Why finding housing in Madison is harder than it should be—and how to navigate it

 By: Sean Duffy

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People searching for a place to live often have to scour the internet for hours to find a decent option. This process is especially difficult for college students and young adults since there is such a rush to find your place and sign the lease and many of the affordable housing options clear out fast. With time frames that open and close within days, tenants may not deal with the best environment while searching for a house. For many, leases are available to sign in September, and the best available options are no longer available come October.  During this search for a place to live people encounter various issues, for example:

1. Price Gouging

In college towns across the country, local houses and apartment complexes are raising their prices.  Lessors are trying to take advantage of students that need a place to live and are raising the prices of their units dramatically (Bonsall. 2023). Tenants don’t have a choice but to pay these outrageous rates since there are few alternatives. 

OpenHouse will offer a price comparison feature that will allow users to compare the prices of listings to see which units are the most affordable relative to neighborhood and city comps. This feature will give more power to the homebuyer and prevent price gouging. 

2. Unorganized Search Experience

The average young adult looking for a place to live is not 100% sure of what they are looking for in housing. To complicate this matter, housing websites do not always present all the information in a relevant way and may sometimes spread false information. 

Availability is one of OpenHouse’s strongest features. We combine every homefinding feature into one intuitive app to make sure that first time home buyers know exactly what to do. From finding a roommate to finding a house, OpenHouse makes housing easier. 

3. Trouble Finding Roommate(s)

College students aren’t always required to live in on-campus housing during their education. More often than not students live in dorms for their first year and look for off-campus housing for their sophomore year. The issue here is that students are trying to sign leases for their sophomore year, ideally, in late September-October, and that only leaves them with one month to find one or more people to share a place with. Is one month enough time to learn if that person is going to be a good fit for your roommate?

OpenHouse offers Roommate Matching, where users can swipe on possible roommates for the coming lease year. Once both users match with each other, they can communicate using the instant messaging feature and cooperate to find the right place for them.

4. Landlord Misconduct

Landlords hold most, if not, all the power when it comes to leasing. They control all aspects of the housing, often increasing rent and decreasing the quality of their units. Considering how limited the housing options are in college towns, there is no regulation for the unethical decisions of lessors.

By providing landlord reviews and apartment reviews, OpenHouse can confirm that each landlord will be accurately rated for their side of a leasing agreement. Poor landlords will receive poor reviews and that will be made known to all users on the app.

5. Falsified Property Information

Imagine you and your roommate land the housing unit of your dreams: Fully furnished, convenient location, there’s even a hot tub on the balcony. The only catch is that the rent is $400 more than it was supposed to be. Incorrect property information and unverified listings are ruining people’s experiences on the housing market by trapping tenants into units they wouldn’t have chosen had they been provided correct information (Bonsall, 2023).

OpenHouse has a thorough verification process that confirms all listings are real and can confirm verified landlords. Any unverified listings will be removed from the app and all verified landlords will have an icon next to their name confirming their legitimacy. This process allows users to sort out who they want to lease from and fact-check listings.

6. Area Safety

The toxic housing market has become so volatile that units on the lower quality end are becoming the most realistic options.A lot of young adults looking to sign a lease might become discouraged by units in unsafe locations. Nevertheless, these same people don’t have a choice but to live in these areas due to the pricing ranges. The housing market is forcing people into unsafe living environments; how can a student focus on their education when they also have to worry about their own safety?

The best way OpenHouse tackles safety is by sharing all available information. If there were more listings that students knew about, students could avoid unsafe locations. OpenHouse’s strength is information; with more of it, users can make more informed decisions. 

7. Finding Community

For college students, finding a sense of home in a place far from your hometown is hard to come by. Finding a roommate after being on campus for one month is going to be a gamble. If that gamble doesn’t pay off, building a community is going to be tough considering you won’t have that cornerstone. This statement can also be applied to transfer students. 

If you don’t click with the roommate you matched with, that’s okay. OpenHouse will also sponsor community building events such as bonfires, cookouts, and bar crawls to foster a higher sense of community pride. OpenHouse isn’t just about housing, it’s about finding a home. 

8. Parking

In larger cities, parking has become a massive issue. UW-Madison students are discouraged from bringing a vehicle with them to campus since there is a very small number of available parking spaces compared to the number of students on campus. If bringing a car is a must-have, your housing needs to have a place to store that vehicle.

OpenHouse provides parking as one of the features in setting up a user’s profile. With that being said, users can filter out housing locations that don’t have available parking. Users can also see if a potential roommate will have their vehicle. 

9. Commute

Whether you’re moving to a new city for a job opportunity or you’re a student with a new campus to explore, commuting is an integral part of the housing search. The ideal house for your new job is not going to be two hours from your work, and the best housing units on campus are within walking distance of your classes. 

OpenHouse users can include their desired location in their profile. Any housing units outside of a certain radius will not be shown to the user. This can prevent OpenHouse users to seeing housing out of their distance. 

10. Mental Health/Stress

Mental health is an underrated part of the housing search. The entire process is definitely overwhelming, and a lot of people lose motivation and give up at the start, leading to a weaker pool of available units later in the year. Housing is stressful and can take a toll on a new student’s mental health. An unmotivated and preoccupied student not only doesn’t want to prioritize academics but will ignore them entirely.

OpenHouse will provide users with the housing market in the palm of their hand. By saving users so much time, OpenHouse creates a stress-free environment to find a place to live. With less time spent on tedious housing tasks, students can prioritize their education.

If the housing crisis is the problem, then OpenHouse is the solution. OpenHouse gives its users a community-based and convenient hub to find their next housing option. Problems such as price gouging can be avoided when users can see cheaper alternatives. OpenHouse is designed to take the stress out of finding housing, so sign up today to swipe, swipe, sign.

Sources

Bonsall, E., Author    Evan Bonsall    Evan Bonsall is a Madison resident, Gabler, S., & Gordon, S. (2023, September 19). How to actually Solve Madison’s housing crisis. Tone Madison. https://tonemadison.com/articles/how-to-actually-solve-madisons-housing-crisis/