Off-campus rental rating
UD student creates a Yelp-like review website for off-campus rental properties
11:49 a.m., July 13, 2015--Thousands of university students search for off-campus housing each year, most relying on online searches and property tours for information. But students don’t have access to one valuable resource: reviews and recommendations from previous tenants.
University of Delaware entrepreneurship and technology innovation (ENTI) senior Jacob Jeifa has launched a new website called TenantU to solve this problem.
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“Many services do not offer reviews from individuals who have lived in those homes, which I see as vital to finding the best home possible,” Jeifa said. “This is what separates TenantU from the competition.”
TenantU features rental property reviews by and for university students, allowing potential renters to search for reviews of apartments or homes in the same way they might for a new restaurant or movie.
“Students have really embraced the site,” Jeifa continued. He said that UD students are actively adding their voices to TenantU’s property profiles, sharing a wide range of honest insider reviews.
Some of the reviews warn students of potential problems with rentals.
“The landlord is difficult to get in touch with,” posted one user.
“My only complaint would be how thin the walls are,” wrote another, who added a number of positive comments about the property as well: “The location is one of the best on campus, and I enjoyed some of the best times of my life in these apartments.”
“They’re always friendly at the front desk and have fresh baked cookies,” commented another user about their previous rental.
Jeifa said that these Yelp-style reviews give users information on rental properties that they can’t find anywhere else. In fact, he was inspired to build the site because he was unable to find tips like these during his own renting experiences.
“If this is happening to me, it has to be happening to others as well,” Jeifa said. “So I set out to develop an online platform to make housing information more readily available and to help ensure the best possible living experiences for students during their time at school.”
Studying entrepreneurship and innovation
Jeifa said that his work as an ENTI student supports his entrepreneurial aspirations and that he couldn’t be happier with the program.
Offered through the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, the ENTI major empowers students by providing them with the knowledge, skills, connections and access to resources needed to launch startups and drive innovation.
“Being able to apply what I’m learning in class directly to my work as I learn it is truly rewarding,” Jeifa said. “It really makes you hungry to learn more.”
The Horn Program has also provided Jeifa with a good deal of mentorship throughout his efforts to create TenantU.
“I wouldn’t be where I am now, and my prospects would be much dimmer, without the people within the Horn Program,” Jeifa said.
“Their mentors have been great for solving some of my biggest concerns, and the events serve as unbelievable platforms for receiving a wide range of feedback from people who’ve been there and done it before.”
And Jeifa’s hard work has paid off. At the Horn Program’s recent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase, TenantU won the Audience Choice Award, and Jeifa won the Shawn and Sheryl McCall Award for Entrepreneurship.
Jeifa said that support like this from the Horn Program, as well as encouragement from other groups like Delaware’s APES Social Club, is helping TenantU to grow and develop.
He plans to continue to build TenantU at UD until the website is “a staple of the housing search.” Then he’ll work to bring the site to other colleges.
“I want TenantU to be the go-to platform when you are looking for your next off-campus home, no matter what school you go to,” Jeifa said.
Article by Sunny Rosen