We are active in 75 countries around the world, so get browsing now to be matched with the perfect rental home or housemate.

The people you live with can set the tone of your life, so we have made it as easy as possible of you to meet the right ones via video.

The team have worked hard to create a fresh look site, with a colourful, easy to use interface – housemate hunting no longer has to be a chore.

Video is our point of difference, and it allows users to save precious time and energy searching, by presenting an authentic picture of places and properties online.

Users can create their own “selfie”videos or tour a home with their phone within minutes, so they can show who they are and what they want.

It’s the fastest, easiest way to make a decision about a person or property,  because if a picture tells a thousand words – a video says it all. 

So head to RealEstateTube and tell your friends – they might be there already!

We’re #1 and we’re free, where owners, renters and flatmates use video to meet.

RealEstateTube.com for example has hit 21, 000 users in 12 months – it’s one of several emerging platforms entering a space dominated by major players in an industry ripe for disruption.

The issue of housing affordability is not exclusive to buyers: renters are being priced out of the areas in which they work and applying for tenancy has become depressingly like an auction.

Last month, we saw historically low wage growth, fixing a number to what we already knew: the housing affordability crisis is not limited to buyers.

Housing affordability is a headline issue in major cities all over the world, for good reason.Along Australia’s eastern seaboard, the median house price is hovering around the million-dollar mark, rent rates are skyrocketing and finding shelter is increasingly competitive.  Average salaries have not risen with CPI and are not proportionate to the enormous surge in property values in recent years, so living alone isn’t viable for a growing number of people.

The solution is house sharing, and it’s one being increasingly drawn upon by those outside the ‘student phase’: divorcees, empty nesters and retirees are demographics on the rise.  We can embrace taking on tenants to pay a mortgage or “rent-vesting” as a fiscal solution, but what if we are missing the real value here?

Modern humans are lonely. There are so many lonely people in the world, as we become more distant from family, ritual, religion and community. What if you could live with people who improve your life, while sharing the costs and chores?

Living with strangers and the “roll the dice” element of selecting roommates online is no picnic, nor is it fun having to traipse from house to house selling yourself as a good human to randoms…. and let’s not talk about the special brand of rejection that comes from being dismissed by strangers in a social setting…. but there is help.

Using www.realestatetube.com  you can upload a selfie video, it’s global so you can find your tribe before you even get to a new city or even country, and a video says an awful lot.
If you have a house and want to fill it, you can “meet” people via a video much more easily than if you see a simple headshot and blurb. You just know 4 seconds in if it’s a yay or a nay. Likewise if you’re the roaming prospective tenant, preparing to insert yourself into a ready-made household.

The good news is that as well as vetting out the nasties, this is a fabulous way to find your tribe and live your best life.

Are you a senior citizen who needs help around the house, could do with some cash on top of the pension and wouldn’t mind a young person to fill one of your rooms?

Are you a newly-arrived migrant struggling to learn the language, looking to slot in with a family – and maybe, that family might need help with their mortgage?

Do you miss living with friends, now your kids are grown up and out of home?

Maybe “home” doesn’t look like you thought it would – maybe it’s better.

What if we told you, you could make a minimum of $7,800 a year?

No, not by working extra hours or by selling unwanted goods…

What if we told you, you could make a minimum of $150 a week by doing nothing at all. Yep, we’re serious!

Do you have a spare room?

The median price to rent a bedroom in a sharehouse is $150 per week nationally. Studies have shown the average person in Australia moves out of home between the ages of 18-25.

So, your kids have moved out, or your a first home owner needing help to reduce the stress of your mortgage repayments, and you’ve got an empty room in your place. Imagine if you had a housemate paying you weekly… what would you do with the extra cash?

• A. Pay off your mortgage
• B. Save for an overseas holiday
• C. Buy a fancy dinner every week
• D. Take salsa dancing classes
• E. Buy a pet sloth
• F. All of the above

If any of these answers seem appealing, you definitely belong on www.realestatetube.com. The possibilities are endless!

