Whether it’s the high cost of living in a big city or simply a preference for more company, many millennials are finding that apartment or home-sharing arrangements are the best way to make it work in their favorite USA locale. It’s also an affordable option for recent college graduates and interns looking to gain real-world experience in their chosen field. The result is a massive number of “room for rent” offers in places such as San Francisco, Denver, and Philadelphia.
New York City is one of the most popular destinations for room for rent near me, with a wide range of neighborhoods offering a mix of cultural, dining, and entertainment options to suit any lifestyle. Manhattan is the most densely populated borough and home to Wall Street, while Brooklyn has an eclectic vibe with its own popular food offerings. Queens is more affordable with its parks and waterfront, while the Bronx has a unique character with its own baseball stadium across the Hudson River. Staten Island is the most urban of all the boroughs and connects to Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry.
The iROOMit app is designed to be a one-stop shop for both landlords and renters. It allows users to create a profile that includes the type of neighborhood they prefer, their budget and amenities, and their tolerance for smoking and pets. It then matches them with potential roommates based on their preferences. It’s available for both Android and iOS devices. iROOMit has a free account, with paid upgrades that offer background checks and a verified badge (verified users get five times as many messages, according to the site).
SpareRoom is another popular choice for finding shared housing. Its basic search page includes all the usual filters, such as furnished rooms and utilities included, plus it has a few not-so-usual ones, including no-fee listings and apartments for students. It also offers a premium membership that lets users communicate with landlords and tenants more quickly, while adding more filters.
Diggz is a more user-friendly alternative to Craigslist, with an easy-to-use interface and search function that displays results in a list format rather than in a grid. Its advanced search is just as comprehensive, with categories for no-fee listings, pets allowed, and even a category to find an apartment or room that’s ADA compliant.
The Listings Project is a bit of a local legend in NYC, a privately run website that’s geared toward creative professionals looking for studio spaces and rooms to rent. The site’s founder, Stephanie Diamond, personally vets the listings to ensure there are no bait-and-switch ads. The results are emailed to subscribers each week—and word is that the best listings go fast. The free service requires an email address to sign up. There’s also a paid version of the site called Padmapper that’s similar in scope, with more customizable filters. The site isn’t available outside the USA, though.
