Searching for an apartment in Chicago?
Rental listing service Domu launched a mobile app to help renters in their hunt for a new apartment.
The app’s Thursday launch marks the company’s next step toward growth, as it expands its presence in a competitive real estate listing market dominated by titans such as Zillow and Apartments.com.
“We are competing and holding our own,” Domu CEO Sead Odzic said. “We are definitely very local, and the goal is to get more local.”
Odzic, who has a real estate background, bought the Chicago-based company from founder Noah Schatz and part-owner Andrew Porter in 2024. Odzic declined to share the purchase price, citing an agreement signed with the previous owners that prevents him from disclosing that information.
While the company is known for its large ads that plaster CTA buses and trains, Domu itself is small. The staff includes Odzic, an operations chief and an engineering chief focused on software development. The rest of the work is contracted out, mainly to workers around Chicago. For SEO support, it employs a worker based in Toronto.
Since Domu’s founding in 2010, the company has operated as a listing website. With the app’s launch, Odzic hopes to make Domu more user friendly, allowing renters to browse listings more quickly and efficiently.
Odzic said about 60% of their current users access the platform on their phones via Domu’s website.
The app, which has been in the works for nearly a year, will largely have the same features as the website — where renters can search by price and property amenities — but users’ ability to message landlords on the app and website is new for Domu.
“We have been known for our great inventory, and now [we’re] going to be known for a great user experience after this hopefully,” Odzic said.
Property managers and owners will still need to post listings through the website. Domu’s current listings are mostly within city limits.
Odzic, who called himself a “luddite,” said in addition to the app, he has focused on building Domu’s brand by increasing its social media presence. He said he wants Chicagoans to better understand that Domu is a local company and not a big national corporation.
Since Odzic took over Domu, he has established more partnerships with local management companies. He said that has translated to growth in the number of listings on the site. In winter 2024, there were about 900 listings. For the same period this year, there were over 2,000 listings, Odzic said. By next month, Domu expects more than 4,000 listings, though its ultimate goal is to have up to 6,000 listings on the site regularly.
The company’s revenue is through fees landlords pay to list their properties. Odzic declined to share Domu’s financial details.
Odzic positions Domu to landlords as the more affordable, local and easier-to-work-with company compared to national listing sites.
“We don’t provide the volume of leads the other companies do, but we provide quality leads,” Odzic said.
But he said owners who rent a single unit, may pay more on Domu than a site like Zillow, where you can list a property for free.
To list a unit on Domu, the company charges $45 a month. Domu is more affordable for bulk listings since owners can get bulk pricing, Odzic said. Its website shows pricing packages for as few as 10 units to as many as 100 units.
For mom-and-pop landlords, Domu staff can offer free advice on how to make the listings look their best, from photos to listings descriptions and price.
“We are the local guy, and we pick up the phone and you talk to a human being,” Odzic said.
Another new feature — and new revenue stream — for the company is providing credit reports for landlords through TransUnion. Odzic said his goal is to help mom-and-pop landlords easily perform credit checks for renters. The $50 credit check fee is paid by applicants, if a landlord who lists a property on Domu requests a credit check.
Domu’s future goal is to add more free resources for renters, including an interactive map of Chicago area neighborhoods where people can compare rent prices in different locations, Odzic said. He also wants to add more suburban listings.
“We have been very city-focused,” Odzic said. “The suburbs really don’t get the same amount of love so part of one of my goals is to get more listings in the suburbs.”
Odzic described Domu’s new app as the “first step to other things.”
“We don’t plan on stopping here,” he said.
The Chicago-based company said its new app will make searching for Chicago apartments easier and help with its expansion plans.
The Chicago-based company said its new app will make searching for Chicago apartments easier and help with its expansion plans.