Don’t procrastinate any longer… Tidy up that spare room, take a quick video and upload a listing today. Plus, the life-long friendships you create are absolutely priceless.

Do:

• Be professional when dealing with your housemates. If you’re the Landlord or Lead Tenant, you can avoid being taken advantage of by keeping things professional.
• Make sure you follow all the legal and legislative requirements. In Victoria, the Rentright app covers most of the things both Landlords and Tenants need to know. Even better, it’s free on both iOS and Google Play!
•  Prepare a standard questionnaire beforehand. First off cover basics like employment (How often do they work? Is it a stable job? What hours? Do they work from home? If they have a partner, how often will they be staying over? But don’t be afraid to dig deeper into things that can make or break how well you live together. Things like favourite TV shows, music, if they like to cook or eat out and if they have a large circle of friends that will be visiting frequently (at all hours) are better asked upfront. These things may seem trivial but can have a huge impact on how comfortable you feel in your own home.
• Screen them before meeting. Apart from watching their Real Estate Tube video and checking their online footprint, have a chat on the phone or use FaceTime or Skype to get an even better feel for them.
• Be very clear about what happens with bills. Are utilities included in the rent & if so, which ones? Or will you be splitting bills & if so, who pays what share?
• Make sure your home complies with safety regulations. For example, make sure you have good quality smoke alarms fitted in every bedroom, hallway and living area. Don’t forget to get them professionally checked and change the batteries annually.
• Get an external tenant background check. Let’s be honest: nobody is going to tell you they have a terrible rental history. You can find more information on our tenancy agreements page. Or for a small fee, agencies like tenancycheck.com.au can run a thorough search and find out if they’ve been blacklisted before. You can do this online and it’s relatively cheap for peace of mind.

Don’t

• Fall for stories like I am starting a new job and can’t pay you until… (We recommend a strict no money, no room policy to reduce your risk)
• Skip reference checking. Get a couple for each category if possible: personal, previous landlords and employers. References can uncover a lot, and your future tenant of the year won’t have anything to hide.
• Leave things unclear in negotiations. Clarity now will save you a lot of hassle later. By knowing that their partner will be staying over every night (ie. Basically another tenant) before you rent a room to them, you can set boundaries first and avoid difficult conversations.
• Let payments go unpaid. Set up a Direct Debit and always make sure the money is paid on the agreed day. Chasing up one payment that is slightly overdue is better than chasing many. It also sends a message to your tenant that you won’t put up with late payments.

Disclaimer: Real Estate Tube makes no representations to the above blog or accepts any responsibility as to the accurateness of the above information. Both tenants and Landlords should seek their own independent advice and not rely on the above information.

By renting out a room and managing it yourself you can save thousands of dollars a year. Thousands of dollars that could take years off the life of your mortgage, which means true home ownership and less interest paid.

Still not convinced? DIY property management has many benefits:

• You can personally screen potential tenants – rather than just a list of dull facts, you can really get to know them.
• By using Real Estate Tube you can get a feel for them before meeting in person. And by uploading your own Sharehouse video, you can weed out time wasters. Find out more about How it works.
• Save time by cutting out the go-between. There’s no back & forth between multiple people, which means less room for miscommunication and less time wasted.
• You can also save money by cutting out the go-between. There’s no property manager or company cutting into your rental return, which means more in your back pocket.
• It’s easy – you can find most of the forms & guidelines you’ll need online for free. Visit our Tenancy Agreements page to find information relevant to your State.
• You can use the power of social media to do your own preliminary background checks, at no cost. A potential housemates social media activity can tell you a lot about what they’re really like. We recommend checking for Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and even a plain old Google search.

Disclaimer: Real Estate Tube makes no representations to the above blog or accepts any responsibility as to the accurateness of the above information. Both tenants and Landlords should seek their own independent advice and not rely on the above information.

