Makingmatchwith a landlord or potential roommate is difficult, we all know that. Even more so in a city like Madrid. Here good rental offers (and actually, even normal ones) fly. That is why tools have emerged beyond Idealista or Fotocasa, informal but effective, to find our ideal home. Via Instagram there are accounts like busco.madrid, a space where we can publish both “I’m looking for an apartment” and “I’m looking for a flatmate”.
The busco.madrid account shares posts from people who are trying to move or urgently need a roomieroomie. No need to be very elaborate, just upload Instagram stories that have valuable information: maximum price per room, ideal date to move in and other preferences to take into account. Of course, you can’t miss the tag to the profile.
The origin of busco.madrid
“The project came from my own experience looking for an apartment and from the aversion I had to apps for renting real estate” says Belén Turreira, art director in events and founder of busco.madrid. “I started noticing people uploading free rooms or accommodation requests to stories on Instagram. Always with the same catchphrase: “diffusion is appreciated”. I thought it was weird that no one had thought of collecting all those stories in one account, so I decided to do it myself,” he explains.
Turreira runs this project alone, which works organically to ensure ease of use. The format is designed to facilitate rental-related procedures, especially for younger tenants and landlords. “The profiles I usually get are people between the ages of 18 and 35. Students are very seasonal. Let’s say, it’s very noticeable when they finish exams, return to Madrid or come to live for the first time, because they are usually active between May and August,” says the founder. “Young people between 24 and 35 are the most constant during the year. During the summer they try to put their rooms or apartments up for rent, and they contact me on those dates,” she comments.
Future projection
For the time being, busco.madrid will function on Instagram as a advertising board, without changing its organic essence. That said, the @busco matrix has a future: Turreira is working on other initiatives such as busco.alguienn, an account aimed at finding profiles that want to join new creative projects. From designers to assistant film directors will have their space there.
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