miami and New Orleans. By our 5th year anniversary, we plan to have over 1,500 properties in 25 markets including international hotspots.”