New urban trend - coliving: how two emigrants from Kiev successfully launched a startup in the USA

Rental housing in New York is at least a third of the monthly income of the tenant. This is the first problem that immigrants face. The second is the lack of friends in a new place. Both problems are solved by a successful startup, which was launched in America by two young emigrants from Kiev. Read more about this in the video of the publication. "Present".

Photo: Shutterstock

What is coliving

Throughout New York, half a million young people rent apartments. They spend at least a third of their monthly income on this.

“For those in their early 20s, it’s not at all easy to find housing options in the Big Apple. Hotels are expensive, hostels are dirty, and Airbnb is risky. It is generally impossible to legally rent a house for less than a year,” the video says.

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And despite this, people continue to move here from other countries, trying to find work, affordable housing and make friends. A new urban trend called coliving solves all these problems.

Coaling (from the English coliving, Rus. - “cohabitation”) is a type of community that provides a cohabitation format for people with common intentions. A distinctive feature of this type of housing is joint events, meals or communication in common residential areas.

About startup

Two young emigrants from Kyiv launched an unusual startup called Outpost in America. They are buying houses and converting them into shared housing for millennials. Today they have 35 houses - in New York, New Jersey and San Francisco. The one in Brooklyn, New York is the smallest.

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Sergey Starostin, the co-owner of the business, stores the keys to all 35 coliving in his smartphone. He himself lives in the same Brooklyn coliving with other guests.

How it all began

Four years ago, lawyer Alexander Prikhodko and programmer Sergei Starostin began building their first New York startup. What prompted them to do this was the fact that in the Big Apple it is difficult to find normal housing for a month, two or three with all the amenities and at an adequate price. “The housing is of poor quality, nothing is included in the cost of living, and they constantly try to deceive us,” shared Sergei. “Against this background, we decided to do something like this for ourselves and at the same time started selling it through the website, through various channels. And this topic came up.”

What is inside coliving

At the entrance to the house are shelves clogged with shoes. Inside there is a spacious living room; its walls are decorated with paintings, a huge mirror, and at the window are a desk, an armchair and a coffee table. Also located here: five bedrooms and five bathrooms, a common dining room and a front garden.

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The building, according to Sergei, was built by the Germans and Italians in 1899 - that is, 120 years ago. The windows and shutters in the building are original.

How much is rental housing

The cost of renting a room in a Brooklyn co-living space ranges from $1000 to $2500 per month. “For New York, considering the number of additional services that we provide - cleaning, furniture, etc. - this is quite inexpensive,” added Sergey.

Read more at ForumDaily New York.

Other interesting materials on ForumDaily New York:

• Two Russian hockey players had a serious accident in New York
• Five cons of living in New York: the opinion of a Russian-speaking immigrant
• Personal experience of an immigrant: how is it to raise a child in New York

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