LeaseEase Research Deck
November 2024
Summer 2024, I needed to find someone to take over my lease. What followed was unanswered DMs and endless scrolling through Facebook groups filled with outdated posts. I remember thinking, there has to be a better way.
LeaseEase came out of wanting to fix that—not with a flashy solution, but with something simple, clear, and human. We haven’t built the full product yet, but the process of mapping it out—talking to other students, designing user flows, sketching wireframes—has already taught me how design can turn real frustration into possibility.
This isn’t about reinventing housing. It’s about building something that understands the stress behind it. LeaseEase is my way of trying to make the subleasing process feel just a little less isolating, and a lot more intuitive.
Desk research finding
"As a college student in Southern California, I have faced the housing crisis head-on. Rent prices in cities like Irvine are extremely high, making it difficult for students to find affordable and flexible living spaces. Additionally, the process of subleasing is often fraught with challenges, including finding trustworthy sub-letters, unclear lease terms, and a lack of secure payment options."
We wanted to ensure that the housing crisis among students was a real issue, not just an isolated case. After conducting online research, we confirmed that many students face housing insecurity when leasing due to a lack of institutional support.
How are students dealing with increased housing cost?
UC Santa Barbara student Kris Hotchkiss lives in a van borrowed from Rahyen Heilmann, a close friend. The two friends renovated it to include a bed, fridge and ceiling fan. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“Because most UC and CSU campuses don’t guarantee housing for all four years — and in some cases don’t guarantee it to any students — students are often left to fend for themselves in such difficult rental markets as Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz…"
Many college students today face a crisis when it comes to securing affordable and stable housing. In urban cities where rent is already high, students are often priced out of nearby apartments. Despite the demand, on-campus housing is limited, leaving many students on indefinite waitlists with no guarantee of placement.
Ironically, even when students manage to get on-campus housing, the prices are not necessarily more affordable than off-campus options — in fact, universities often charge premium rates for convenience and amenities, which doesn’t help low-income students trying to make ends meet.
We decided to focus our target audience on college students, particularly those attending universities in urban areas with limited affordable housing. Students are often placed on long waitlists for on-campus housing and face high rental costs off-campus, leaving them with few stable options.
Through interviews, we found that many students experience housing insecurity due to limited supply, rising costs, and short timeframes between academic terms. While students showed interest in alternative housing solutions, most struggled to act on them due to financial constraints, lack of resources, or time pressures during the school year.
College Students
"The most harmful effects of student homelessness are personal. Compared to their peers, homeless college students experience higher levels of anxiety and poorer physical health, and have less access to nutritional food. "
In-depth user interviews
We conducted user interviews with four college students from different schools to better understand housing challenges. The goal was to gain insight into their experiences and explore how we could address these issues.
User survey insights
Given the time constraints of this project, we chose to distribute surveys through social media channels and received 31 responses from individuals who have experienced subleasing and leasing challenges.
Poor Communication
0%
0%
Unsecured Payment
0%
0%
No contract/security deposit
0%
0%
Outdated listing
0%
0%
Defining
After interviewing the participants, we were able to gain a much deeper and more nuanced understanding of our target audience—their challenges, frustrations, and behaviors when navigating the housing process.
These conversations revealed not only surface-level pain points but also underlying issues related to trust, time constraints, and lack of transparency in subleasing and leasing experiences. With these insights in mind, we can now begin to thoughtfully translate our findings into meaningful platform features that directly address the users' needs.
Key features
Challenge
How can we help students feel more secure and confident when leasing or subleasing their place to someone they don’t know?
I want to
"know who I'm subleasing/leasing to,"
so
"I can trust them with my place."
Solution
LeaseEase offers a built-in legal lease agreement available through an online system, streamlining the subleasing process. Customizable lease agreement templates allow sub-landlords to edit and send them to sub-leasers digitally, ensuring clarity, compliance, and security. This feature enhances efficiency while providing a seamless and legal leasing experience.
Challenge
How can we help students feel more secure and protected when creating lease agreements for subleasing?
I want to
"be able to sign a contract,"
so
"I feel safer when I sublease my apartment."
Solution
LeaseEase offers a built-in legal lease agreement available through an online system, streamlining the subleasing process. Customizable lease agreement templates allow sub-landlords to edit and send them to sub-leasers digitally, ensuring clarity, compliance, and security. This feature enhances efficiency while providing a seamless and legal leasing experience.
Challenge
How can we help students feel confident that their rent and deposit payments are safe and protected from scams?
I want to
"pay rent on a secure platform,"
so
"I don't get scammed."
Solution
Secure payment processing through the app, ensuring that all transactions, including rent and security deposits, are safely handled. By using a trusted payment system, funds are securely transferred and tracked, preventing fraud and reducing the risk of sub-landlords running away with deposits.