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Whether you’re in a share house, looking for a rental property through a real estate agent or renting directly from a landlord, navigating the rental market can be quite a challenge.
House-sharing has changed
House-sharing isn’t as simple as it used to be. Gone are the days when you’d see a poster at the local supermarket with a phone number tear-off for a room to rent in a share house. You’d meet at the local pub for a beer and the next day you moved in. These days, people seem to be more wary about renting out their spare room and seek a more sophisticated approach to their house-sharing process.
Applying for a rental property can be almost as complex as buying a house. The amount of paperwork involved, the arduous application process and then putting your best self forward, only to be rejected amongst the pool of 20 plus applicants vying for the same house. It’s stressful for both parties.
I know this as I’m both a landlord and a tenant.
High cost of living
The cost of living is high, and the rental supply is low. Yet there are currently 10 million households in Australia, which house about 13.5 million spare bedrooms. (Matusik + ABS 41300, table 7.1). In Ernst and Young's 2019 Sydney Housing Accessibility Report, they state that if all unused bedrooms within 30 minutes of Sydney’s CBD were to house a working adult, they estimate that the boost to productivity would equate to an additional $750 million injected each year into the NSW economy.
House-sharing demographic is changing
The typical house-sharer has traditionally belonged to a younger demographic who are leaving home for the first time or going to university. This is rapidly changing. More and more people are opting to house-share, not only for financial reasons, but for lifestyle reasons as well.
How can we house-share with safety and compatibility?
In the hundreds of conversations we’ve had with households over the past few years, we’ve learned that the primary reason why many homeowners won’t house-share is because they don’t know how to do it effectively. They’re concerned about making the right decision for their household and they want to rest easy knowing that they’re dealing with a legitimate, verified person who is someone they would enjoy sharing their home with.
Helping you rent better
We listened and it’s why we have pivoted The Room Xchange and now we're Australia’s first verified house-sharing platform, creating a safe and up-to-date house-sharing community. We make it easy for you to find the right housemate based on personality values and lifestyle so you feel like you’re coming home to a friend. We even have a unique twist to our model called ‘Rent Offset’ which allows you to offset some or all your rent by enabling your renter to offset some or all of the rental fees by providing some much-needed help around the house. The best news is, we’ve also created a resource hub aimed at helping you rent better. This resource hub includes a library of articles, FAQ’s, editable templates and step-by-step videos to help you get the process going easily. If you like your content in an easily digestible format, The Room Xchange Podcast would be ideal for you. We have conversations with property managers, tenants and households who share their knowledge to support you in your rental journey. It’s available on all major podcast directories including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio and Spotify.
Whether you’re a household looking for a housemate or a housemate looking for a home, get started now!
You can access all our resources and get started for free.
Article by Ludwina Dautovic
CEO and Founder - The Room Xchange
