Chung says bringing transparency and automation to the industry starts with building trust.
SEATTLE—The sheer size of the vacation rental market has triggered meteoric growth and innovation across the entry/exit management systems space as US revenue was projected to exceed 13 billion in 2018. As vacation rental demands increase, the number of business and individuals transforming additional owned properties into all-year vacation rental properties will increase correspondingly.
This component of the rental market has spurred numerous innovations to capitalize on its growth. One such company is Lubn Inc., the creator of autonomous property management solutions and the smart-key-lockbox.
“The vacation rental market has continued to grow in size and scope as property owners realize the opportunity and travelers become more acquainted with the respective platforms. Our mission to bring transparency and automation to the property management industry starts with building trust between the property managers and their guests/visitors,” said YC/Yuan-Chou Chung, founder/CEO of Lubn Inc. “Lubn will benefit this new cohort of property managers as they will spend less time managing property and/or avoid hiring additional managers.”
Lubn is an automated solution for property managers, store owners, service providers or anyone looking to manage property access for contractors, guests or visitors. This solution allows property owners and managers to schedule, track and organize guest access, as well as link other property services through the dashboard application. The Lubn dashboard is a web app that allows managers/owners to track multiple properties and build a profile for each visitor based on the recorded check-in/out data. The goal is to leverage the recorded data to allow property managers to make informed business decisions.
The company recently introduced its new IoT Smart Lock, the first 4G/LTE key lockbox with a visual authentication feature. While Lubn's embedded camera and 4G connectivity make it a compelling solution for vacation rental hosts, the technology is even more relevant to property managers, what with real estate agents keeping track of new sets of keys and locks on a routine basis.
The company's new lockbox operates via an embedded camera that recognizes mobile QR codes issued by the property manager to the intended visitor. The key lockbox photographs the visitor as they check-in. From there, the photo is sent to the manager's phone via the 4G/LTE network to ensure the visitor's identity. This network also serves other functions, such as allowing the manager to use a phone to remotely unlock a building.
A recent study completed by KPMG demonstrated that the vast majority of property management executives are unaware of proptech's capacity to collect data and generate valuable insights. The Lubn team designed its smart lockbox with this study in mind.
“The overarching trend in the property management industry has been the integration of IoT platforms. This includes building, data and performance management systems,” Chung tells GlobeSt.com. “Lubn's all-in-one solution is a great example of this trend as it helps building managers analyze and manage property access activities with both software and hardware systems.”
Chung says he founded Lubn in response to a personal pain point. He was juggling several demanding roles including serving as a Microsoft team member and rental manager to multiple properties around the world. Chung searched for a solution that was simple and efficient.
“Our team has made significant progress in creating the world's most intelligent property management platform and we are well underway in democratizing the property management industry across all segments,” said Charles Chang, co-founder and advisor.
Lubn earned the CES 2019 Innovation Award in the Smart Home product category due to the lockbox innovation. The CES Innovation Awards is an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products.
“We have focused on fulfilling uncovered user needs by creating new scenarios that have never been solved in the past,” said Autumn Li, co-founder and CTO.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
