Should I Build It Should I Build It
17 Jul 2025
Travel Vacation

Real estate platform for owners to rent apartments To travellers

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

The idea of a real estate platform connecting owners with travelers for apartment rentals lands in a crowded space. With 12 similar products already out there, the competition is stiff, placing your idea firmly in the 'Swamp' category. This category is characterized by mediocre solutions that fail to capture significant user love. Engagement across similar products is generally low, with an average of 0 comments, indicating limited buzz and potential challenges in user acquisition and retention. Given the existing landscape, achieving significant traction will require a truly differentiated approach or a focus on a niche market that current platforms aren't effectively serving. Proceed with caution and a clear understanding of the challenges ahead.

Recommendations

  1. Given the crowded market, start by thoroughly researching why existing rental platforms haven't become dominant. Identify their shortcomings in terms of user experience, features, or target audience. Look at the discussions from similar products to understand unmet needs and pain points.
  2. If you decide to proceed, avoid broad targeting. Instead, identify a specific niche group of travelers or property owners that are underserved by current platforms. For example, focus on longer-term stays, eco-conscious travelers, or pet-friendly apartments. This will allow you to tailor your platform and marketing efforts for greater impact.
  3. Instead of building a whole new platform from scratch, consider building specialized tools or integrations for existing rental platforms. This could involve features like automated listing optimization, enhanced communication tools, or virtual tour creation. Partnering with established players can be a faster route to market.
  4. Before investing heavily in a real estate rental platform, explore adjacent problems in the travel or property management space that might be more promising. For example, you could focus on providing insurance products for short-term rentals or developing tools to help landlords manage their properties more efficiently. Sometimes, a less crowded market is a better bet.
  5. Based on user feedback from comparable products, it is wise to think deeply how to facilitate prospects management, as multiple users are reporting challenges with this issue.
  6. Consider focusing on the needs of property owners more closely, as at least one user planned to use the platform to list their property, suggesting that this can be a source of traction.
  7. Given the potential for a struggle to stand out, honestly assess whether your energy could be better spent on a different idea with a higher chance of success. Focus on ideas where you can bring a unique advantage or address a clear gap in the market. Don't fall in love with your idea if the market conditions aren't favorable.

Questions

  1. What are the specific, measurable advantages your platform will offer to both property owners and travelers compared to established players like Airbnb or VRBO?
  2. How will you acquire your initial user base (both property owners and travelers) in a cost-effective and sustainable way, considering the existing competition and low engagement levels in the category?
  3. What unique features or services will your platform provide to foster a sense of community and trust between property owners and travelers, differentiating it from purely transactional rental platforms?

Your are here

The idea of a real estate platform connecting owners with travelers for apartment rentals lands in a crowded space. With 12 similar products already out there, the competition is stiff, placing your idea firmly in the 'Swamp' category. This category is characterized by mediocre solutions that fail to capture significant user love. Engagement across similar products is generally low, with an average of 0 comments, indicating limited buzz and potential challenges in user acquisition and retention. Given the existing landscape, achieving significant traction will require a truly differentiated approach or a focus on a niche market that current platforms aren't effectively serving. Proceed with caution and a clear understanding of the challenges ahead.

Recommendations

  1. Given the crowded market, start by thoroughly researching why existing rental platforms haven't become dominant. Identify their shortcomings in terms of user experience, features, or target audience. Look at the discussions from similar products to understand unmet needs and pain points.
  2. If you decide to proceed, avoid broad targeting. Instead, identify a specific niche group of travelers or property owners that are underserved by current platforms. For example, focus on longer-term stays, eco-conscious travelers, or pet-friendly apartments. This will allow you to tailor your platform and marketing efforts for greater impact.
  3. Instead of building a whole new platform from scratch, consider building specialized tools or integrations for existing rental platforms. This could involve features like automated listing optimization, enhanced communication tools, or virtual tour creation. Partnering with established players can be a faster route to market.
  4. Before investing heavily in a real estate rental platform, explore adjacent problems in the travel or property management space that might be more promising. For example, you could focus on providing insurance products for short-term rentals or developing tools to help landlords manage their properties more efficiently. Sometimes, a less crowded market is a better bet.
  5. Based on user feedback from comparable products, it is wise to think deeply how to facilitate prospects management, as multiple users are reporting challenges with this issue.
  6. Consider focusing on the needs of property owners more closely, as at least one user planned to use the platform to list their property, suggesting that this can be a source of traction.
  7. Given the potential for a struggle to stand out, honestly assess whether your energy could be better spent on a different idea with a higher chance of success. Focus on ideas where you can bring a unique advantage or address a clear gap in the market. Don't fall in love with your idea if the market conditions aren't favorable.

Questions

  1. What are the specific, measurable advantages your platform will offer to both property owners and travelers compared to established players like Airbnb or VRBO?
  2. How will you acquire your initial user base (both property owners and travelers) in a cost-effective and sustainable way, considering the existing competition and low engagement levels in the category?
  3. What unique features or services will your platform provide to foster a sense of community and trust between property owners and travelers, differentiating it from purely transactional rental platforms?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 12
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 0
  • Net use signal: 30.0%
    • Positive use signal: 30.0%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

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