Will a resource that combines ratings, location, and pricing for vacant student rentals be useful to West Chester students?
Currently, students hastily choose a place to live from a limited list of options. Students pick from within a short time limit, sometimes without even viewing the apartment. This can be a huge issue because the apartment or house may have a bad landlord or issues within the building that have not been addressed to the renter. Students at West Chester University have a lot of barriers to cross when they are finding housing. Space Invaders would be creating an easier way to search for open apartments and allow for reviews to be constructed. There is no easy way to find apartments without fighting your way through other students or sending out waves of emails to owners. Most apartments are taken relatively quick by word-of-mouth because that is the best way to find out if there will be an opening. However, if you did not have a previous connection, you are going into the situation completely blind, which can lead to misjudgment. This project will give students a better chance of living somewhere that is decent.
There is no outstanding website that gives West Chester students the option to view the location of the building and see reliable feedback from former occupants. The popular website for finding apartments or houses is Places4Students, but it does not have an option to leave a comment or a rating of the listing. There is no section for any student feedback and students will only see as much information as the landlord is willing to publish. This could be an issue because students may not even see a picture of the building, so they will have to blindly select the listing or contact a landlord who could be undependable.
Security concerns are a matter of discussion when looking for safe places to live. If the area is known for being dangerous or there is suspicious activity, there is no warning for people looking hastily to rent a space. If there are current roommates that are included with the space, that can be a scary situation to jump into without any previous knowledge. Space Invader could allow for more information to be shared if there are residents already living within the apartment. Housing is limited for students, so a dependable resource that is easy to access, would be extremely beneficial.
Landlords may become more competitive with the addition of being held responsible to peer reviews. This could mean giving the apartment/ house updates or lower renter prices because the surrounding buildings are better. Having an open community for finding and renting apartments would be better for both parties.
