Related Realty has partnered with Chicago-based StudentSpace, the city’s only apartment-finding service tailored exclusively to graduate students, and it’s sister company for med students MedResidences, to both serve graduate students now and groom future customers for later.
The services can help both single students and students with young families find rental housing throughout Chicago and neighborhoods such as Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Hyde Park. They also serve north suburban Evanston.
Related Realty sees this partnership as a way for them to initiate relationships with potential customers long before they can or want to go from renters to owners. It also initiates student with substantial earning potential into the real estate service arena long before others begin to compete for their attention.
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Part of what sets the services apart, according to company representatives, is the fact that they do not put available listings on their websites. Instead, they seek to establish a high-touch client and agent relationship to match the renter to a unit that best meets their specific daily needs.
StudentSpace, launched in 2004, finds apartments for thousands of students from more than 20 Chicago-area graduate programs each year. Most placements are in high-rise residences, but on occasion the rental spaces are individual rooms, condominiums, lofts and single-family homes. The goal is always safe, affordable housing close to school and/or with access to public transportation.
Both US-based and international students are clients of the services. In some cases, potential renters tour and lease their units remotely via video services such as Skype and FaceTime.
“Our decade of experience gives us a deep understanding of what students are looking for in terms of location, amenities and, most importantly, price point,” said Tyler Roth, principal and broker at StudentSpace, in a statement. “Because so many graduate students are moving to Chicago from other cities and, in some cases, other countries, they rely on us to be their eyes and ears and guide them through the rental process from start to finish.”
StudentSpace’s has established relationships with some of Chicago’s most prestigious academic institutions, including Northwestern University, DePaul University, Loyola University, the University of Chicago and the John Marshall Law School.
MedResidences specializes in rental housing for medical students and graduates going through residency and fellowship programs, and has relationships with the city’s largest hospitals, including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, University of Chicago Medical Center and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
Related Realty is the residential brokerage division of Related Midwest, an affiliate of The Related Companies.
