Pinql: Facilitating connections between tenants and landlords

Tired of spending entire days searching for a rental—or a tenant—on real estate portals? Don't want to pay astronomical fees to agencies for that service anymore? You're in luck: a mobile app offers to do all that, and much more, simply and for free. Here’s a look at Pinql, the app that lets landlords and rental applicants "match"!

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Tenant desperately seeking rental

In an era where technology allows you to buy almost anything without leaving your couch, communicate with a loved one on the other side of the world, or book a hotel room in any city, the rental process feels like an anachronism. Finding a home remains long, complex, and frustrating, even though all the signs point toward the need for smoother solutions. Isn't it paradoxical that it’s almost easier to invest in real estate than to find a studio to rent?

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Since there are mobile apps for everything under the sun, it was surprising that a rental assistance tool was missing. That has now changed: Pinql was launched in February 2017 by three ambitious entrepreneurs (David Oussadon, Andrea Bensaid, and Ryan Woo). Together, they started with a simple observation: today, we have the (technical) means to greatly simplify life for tenants looking for a roof over their heads, as well as for landlords eager to rent their property to serious candidates. To design the right tool, they had to leverage digital possibilities, inject a bit of innovation into the tired gears of the rental market, and have the desire to shake up an overly stagnant field.

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Pinql: The Tinder of rentals

Because of how it works, Pinql primarily targets a young, connected audience that loves digital innovation. The app is inspired by the model used by "Tinder-style" dating platforms, except that romantics looking for true love have been replaced by pragmatists looking for a place to live. Each rental applicant starts by signing up on Pinql, filling out their profile, adding a photo, and uploading the documents needed for their rental application. They then select the type of property and rental desired (house or apartment, standard rental or roommate situation, studio or villa, residential or office space) and the target city.

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Faced with a series of rental properties, the user just needs to express themselves with a gesture—a "swipe," to be exact. Just like on Tinder for potential partners, this quick finger movement on a smartphone or tablet screen is enough to approve or reject an available property: swipe right to say yes, left to say no. And if they need time to think, they swipe up. When a tenant and a landlord agree, Pinql initiates a "match." Or rather, a "shake," the digital equivalent of a handshake. All they have to do is arrange a meeting, directly at the apartment or in front of the house, and close the deal.

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In the meantime, the landlord will have downloaded the rental application documents previously uploaded to the app by the candidate, and reviewed the ID, pay stubs, tax notices, and other receipts from previous rentals. No need to exchange endless messages or spend hours connecting the right people. No random lists of required documents. No waiting in the stairwell while seventeen other candidates visit the property. With Pinql, the rental process is simple, intuitive, fast, smooth, and entirely digitized.

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Goodbye, real estate agent!

Pinql doesn't just target young tenants. The app aims to shake up the rental process for both those looking for a home and those offering one. Everything has been designed to make the tool easy for landlords to use. It takes just 5 minutes to sign up, create a listing, and receive applications (sorted based on a number of predefined filters). Appointments for viewings are duly recorded on the integrated calendar, and the app even allows for online move-in/move-out inspections. You could say that Pinql replaces the real estate agent from start to finish…

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And without the fees! That explains its meteoric success: 30,000 downloads in five months on the App Store and Google Play. If Pinql has 9,000 active users per month and records more than 15,000 "shakes" between tenants and landlords, it is certainly because the service offered is as practical as it is economical (at a time when rents are hitting record highs in big cities, these savings are far from trivial). But it is also because the application has skillfully entered a territory that was sorely lacking in innovation and simplicity.

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When it comes to renting an apartment in Paris, real estate professionals have always relied on the advantages they provide: quality service and the guarantees inherent in a specialist's involvement. Today, Pinql changes the game by centralizing this dual approach into a single, accessible, and 100% free tool that is already digitizing the essential parts of the rental process. Tomorrow, even administrative documents (lease agreements, insurance contracts) and services (connecting with a contractor or technician) could go through Pinql. And then, for good, you will be able to say "goodbye, real estate agent!"