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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Lifestyle
Kathryn Lindsay

‘Amazon for real estate’: how the StreetEasy app took over New York

StreetEasy New York Amazon
illustration of person running from StreetEasy app to door with
From the moment would-be renters or buyers start their hunt to the moment they walk into their new homes, StreetEasy facilitates it all. Illustration: Gizem Winter/The Guardian

When Madeline Heckman decided to move from the Upper West Side to Brooklyn last year, she knew exactly where to start her search: with StreetEasy. “I honestly didn’t bother looking at other alternative apps,” she said. The interface was user-friendly, the entire city’s listings were there, and her previous website of choice, Naked Apartments, had shuttered in 2020. She ultimately found the place of her dreams, a two-bedroom with a walk-in closet in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Heckman is in good company. Ask anyone in New York City how they found their apartment, and the answer is a no-brainer: in 2022, StreetEasy might as well be the city’s entire real estate business.

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