1. Always pretend the walls are soundproof – you didn’t hear anything.
2. Respect the housemate code of secrecy – what happens in the house stays in the house. Nobody likes a tattletale.
3. Don’t judge their eating habits – we all know eating pizza 5 meals in a row isn’t good for us, you don’t need to point it out.
4. You use it, you clean it – most people don’t enjoy cleaning, but they do enjoy a nice living space. So unless you’re down with living in a dump, or taking turns cleaning up after other people, pick up your stuff and clean what you use.
5. If your housemate’s parents are coming to visit, help them get the place into a state good enough for mum’s approval.
6. Thou must not bring home new animals without permission. That new kitten was SO CUTE until it pooped in your housemate’s bed.
7. Sometimes your presence is required for a Netflix binge. Cancel all plans and get comfy.
8. All hungover housemates will be absolved of their duties for the day. Does the shower really need a clean anyway?
9. Food is as good as cash. From trading food in the fridge to cooking dinner as a thank you, consider it an edible currency.
10. It’s not forever – all good things must come to an end, so enjoy the awesome housemates while you can. Celebrate the strange and wonderful bond you have.

Did we miss one? Comment with the unwritten rules that keep your sharehouse functional.

And one of the best has to be ‘Neighbours or Home & Away?’ Oh the tension!

You can hear both theme tunes now – DON’T start singing. Your housemates do not find it endearing to wake up to that emanating from the shower room.

WHEN YOU LIVED WITH PARENTS

Dad always changed the channel and mum never let you eat tea in front of the telly, so hours of great viewing were missed.

But now you have your own place, you are the master of the television. Or are you?

Is your chosen housemate about to try and wrestle control of the remote?

Establish control from first contact – include it in the request for proposal.

My new housemate must prefer:

Delta Goodrum over Isla Fisher

Liam Hemsworth over Chris Hemsworth

Harold Ramsey over Alf Stewart

It’s like live Guess Who? Watch the plastic window faces tumble. This is more cathartic than a Facebook cull.

But how do you choose a housemate who won’t belt out the theme tune at 6am in the shower and won’t be the cause of a cliff-hanger scene every other week.

HOUSEMATES: HOW DO YOU MEET YOURS?

Just as everybody deploys their own carefully crafted methodology to devour a Cadbury’s Creme Egg, selecting a housemate demands a very personal, well-polished raison d’ être.

Get yours right with our review of the five options available to you…

GOOD MATE TO HOUSE MATE

The fairytale does not always end well.

Just because you are…

1. two peas in a pod
2. better wingmen than Maverick and Goose
3. hilarious together after three Jägerbombs

… does not make you great house mates.

Does it mean they will respect your space? Be there for you when you are needy? Bring you a potato cake when you can’t move…?

No. They also have their own life to lead. And not only that, they will make similar demands on you.

Think long and hard before you invite a good mate to be your housemate.

MATE OF A MATE FOUND THROUGH FACEBOOK

 This can work, but think about the middle man – your mate.

They have honourably done the leg-work to connect somebody looking for a room, and somebody looking for a housemate. This selfless act can often turn to remorse:

1. The two new housemates become best buddies (or more) and forget all about who brought them together.
2. The chemistry is not right and both turn on the instigator.

Our advice: thank your matchmaker, but politely tell them that you value your friendship too much to bring a third party into such a sensitive arena.

ESTATE AGENT

With a traditional estate agent, the middle man is not your friend – and their counsel could cost you more dearly thank you can imagine. Just look at their car.

Seriously. You would sign your hard-earned cash away to live with somebody you have never met before? Sounds like a fate worse than Married at First Sight.

Four open inspections on a good day and even then you don’t get to meet the person you would live with!

It’s hardly conducive to your Saturday ritual (delete as appropriate: yoga, eggs benedict, coffee, Friday night debrief, footy, pie, dance etc.).

