The Alterhome startup oversees the management of complete houses and buildings to be rented by the day, month, and year, and as a result a higher profitability in the real estate market. In addition, this platform has all the typical services of hotel companies, as explained by the founders of the firm, Patricia and Chema Gonzalez, “we take care of everything so that you, as the owner, get a high return and we will ensure a good maintenance of your home at all times, guaranteeing you a higher income than in the market thanks to the efficiencies we generate with our pricing algorithm, management of each home and services for any guest”.
Founded in 2017, Alterhome has a name that combines “home” and “alternative”. With this, Patricia and Chema point out, “Alterhome means another house, your other house, which is exactly what we offer to every person who stays in our homes. We provide all the comforts of a hotel, while guests feel as if they are at home”.
Currently, Alterhome has received the award from the Association of Fashion and Decoration for Young Spaniards; and, the award for business excellence. The latter was received last July. The pricing algorithm is among the differential values of the company. A tool with which allows the rent of each night to be up to more than 27% than the competition. At the same time, the company’s team is responsible for the decoration of each of the homes, which increases the price per night. All this with a leading-edge technology for the daily management of each home that translates into a better experience for higher income users or travelers.
Business model
Alterhome is based on charging a fee for each reservation it generates to the owners of the property. “We always work with a success fee, if we don’t generate a high return, we do not charge. We are in this together, if the owner does not get their profit, we do not make money. Simple but effective,” explain the founders.
It also allows users to receive a guaranteed monthly fixed income. In this way, the user has the advantages of a conventional rental and eliminates the problems of a conventional rental for a property owner, such as possible non-payment, misuse and deterioration of the property, impossibility of selling it in 5 years, among others.
Alterhome is currently located in three cities in Spain: Seville, Malaga, and Madrid, although we will soon make the jump to other countries.
Investments
Alterhome believes that the first step in launching investments in the company is to focus on becoming a business on its own.That is, with the generation of economic traction and the purification of processes. The founders of the firm believe that in organic terms, it is necessary to bet on “nailing it” rather than “scaling it”. Not having economic resources is a great advantage, since “it forces you to sharpen your wits to solve the challenges that you find along the way, and this is priceless. In other startups that we founded we raised more than €10M, and undoubtedly, we prefer this philosophy of bootstrapping”, the founders state.