The Subletter (Issue #5)

New product coming soon!

Dec 06, 2023

Welcome to the fifth issue of The Subletter, a newsletter for people interested in finding and hosting sublets. This issue will be broken down into 3 parts:

UPDATE. An exciting update on what’s next for The Subletter
RESULTS. Some interesting results from our feedback form
LISTINGS. A refreshed list of 20+ listings (available to sublet today!)

🚀 We’re launching a marketplace!

We are excited to announce that we will be launching a marketplace for sublets! thesubletter.com will go live on December 20th. More to come in our next issue :)

📊 Survey says…

Last issue, we sent out a survey seeking feedback. Here are some of the results.

First, almost all of you (83%) are interested in finding inexpensive places to live for weeks or months at a time (subletting). No surprise there. We were however surprised to see that more than half of you (56%) have stayed in sublets before. Only a few of you have subletted your place before (17%), but more than twice as many are interested in doing so (39%). Our thesis is that many who are interested in subletting their place have not done so because the friction is too high. The existing solutions are clunky and not purpose-built (Facebook groups, WhatsApp channels, Instagram stories, etc.). The Subletter is here to make this easier, so you can leave your place freely, and never have to pay double rent again.

We were curious to learn about your current living situations. The majority of you are currently signed to a 12-month lease (59%). Almost a quarter (24%) of you are living at home with parents. We believe living at home is going to have enduring appeal for young people because they can save money for most of the year while still traveling to other places whenever they want by subletting.

Forms response chart. Question title: Do you know if your lease allows for subletting/subleasing?. Number of responses: 18 responses.

More than half of you do not know if your lease allows for subletting/subleasing. This ambiguity creates friction for anyone considering listing their place. We know firsthand because it has kept us from listing our own places. To solve this problem, we are considering launching a simple webpage where people can upload their lease and we will let them know their landlord’s sublet/sublease policy in simple terms with some suggestions on how best to navigate subletting their place.

🔥 The Listings

If you’re interested in any of this week’s listings, please reply or email us at subletter@substack.com to let us know which one you’re interested in!

We hope you find a place you like, or decide to list your own.