Problem: Contrary to popular belief, property managers love filling their rentals with college students. The reasons being is that college students always answer their phones, they’re normally manageable, and many of them have guarantors just in case they cannot pay rent. I know this because I manage 200+ units and I’m constantly looking to fill them with students.
However, I can never find college students and college students can never find me. UH does this intentionally to make students think it is their only option. The dorms are far above market value. Finding properties and random roommates on craigslist is worse.
Solution: The app I am proposing will be similar to ratemyprofessor and yelp, only 10x better, because it will be for housing college students. If landlords want college students, they can post their unit on the app. From there, a licensed brokerage that subscribes to the ethics of the Honolulu Board of Realtors can take over the property management of it with the students. This app will also provide opportunities to find roommates.
The page will have logins for landlords and students. The landlords can post their property for rent on the page when they login. They can also remove their post if they are rated too low. The landlord will also receive applications from students that they will be able to see with the students making a profile (which is a card).
The students will be able to see the properties, their rating, and other students looking for roommates for the property (which is a card). The students will also be able to find a roommate page which allows them to view the students that are looking for roommates (in cards).
A student is looking for a roommate, so they look through other students finding a roommate and click on their card and emails them.
A student logs in and finds a property and clicks it to submit an application.
Adding a property management feature, which will be as follows for the different users. Layout: The app will have three different functionalities
If you are a landlord, you can post a property and students will be able to review your property after they have stayed there. You can also see the students that want to apply. If you receive bad ratings you can simply withdraw and continue renting to non-college students. You can also see which managers are looking for contracts. Landlords will not be able to see students if they have not applied yet.
If you are a student, you can find properties and other students to be roommates with. The properties tab will have cards for the different properties, their ratings, their prices and if you click on them, it will show if other students are looking for roommates. The finding roommates tab will show cards of different students that you could potentially see yourself living with.
If you are a property manager, you can see which students are looking and which landlords need management, you can match them and manage their agreement. This is crucial because the property managers not only make sure each party is acting ethically, but it is generally not great if the landlord and tenant communicate directly. They need some sort of buffer.