Apartment renting takes a page from online dating

So many candidates, so little opportunity to find out which exactly which one is right for you. Wait a minute, are we talking about dating or finding an apartment? While searching for suitable dates via the internet is certainly not the most authentic approach, there’s a lot to be learned from such a system when fittingly applied to the inanimate yet life-impacting relationship you’ll have with where you choose to live.

Hubbuzz is the closest thing yet to a match.com for apartment hunting. Instead of entering in height, gender and personal interests, you provide neighborhood characteristics: walkable, urban, diverse, convenient to the city… The system is new so there aren’t that many listing or host cities (just San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver (image above is from Lakewood), Northern Colorado and Colorado Springs), and the unit listings aren’t that detailed (hardwood floors? loft? open floor plan?), but they’re on the right track.

Apartment owners pay the dwelling matchmaker $375 for every renter they secure, and the renter gets a $100 for using the system as a reward (mainly to allow HubBuzz to validate their $375 commission).

Of course, the cooltown approach is to assemble a group of people to list their ideal building’s characteristics, then working with someone to build it. Try that, eharmony.com.

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