As a UC Santa Barbara freshman, Damon Dvorson solo-signed three housing leases for his fraternity in 2022.
"I didn't realize I was signing on $10 million worth of leases," Dvorson said.
He scrambled to fill the 51 beds.
Through this experience, he learned a lot about housing and realized the need for a better platform, thus "Housing Helper" was born. The app aims to match landlords or subleasers with tenants using AI to save time while searching.
"This house right here is now up on the app, so the property managers can put whatever information they want here, even the direct application link," explained Alex Nicolas, Housing Helpers COO.
Currently, Housing Helper has 70 listings in Isla Vista and expects to have 80% of the market by next year.
After moving in, the app also helps tenants split rent and utilities on group leases.
"You upload your ledger to the group payment page, and it will tell you exactly who owns what. And not only that, it'll also give you the option to notify all people in your group of their current balance and when to pay," Dvorson explained.
Additionally, Chief Marketing Officer Mason Watters says chats on the app have built-in translation.
"So students can communicate even if they don't speak the same language," Watters said.
Even with the app still in the early stages of a start-up, Dvorson is devoted.
"It’s 20 hours a day, seven days a week and yeah, I mean, I love it. It doesn't feel like work. I just want to see it grow and see it help people," he said.
Housing Helper is available on the web, IOS, and Android.
