Move over Airbnb, here comes Sonder

It lists only second homes, which it furnishes, manages as rentals

Thanks to the hypersonic growth of Airbnb and the sharing economy, having a spare room can be more profitable than having a roommate. Multiply that spare room into a spare villa or a second home in Paris and you're sitting on a gold mine.

There's just one problem. Renting your home through Airbnb requires a certain amount of on-the-ground presence: someone to exchange keys or to call in a housekeeper after guest stays. You're still on the hook for plumbing repairs, digging out the driveway, or responding to enquiries via e-mail. In some locales, taxes must be collected as well - if it's even legal to do short-term rentals.

Sure, there are management companies to help you navigate all those headaches. But to leverage the sharing economy as a means of paying off your second mortgage, employ one of these standouts, which can take care of all the work and maintain your property for you. They promise to promote your property among a curated set of high-end homes, look after legality concerns, staff contractors and repairmen, offer renovation and decor help, and even furnish an empty home if you're looking at it only as an investment.

Here, we break them down, depending on your ultimate goals.

So you want to buy a house in Los Angeles's gentrifying Highland Park neighbourhood, let it gain value for a few years, and then sell it to a C-list celebrity? Talk to Sonder.

The new service, which went live on September 21, lists only second homes and investment properties, which it furnishes, photographs, and manages as rentals. "Our goal is to create the best guest experience in the world, while also generating more income off a given piece of real estate," said Francis Davidson, Sonder co-founder and chief executive officer, in an interview with Bloomberg. "The conjunction has the potential to be a very large business."

So far, Sonder is renting out a total of 500 properties in six markets: Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Vancouver, San Diego, and Los Angeles. By the end of the year, it plans to add Miami, Toronto, New York, and San Francisco - unlocking a portfolio of destinations that may be more attractive to investors than the initial set. In 2017, the goal is to expand internationally; while Davidson wouldn't lay out exact plans, he said he's inspired by how much "movement" there is among New York, Paris, and London.

For investors, Sonder has a few key distinctions: Aside from managing rental properties and working directly with travellers to ensure a smooth guest experience, it also ensures that each rental property is correctly zoned for peer-to-peer rental according to local municipal laws. It also will lease a property for a full year, rather than on a rental-by-rental basis, so that owners aren't worrying about variable income. "We're a great tenant," said Davidson. "We clean the place to five-star-hotel standards every week and pay our rent on time, always interacting in a professional manner."

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