Somerville Startup Takes Aim at Apartment Hunting, Real Estate Agents

A Somerville startup wants to help people find apartments by cutting real estate agents out of the equation.

The Boston Herald has a story about JumpShell, which plans to harness the power of social media to match apartment hunters with soon-to-be vacant apartments.

One of the company's founders is a former real estate agent who saw his old colleagues use "bait-and-switch" tactics to pressure apartment hunters, according to the Herald.

As the Herald reports, such agents would post photos of desirable apartments on Craigslist, even though the apartments had already been rented. They'd then show apartment hunters a series of crummy apartments, followed by a nice apartment that's slightly above budget, thus creating a sense of urgency and earning the agent a quick commission.

JumpShell would let apartment hunters use social media to find apartments that will soon be on the market because a friend or acquaintance is planning to move. The company would then facilitate the transfer of the lease from the old tenant to the new prospective tenant, charging $125 to create an application and conduct a criminal background check and credit check. It would pass the application and background check information on to the landlord, thus cutting out real estate agents.

If the landlord doesn't accept the application, the prospective tenant gets his or her $125 back.

The Herald says JumpShell launches on June 15.

Read the Boston Herald article here.

Take a look at Somerville apartment listings here.