Finding affordable and desirable off-campus housing may have gotten easier for Saint Louis University students this week with the advent of movingoffcampus.com, a student-oriented apartment search engine.
The Web site was started by two Washington University students, sophomore Oliver Kremer and junior Mark Sawyier. A portion of the site specifically for SLU was launched on Tuesday.
“Our number-one concern is that we want to help students out,” Sawyier said. “We wanted to put everything on one site, in one easy-to-use resource.”
Sawyier said that he understands the difficulties that students have in finding the best off-campus housing opportunities, having experienced them himself; this was part of his inspiration to create movingoffcampus.com.
On the Web site, students can search apartment listings posted by property owners, or they can look for subleasing opportunities posted by other students. Students searching for a subleaser, either over the summer or during the school year, can post their apartment on the student message boards.
Kremer and Sawyier said that the site is unique from other housing search engines because it was made “for students, by students.” And it seems that Kremer and Sawyier know what students really need-or want. They have adopted a promotional campaign that includes the distribution of pens, lighters and shot glasses, all bearing the mark of movingoffcampus.com.
“What separates our sites from others not targeted to a specific university is that we have gone out and found all of the apartments that are still available, ordered in proximity to campus,” Sawyier said, adding that the majority of the apartment listings are one to 15 minutes away from campus. “It saves students a lot of time.”
Proprietors pay a fee to list apartments on the site, but students can post on the subletting message boards for free.
“The Web site will always be free for students,” Sawyier said.
They have involved their friends at other universities in the project; the engine is also available for students at Fontbonne University, Tufts University and Brown University, and will be expanding to reach more universities in the future.
“We want to include as many schools as we possibly can,” Sawyier said.
The Web site’s essential features are up and running, but Sawyier said that they are open to suggestions for improving the interface design and adding new functionalities.
Soon to be added is a roommate search feature, which will consist of a two-part questionnaire, designed with the help of a psychology professor at Wash. U. First, the student will answer a series of questions about himself or herself; then, the student will supply information about what he or she is looking for in a roommate.
Similar surveys used by university housing departments often assume that likeness is something that students want in a roommate. “That’s not necessarily true,” said Sawyier. The Web site’s two-part questionnaire will help students better control the outcome of their roommate search.
The Web site currently gets more than 4,200 hits per day. Movingoffcampus.com launched at Wash. U. on Feb. 8, and about 250 Wash. U. accounts have been created since then.
“A user for every apartment-that’s the ideal,” Sawyier said.
Kiki Henry, a SLU freshman and a member of the movingoffcampus.com promotional team at SLU, said that the more SLU students who use the site, the more beneficial it will be for everyone.
“It will take the student body to make it grow,” she said.
