A few students at the University  of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan launched a website that provides information for all off-campus housing opportunities specific to various universities. Created in 2012 and originally launched for their school specifically, the convenience-seeking website was launched at Mississippi State University a few weeks ago.
According to Cribspot.com cofounder Tim Jones, the website has already launched at around 124 locations.
“We started Cribspot out of frustration stemming from our own off-campus housing searches at the University of Michigan,” Jones said. “There were no good online resources so we resorted to walking around campus looking for signs on houses. We knew that if we could bring all that rental information into one spot, that students would love it.”
“We worked nights and weekends during the summer leading up to our senior year, and eventually launched the first version of Cribspot in Ann Arbor, Michigan in fall 2012,” Jones said.
Upon visitation of the website, a list of numerous off-campus apartments and housing opportunities can be seen, given the choice to be sorted by popularity or price. The website also lists whether each apartment is furnished, leasing or allows animals.
After evaluating the website’s true necessity, Jones said students across the country face similar problems finding off-campus housing. 
“There are no good online resources that have enough listings to be all that useful, and the high-demand properties that students want often times don’t even make it online,” he said. “We’re solving these problems at the universities where we’ve launched.”
Sameer Vinayak, student at Rutgers school of Business, said the website was a necessary addition to the college experience. 
“At least here, if not at other universities, there wasn’t an easy-to-use website to look for off-campus rentals,” Vinayak said. “Some of my friends who have used Cribspot find the ability to sort the listings particularly useful, so they don’t have to scroll through hundreds of Facebook posts and Craigslist ads just to narrow their list down to apartments with the number of rooms they were looking for.”
Highlighting Cribspot’s success at the University of Michigan, Vinayak said it makes sense the website has had success at other universities.
“The thing that stands out most to me right off the bat is the interface,” Vinayak said. “The site is modern and easy to use, unlike some of the bleak alternatives we have here.”
Mississippi State University’s off-campus housing opportunities can be viewed on the website at www.cribspot.com/search/msstate/rentals.