Even under normal circumstances, meeting strangers to pick an affordable place to live can be stressful. You never know whether your prospective landlord or roommate is merely deceitful or, in the worst case, dangerous. Add a pandemic to that equation and you also face the possibility of contracting COVID-19, even when wearing a mask.
(It’s also tricky to maintain real social distance while someone is walking you through a tiny apartment. For now, virtual tours on Zoom or FaceTime will have to do.)
At the same time, Facebook groups focused on housing in particular cities — often aimed at niche communities — are assisting budget-conscious renters who are anxious about their search.
How to Find Housing on Facebook
I went through the stress of tracking down a new rental during the pandemic. Anyone living in a major city on a tight budget knows that finding a new place usually means lining up multiple roommates you can live with comfortably.
I’m very pleased with my current unit in Washington, DC, which I share with two roommates. I discovered it through the Facebook group DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland Housing, Sublets, and Roommates. With over 61,000 members, it’s among the largest groups of its type in the region. I spoke with its founder, Carson Sweezy, a chef and entrepreneur.
Sweezy launched the group in 2015 after realizing the D.C. region lacked a Facebook housing forum. He drew inspiration from the groups commonly used by college students to locate roommates and leases without dealing with brokers and their fees.
“Housing is a community resource. I don’t think we should have to rely on brokers or leasing offices to find housing but rather through our networks,” he said.
When searching for an ideal home and compatible roommates, he recommends treating it somewhat like applying for a job. That means showcasing who you are, your background, and what you’re seeking in a living arrangement.
The absence of agents or brokers is appealing when using Facebook to hunt for housing. It not only cuts costs, but the informal nature of the process means you can message a prospective roommate or landlord directly with questions or concerns.
In many ways, Facebook has become a midpoint between the formality of platforms like Zillow and the untamed chaos of Craigslist.
Benefits of Using Facebook to Find Housing
Facebook groups make it easy to locate housing that suits your specific lifestyle. There are groups focused on housing for Muslims, Asian-Americans and even vegans. These communities aren’t necessarily exclusionary; they’re a way to find roommates who share your values and customs.
For some people, appropriate housing is also about safety. I spoke with Arami Tessa, a health care navigation professional, about the group he created named Queer Housing Boston.
Tessa started that group roughly five years ago to give queer people a space to find homes where they can feel free to be themselves.
Living in a place that isn’t LGBT-friendly, he said, “can be as extreme as violence, or as much as not wanting to change yourself and be your full self in your home. There is power in having a living space that is queer-centric. There’s an assumption that there’s safety.”
The pandemic has changed how Tessa manages the group.
“(The LGBT) community is hurting a lot. We are disproportionately homeless anyway, and the pandemic has made it worse. This is especially true for queer people who are also brown or disabled,” he said. “As a moderator, I did make a concrete change when Covid hit. Pre-Covid I was very strict about only housing posts, and now I am open to fundraising requests from community members and resource sharing.”
The larger the city, the more numerous and varied the housing groups tend to be. If you don’t find dedicated groups for your location, Facebook Marketplace can be a solid alternative.
Whiteville, N.C., the tenth least-populated city in the United States, has just 5,340 residents. Still, Facebook Marketplace lists dozens of attractive rental options. It’s largely about searching in the appropriate places and trusting your instincts.
Tips for Using Facebook to Find Housing
- Don’t hand over your personal phone number right away. Use Facebook Messenger initially to verify whether someone seems legitimate without revealing private contact details.
- Try to gauge how potential roommates are responding to the pandemic. If they ignore social distancing and never wear masks, that’s a red flag. Conversely, if they shame you for leaving your home at all, that could also signal a poor match.
- It’s smart to perform a reverse image search on photos of a prospective property. I’ve done this myself and discovered a listing I thought was in DC was actually a Seattle listing advertised at triple the price. If no matches appear, the images are probably authentic.
- Be practical about pricing. Research the average rent in the neighborhood you want. If you find an ideal place with rent far below what nearby units go for, it’s likely a fraudulent listing or there’s a significant caveat. A useful resource is the Zillow Rent Zestimate, which estimates rental value. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Olivia Parker is a contributor to Savinly.
