Real estate professionals who work with brokerages that manage multifamily properties are increasingly finding themselves playing the role of matchmaker for apartment dwellers. Brokers are helping renters find ways to afford their rent by matching them with a roommates,
The New York Times reports.
For example, Brooklyn-based brokerage Nooklyn has created a parallel to Match.com for roommates within its apartment-hunting app. Renters describe it as "speed dating" to find a roommate. Renting by room rather than by apartment unit is a growing trend as more young adults say they need a roommate in order to afford rent.
Some brokers who are representing apartments that have multiple bedrooms are helping to find roommates to bring the cost per person down. For example, a renter in Manhattan may pay $650 a month to rent a larger apartment with roommates than pay $2,688 a month on their own. (The second figure is the average price for a Manhattan studio.)
"The first question I ask people is, 'Do you want roommates?'" says Harley Courts, cofounder and chief executive of Nooklyn. "And they're like, 'No, I
need them.' The way people are living is transitioning. Housing was built for two generations ago," when people married at younger ages and spent less time living on their own.
Source: “Return of the S.R.O., With a Twist,” The New York Times (May 19, 2017)
