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Skylight is the Tinder of the Rental Search

  • October 7, 2014

by Lark Turner

Skylight is the Tinder of the Rental Search: Figure 1

The partner-like relationship between desperate New York City renters and the city’s real estate brokers is a long-running joke; it’s even been parodied on Sex and the City. Now a new app is making that line blurrier.

Skylight presents renters with apartments in their price range, and then users swipe left or right — in a Tinder-like fashion — to indicate whether they like an apartment or don’t. If they like it, they can immediately connect with a broker who can show them the apartment. Unlike Craigslist, the app promises to avoid duplicate listings. A similar app, Doorsteps Swipe, does the same thing.

The con, according to Brick Underground: The site verifies its listings by working with brokers that almost inevitably charge a fee to renters. It’s a slog to find no-fee brokers in the city, but possible.

And though the listings are real, they’re also the same ones you’re likely to see on other sites, including Craigslist, Brick Underground points out.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/skylight_app_is_the_tinder_of_the_housing_search/9062

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