This startup is spending $10M to buy out vacant NYC apartments

One startup plans to spend $10 million over the next year buying out leases in New York City and renting the units out itself.

Rezi, which has raised $30 million from investors and went through an accelerator program in Silicon Valley, is attempting to make deals with New York landlords who are losing out on income from empty apartments during the marketing and leasing period, according to Crain’s.

Rezi’s pitch is that it would pay for the lease, with the landlord getting a price that is slightly below market rate. The company would then advertise the units on its own platform and other listing websites — with the expectation it can lease them at a higher price than it paid. Rezi claims its “machine-learning” technology can better peg the market and rent apartments quickly.

The startup’s website shows a handful of apartments up for rent in New York City, mostly in East Harlem. Though there’s a glut of product in Long Island City and Brooklyn, apartments in Manhattan on average are leased within 30 days, according to Douglas Elliman’s May rental report. [Crain’s] — Meenal Vamburkar