This is a First Look: It's the first time any news outlet or blog has covered this startup. You can read more First Looks here. (We do this a lot.)
In a city like Boston, where there’s a revolving door of students and professionals streaming in and out of the area, subletting is a staple of the local real estate market. It was only a matter of time before a startup came out with the “Tinder for Subletting.”
Jeremy Hefter and Sonia Brown have developed Let’s Sub, an app that lets people swipe left or right to find their dream sublet situation. Not surprisingly, the inspiration for the venture comes from their own experience trying to sublet in the Boston area.
“Being in the startup world, we were obviously strapped for cash so we were trying to find ways to sublet apartments,” Hefter said. “We saw there are so many channels people can go through, but they’re often unsuccessful.”
“It’s like dating. It’s just a different use case.”
Craigslist has a reputation of being sketchy and doesn’t always take into account personal preferences when listing housing opportunities. Meanwhile, Hefter explains, real estate websites offer hundreds of impersonal listings - most of which aren’t meant for subletters.
According to the duo, there’s also usually a disconnect in communication between the folks looking to rent out their rooms and the people seeking to move into a place as a subletter. Added to that trouble are the potential roommates remaining in an apartment - the ones who will actually be living with subletters - and what they want.
Let’s Sub focuses on people’s preferences, traits and living habits, such as who they are, what they like, where they want to live, what amenities they can’t live without and what their budget is. The app uses an algorithm to generate possible matches for a subletting situation based on those common preferences and allows users to swipe yes or no on each listing presented.
“Real estate is a very personal thing,” Brown told us. “People feel comfortable when there’s a commonality.”
“It’s like dating. It’s just a different use case,” Hefter explained. “We thought, ‘Why can’t we do the same, but for real estate?’”
The co-founders think the need for Let’s Sub is especially pressing for young professionals. Hefter said, “Real estate prices, especially in the city, keep going up and up and up. Younger people are in a constant state of trajectory. We’re constantly moving and we don’t know when we’re going to have to jump across the country, the ocean, for a new job opportunity. We don’t want to have to stick to a 12-month lease.”
As of right now, there’s no payment system associated with Let’s Sub, and the co-founders stress the importance of being cautious with obtaining landlord approvals and giving out any personal information. Listings also disappear within two months, to ensure they’re up to date and to prevent people from wasting their time chasing unavailable rooms.
In the future, the company is looking to “sparkle up the interface,” according to Hefter. (They’re releasing an app update in a matter of days.) Eventually, Let’s Sub hopes to incorporate additional features into the platform, including tenant screening and bidding capabilities, which would be used to generate revenue. However, right now the team is focused on creating a good, free product while continuing to bootstrap.
