Master leases are a great way for homeowners to scale their businesses. Property management can take up a lot of your time and because master leases reduce your expenses significantly, you can actually end up with higher net operating income (NOI).
A huge win-win for you!
Because of how lucrative master leases can be, but the general uncertainty that surrounds them, in this article, I’m going to list the top master lease companies in the United States.
Note that master lease companies tend to grow and change very quickly, so be sure to do independent research on these companies via their website and other articles about them. The companies found below are not ranked in any particular order.
Company Overviews
| Company | Short Term | Furnished | Profit Share | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blueground | 30+ days | Fully | Varies | Apartment units |
| Bungalow | No | Common Area | No | <4 units |
| Mynd | No | No | No | <4 units |
| Nomad | No | No | 100% upside to owner minus service fee | <4 units |
| Sonder | Yes | Fully | Varies | Apartment Units |
| Tripalink | No | Varies | Varies | All |
Blueground
Blueground manages properties in over 25 cities including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, and more, totaling 8,000+ units in 100 buildings worldwide. The company collaborates with apartment owners and other property management firms to provide simple and cost-effective solutions for leasing.
Blueground executes end-to-end property management by utilizing various technologies in their management process. The core product is convenient, fully furnished, and luxuriously designed apartments. Blueground Bespoke, its furniture collection, elevates interior designs to improve the customer experience.
The fees vary by case and there’s a revenue sharing program with landlords, which can be tracked daily via the landlord portal. Blueground is a fast-growing company and has raised $257M over eight rounds. Their latest round was Series C funded in 2021.
Bungalow
Bungalow manages properties in more than 15 states, including California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Washington. Depending on the property’s condition, Bungalow might recommend upgrades to attract more tenants and uses an artificial intelligence pricing engine to estimate home prices. Bungalow’s rooms include furniture in the common area, utilities, and monthly cleaning in common areas.
Homeowners can get a quote easily from their website. Bungalow will furnish the common areas and take professional photos for the listings. According to the company’s website, owners can earn 5-10% more in revenue by using their services. There’s no profit-sharing program with the owner, so Bungalow will keep 100% of the upside.
Bungalow is a reputable company and raised $75M in its Series C funding in 2021. According to the company, their tenants have 15% higher renewal rates.
Mynd
Mynd operates in 26 cities, including Reno, Seattle, Austin, and San Diego. Mynd secured a $5 billion commitment from Invesco Real Estate to buy and manage up to 20,000 SFH (single-family homes) rentals. Mynd owns and manages their own SFH, but they also manage other investors’ properties. Developers also have the option to submit their development plans to Mynd for potential joint venture opportunities.
Mynd provides owners a $5,000 rental income guarantee and an additional $5,000 eviction protection plan, the latter of which covers the attorney fees and court costs incurred during the eviction. Mynd has its own software that allows the landlord to monitor the entire business process, not just the monthly payment and the status of repairs. It also provides services to investors who want to buy, finance, or sell their properties. By collaborating with Ives Insurance Services, Mynd provides personalized, full-coverage insurance plans to tenants.
Mynd has raised $175M over seven funding rounds.
Nomad
Nomad is currently open in Arizona, Colorado, and North Carolina. They only manage single-family detached homes, townhomes, and condos. Nomad will list the property on its website and other top renting sites, such as Zillow.
Nomad offers optional maintenance and repairs, brokerage services, and guaranteed rent. For each month, the property owner will receive a guaranteed rent. If Nomad leases the property for more than its guarantee, 100% of the upside goes to the owner minus a service fee.
The tenant is extensively screened and backed by Nomad’s $10,000 property protection plan. Nomad’s leases are long-term only and the homes are unfurnished; however, tenants are able to break the lease and move into a different Nomad listing without penalties. They also have a reward program for tenants who pay their rent on time.
Sonder
Sonder has 6,300 units in 40+ different cities, including San Francisco, Barcelona, Boston, Denver, London, New York City, and Philadelphia. They primarily focus on short-term leasing and they lease new apartment buildings or hotels directly from owners or property managers. Sonder signs multi-year fixed leases, hybrid leases, or revenue shares.
Through its consistently high-quality, and beautifully designed short-term residential property, Sonder will appeal to a diverse consumer who are business travelers, remote workers, families, and nomads.
Sonder is a public company with the ticker symbol NASDAQ: SOND. They are currently valued at $400M.
Tripalink
Tripalink is a real estate development and property management company that has 10,000+ units under management in 10+ cities, such as Los Angeles, Tucson, and Seattle. They provide a wide range of services, including traditional apartments, master leases, and co-living. They don’t do any short-term leasing and their primary audience is students and young professionals. Their master lease service varies. Owners can do a hybrid contract with them, so part of the profits are shared. In a hybrid contract, a certain amount of income is guaranteed and the additional profits are split between Tripalink and the owner.
Tripalink’s portfolio includes SFH, townhomes, co-living buildings, and apartment buildings. They are able to master lease an entire apartment building with hundreds of units by using the hybrid contract.
Tripalink is a reputable company and raised $30M in Series B in 2021. According to their website, they can increase a property’s NOI by 5%. They also do ground-up developments and are open to joint ventures with other developers.
Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.