Flatbook a solution to problem of subletting

Entrepreneur began as a student seeking a subtenant

When looking to sublet his Montreal apartment for the summer, McGill student Francis Davidson quickly realized just about every other university student was trying to do the same thing.

“It was impossible for me to find a subtenant,” said the 22-year-old.

After he didn’t get a single call from his Craigslist posting, he decided to take a different approach. Seeing the success of short-term rental sites such as Airbnb, Davidson was sure he could not only make his rent but make a profit.

“I saw that it was possible to rent my apartment, which was about $1,300 a month, for roughly $1,000 a week,” he said.

The only hitch was Davidson would have to stay in town to manage it, since he couldn’t find anyone to do that for him.

But after discovering this gap in the short-term-rental market, Davidson founded a company with his then-room-mate Olivier Gareau to do just that.

Flatbook guarantees your rent and utilities will be paid in full and manages the property at no cost to you. After Flatbook selects apartments from its pool of online applications, it has the home cleaned, staged by an interior designer, shot by a professional photographer and put up on sites such as VRBO and Airbnb. The company is taking applications in 27 cities in North America and Europe this year, including Toronto.

“I wasn’t planning on being an entrepreneur. I just experienced the problem myself,” he said.

The summer before he started Flatbook in 2013, Davidson tested the financial viability of the model with his own apartment. After he raked in $15,000, he was convinced he could do it on a larger scale.

The following year, Davidson put the call out in Montreal for applications, received 200 and chose six to manage.

By the summer of 2014, he was managing 82 properties in 11 cities, including seven in Toronto. The company grew quickly, bringing in $1 million in revenue.

“The typical guest is not a student,” said Davidson, adding the majority are large families on vacation. Most find Flatbook properties posted on Airbnb, VRBO and Home Away. “We really care about giving people great travel experiences.”

Part of that is ironing out the wild variability in the quality of homes in the short-term-rental market. Davidson set out to make the Flatbook brand something people could rely on.

That includes providing extras such as coffee, basic cooking supplies, fresh towels and bedding. In select apartments, the company is toying with higher-end services, such as including an iPhone and grocery delivery.