Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates Noelle Marcus and Rachel Goor are targeting two of the largest living generations in the country with this new housing app.
The app, called Nesterly, connects millennials and college students in search of temporary housing with baby boomers who have excess space and could use the extra cash.
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Nesterly (think empty nesters) targets older homeowners who have available rooms now that their children have moved out. The app allows homeowners and students to search the app for potential roomies and use its messaging system to reach an agreement on rent and the duration of the stay, CityLab reports.
The app will launch in Boston in time for the fall semester and has already won a handful of competitions within the past year, including MIT’s Global Ideas Challenge and New York City’s Big Apps contest.
The intergenerational living trend is catching fire, with about 40 formal programs similar to Nestlery underway nationwide, according to the National Shared Housing Resource Center. Even nursing homes and senior living facilities have started opening their doors to millennials for temporary housing, CityLab reports.
As rising construction costs exacerbate the country’s mid- to low-range housing shortage, services like these may become increasingly popular. There remains a large disparity between the luxury apartments coming online and the working-class Americans who need units. This divide is driving renters from expensive core markets with inflated rents like San Francisco and New York to more financially manageable areas. To combat this imbalance, developers are looking for value-add opportunities to purchase and upgrade older product.
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