When I was in graduate school in the U.S., I remember it being a pain having to always sign a 1 year lease. I only wanted 8 months so that I could take off during the summers. Too bad Flip wasn’t around back then.
Flip is a startup that I just discovered, which is positioning itself as the “easiest way to sublet or get out of your lease.” It’s all about reconciling the conflict between lease and life , which don’t always match up.
The platform is free to listers. So you don’t get charged to post a lease or to flip a lease. Renters get charged a service fee equal to 5% of one month’s rent.
It’s interesting to think about the surge in short-term rentals and platforms such as Flip that are effectively helping to reduce lease terms by way of streamlining the “flipping” process.
Are millennials ushering in a new era of mobility and transience?
One feature that I think is neat and that I would like to point out is “ Bounties .” The platform allows listers to attach a bounty ($) to any listing. Users are then able to grab a unique URL that can be shared around online. If someone takes over a lease via one of your links, you get paid the bounty. Smart.
In case you’re curious – I certainly was – here’s a ranking of all 50 U.S. states according to how friendly they are to subletters . It also summarizes how to legally sublet. On the friendly side is New York and on the less friendly side is Wyoming.