Navigating the rental housing market can be a minefield, especially for international renters facing obstacles at every turn. It’s an experience that left Ankit Lodha, the Founder of LA Empire, determined to transform this challenging process into a seamless experience. From fake listings to high upfront costs and rigid requirements, Ankit’s journey through the U.S. rental market unveiled systemic issues that weren’t serving tenants or landlords. These issues sparked a revolutionary idea: why not create a housing solution that strips away broker fees, provides fully furnished spaces, and makes renting easy, flexible, and transparent?
Enter LA Empire, a new-generation housing company that’s redefining the U.S. rental experience. Unlike traditional brokers or property managers, LA Empire steps into the rental market as a hybrid solution that fills the gaps left by outdated systems. With no broker fees, high-quality furnished housing, and tech-forward service, LA Empire has positioned itself as a leader in flexible living. Currently operating in major East Coast cities like New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, the company offers corporate housing, student accommodation, and luxury vacation rentals equipped with premium amenities.
With an equally impressive growth story, LA Empire’s portfolio has expanded from an initial $3,000 investment to an asset base nearing $30 million. The company boasts a 90%-95% occupancy rate and industry-leading customer satisfaction scores. As LA Empire scales its reach, it aims for a substantial $4-5 million in revenue by 2025, with plans to enter the Indian market in 2025, starting in Mumbai.
In this interview, Ankit Lodha shares insights into LA Empire’s journey, the inspiration behind its inception, and its path to redefining the rental experience for tenants and landlords alike. Discover how LA Empire is setting new standards in an industry ripe for change.
Realtyninfra – What is the idea behind opening LA Empire?
Ankit Lodha – I moved to the US to pursue graduate studies and explore everything a new country and city had to offer. With the excitement and passion for exploring new cities, food, and cultures; I was unaware of how daunting the apartment-hunting process can be especially for international people. I thought, what could go wrong? This is just a rental!
I found fake listings online and rent prices were also misleading. Brokers didn’t show up for viewings and ignored calls and texts. Scammers would request fees before signing the lease. It was also extremely competitive: we quickly learned that for every apartment, there were at least five people seriously interested. As an international renter with no U.S. credit score and no social security number, I was immediately rejected by most brokers. In other cases, I was asked to pay one year of rent upfront just to secure the apartment.
In this system, I found a lack of transparency, and communication was inconsistent, slow, and unprofessional. The process was full of “gotcha” moments, and after several weeks of apartment hunting all my excitement was gone.
These market challenges got me thinking that there would be a better way to do this and I kept asking questions like: Why are broker fees one month’s rent? Why do I have to carry our furniture every time we move? Why is the apartment application process harder than applying to Harvard? Why? Why? Why?
The current system does not support landlords or tenants. From fees charged by middlemen to the risk of one non-paying tenant causing an owner to default on their mortgage payments and lose their life savings. If a property owner can’t afford to hire a middleman to manage their property, they are actively managing things themselves 24/7/365. The American dream of owning a rental property for passive income remains to be just a dream.
This motivated me to build a company that would reinvent this antiquated, broken system. All the years renting across different parts of the East and the West Coast of the US I tried to understand the system across the country and the origins of its requirements and rules. I wanted to determine: where are the opportunities to improve this system that can improve the lives of both tenants and landlords.
So, I built LA Empire, which is not a broker, not a management company, and not a landlord. I am creating a new category entirely. LA Empire is a new-generation housing company that provides furnished and flexible housing in a seamless process with NO BROKER FEE. Reinventing the antiquated housing experience for the new generation of renters and landlords.
As a tenant of LA Empire, you can expect fully transparent processes and fees, quick and professional communication 7 days a week, fair resolution of any issues, and simple user-friendly digital interfaces.
Realtyninfra – What kind of services does your company provide to customers? In how many cities in America do you have having presence currently?
Ankit Lodha- We provide corporate housing, student rooming, and luxury vacation rental units and estates with high-end amenities such as heated pools, jacuzzi, tennis courts, and indoor amenities such as snooker tables, air hockey, arcade games, and many more. We are based out of key cities on the east coast of the US such as Boston, New York, Princeton, Philadelphia, and Florida.
Realtyninfra – How much investment you have put in to start this business in the US?
Ankit Lodha – We started with $3000 and now the portfolio is around USD 30 million (~250 crore INR)
Realtyninfra – What is the revenue model for the company?
Ankit Lodha- Our main revenue comes from the occupancy of these rental and vacation homes. We have around 90%- 95%+ occupancy across all our units through our GenAI lead generation model
Realtyninfra – Please share the company’s performance since its establishment on key parameters.
Ankit Lodha – Currently, we have 100+ rooms across 30+ properties and the Average Daily Rent is around $50-$1099 (subjective on location, property size, and lease for room vs entire unit). Our occupancy rate is around 90% – 95%. We have a rating of 4.99 out of 5 (based on reviews from various platforms).
Our listings and vacation homes have been consistently in the top 1% of the respective regions and awarded by Airbnb and Vrbo by various accolades such as ‘Super Hosts’, ‘Guest Favorites’, ‘Exceptional’ and ‘Rare Find’ for the past few quarters.
Our Customer Satisfaction rating is 9/10 and our Employee Satisfaction rating is10/10. The Concierge SLA shows that 95% of issues are resolved in less than 24 hours.
Realtyninfra -What was the company’s revenue during the 2023 calendar year and how much growth you are expecting in 2024?
Ankit Lodha- LA Empire garnered USD 1 million in 2023, which is twice from 2022. Our estimated revenue for 2024 is USD 2.5 million. We are adding more homes and units in our portfolio in the remaining FY 2024 which will help us reach $4-5 million USD by the end of 2025.
Realtyninfra -Has your company turned profitable?
Ankit Lodha- Yes, we have been profitable since day 1 of operations in 2022.
Realtyninfra -Do you have any plans to enter the Indian market?
Ankit Lodha- Yes, in FY 2025 we plan to expand in the Indian market, starting from Mumbai with corporate housing and vacation homes in the city for domestic and international travelers alike.
