Two firms to sell rental tech to pay the bills

Local entrepreneurs are designing web-based tools aimed at making property leasing easier and safer than ever.

Cambridge-based FlipKey Inc., for instance, is set to launch in late January or February its online system that collects data about rental vacation properties and enables users to rate them. And Newton-based Investment Instruments Corp. is launching in January a new online tool for tenants to pay rents and report problems to landlords while the system tracks tenants’ records for future references.

The two local software companies are entering a crowded market, but the payoff for more efficient online leasing networks is a big one.