Need Awareness and Information Search

I interviewed individuals regarding the unmet need of a sufficient and efficient platform for finding leases of various terms and specific criteria. I asked the following questions:

Do you live off campus?
yes lux Do you have a need to locate subleases or leases with specific criteria?
How did you find your current lease?
What criteria or amenities do you look for in a lease?
Do you have trouble finding leases that meet all of these criteria?
When you became aware of your need for a lease, how did you begin your search?
When you search in Google, what are your search terms?
Do you talk to friends and family to help find a lease?
Have you ever had to sublease your apartment for a short term, if so how did you market your lease?
Have you ever sought out a sublease? If so, what were the main struggles you faced in your search?
Are you aware of others that have a need to sublease their apartment or find a sublease? Is this a major issue?
Do you think that majority of attempts to have a sublease fulfilled succeed or fail? Why?
Do you feel as if there's a sufficient platform or amount of resources to locate leases and subleases or search engines are limited?

Following are my interviews and reflections. Please copy and paste the provided link into your browser to listen to the interview audio files.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9XCvjV9Hw-EZld4Sm5ZVFRETU0/view?usp=sharing

From the first candidate I learned that stability is a concern for individuals looking for leases. People are more likely to sign a full lease and attempt to sublease for the terms they plan on living out of town rather than locating a sublease that fits their needs. It seems to be that it is difficult for people to find subleases that fit their criteria, and there is some psychological factor that plays into one's decision to pursue a lease or sublease. Individuals prefer to have a secured place to live and risk paying rent when they are not residing in their residence, rather than taking the "risk" of pursuing a short term lease associated with another individual's lease, or spending ample time locating a sublease that fits their criteria. The issue is not so much finding leases that have all of the amenities someone is looking for, but rather balancing out the ratio of subleases to subleasers by ensuring security in leasing options.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9XCvjV9Hw-EcldkR3VhaG5rYkE/view?usp=sharing

From the second candidate I learned that students depend on word of mouth and social media to locate leases and subleases, despite any extensive research done on the internet via Google. This candidate relayed that students are heavily reliant on their networks and their friends networks. Students are likely to base their leasing decision off of a conversation or a post on social media with/from within their network rather than information obtained on an online search engine. Also, another major concern for individuals seeking subleases are the amount of new room mates they will have to learn to live with. Ideally, the fewer roommates there are to adjust to the more likely an individual is to sublease an apartment. I had not realized this concern prior to interviewing this candidate.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9XCvjV9Hw-EcUlwcHhIWk40ZG8/view?usp=sharing

From the final candidate, the reliance of individuals on their immediate network who have experience in apartment complexes was further confirmed. It was noted that successful subleases (meaning someone successfully found another individual to sublease but also someone seeking a sublease was able to land one and sign off on a short term lease) are resultant of and proportional to diligence. This individual relayed that if one is willing to do extensive research and put in the work ethic to either find someone to sublease for them by continuously posting on social media and promoting it verbally or to continuously ask about sublease opportunities and search online, then they will likely succeed in their endeavor. The point: in order to find a sublease or someone to sublease for you you have to put in a great deal of effort with the current resources at hand. Furthermore, when I asked how long the lease-hunting process took for this individual she admitted that it took roughly two to three months of investigation in finding a lease that fit her needs.

In terms of need awareness, students are aware that subleasing is a taxing and risky endeavor. The general consensus is that it is more unlikely than not that a sublease endeavor will fail. Students are aware that it is difficult to find someone to sublease for you and also difficult to find a sublease that meets their needs. In regards to information search, ultimately, no one single online resource or search engine proves to meet the need of students who need to sublease. Students are forced to conduct multiple searches through various websites and forums in order to locate a sublease that meets their ideal criteria or find an individual who is willing to commit to all of the amenities and the living environment of one's current lease for a short term.