Think outside the box.

OLD SCHOOL – OR FAILED SCHOOL?

Plan to pin an advert to the community noticeboard, tape a banner to the lamppost outside your home, or leave a piece of paper with mobile phone number tearaways in the bus shelter?

Very romantic but…

STRANGER DANGER! Did you not listen in school? Unfortunately we live in a society today where this is not recommended.

TIME TO ‘TUBE’

Regrettably, those awesome people who decided to name the act of flying around on an inflatable donut: ‘tubing’, won ownership of the verb.

Given that the newest method of finding a house, or housemate, is almost as fun (and we all love the creators of tubing), we will let them off.

Real Estate Tube have created the perfect platform for congenial people to meet in a safe and time-saving in-app environment, via pre-recorded video.

Yes, you can sit at home and browse through videos of people who want a new shared-house or a housemate.

You can laugh, cry, get angry or cringe. But most importantly, you have control of the ‘NEXT!’ button. You choose the cast. You direct a real-life soap opera – less the bits you don’t like.

We hope you have enjoyed our review of the options available to you. Happy hunting!

No listings that lie, no greasy estate agents, no people who give you the heebie-jeebies.

 Remove complications and life is pretty simple.

Wind back. Let’s take a look at a caveman’s guide to hunting for new housemates:

1. Find a space you like
2. Find people you like sharing with
3. Move in

MAN NEEDS CAVE

Homosaipien was born to hunt – for meat, fish, berries, water and somebody to mate with – not for a house share.

But our caveman ancestors always found the perfect abode.

And I bet they didn’t pay estate-agent-Neanderthals to show them around. No ‘nice-cave-but-weird-Paleo-peers’ situations.

Very smart.

They got to know roomies prior to commitment – through acts of bonding such as conversing over a frothy hot drink with a touch of cinnamon on top.

No danger of rock ‘borrowing’ dwellers. No pairing of odd furs, no picking up the wrong spear by accident – or sleeping with the wrong Jane.

THE HUNT: IN THEORY

Fast forward 50,000 years and we like to think we have evolved.

1. HAVE. SMART. PHONE.

And that makes house hunting quite exciting. But not the way you know it.

Let us paint you a picture (and it’s not a sunny one because you never house hunt on a belter of a day):

In a wildly overzealous state you’ve picked a café that will definitely become your regular, and already made BFFs with the ubercool hipster barista.

And now you’re swiping over endless listings, maps, pretty pictures and wildly unrealistic budgets.

But that’s as far as the novelty goes.

THE HUNT: IN PRACTICE

Step outside and it’s bucketing down.

Schlepping up hills in thongs on a wet day is not fun (and not conducive to catching Pokémon).

Don’t take a car, because Saturday parking will cost you double your first rent payment.

Here comes Justin Beiber. Oh no, it’s the estate agent; his hair is unbelievably shinier than his blinding shoes.

The anti-caveman.

He is smiling too much and you can smell his Lynx Africa half a block away.

SO WHAT NOW?

No Tattslotto, no Hallelujah moment and no, you’re definitely not going back to Mum and Dad’s place.

How to get out of this latest godforsaken cave?

Enough of the dark-age doom and gloom.

Grab a cold one, sit down and connect yourself with a whole load of great house-sharers on Real Estate Tube.

Even a cave man could figure it out:

1. Get Real Estate Tube app
2. Sign up
3. Press ‘list a place’ or ‘find a place’
4. Make a sweet little video about you and your ways

Before you can say ‘Jack Robinson’, a bunch of people on your wavelength will be checking out what you have to say.

SO IT’S LIKE TINDER, BUT WITH VIDEOS…?   

Now you’re getting primal.

Hmm, kind of; less the bedrock part.

But yes, you can swipe away while sitting at home in your mammoth-fur cape, gnawing on a hunk of bison.

Ahoo! Ahoo! Ahoo!

Housemates can share the financial burden and bring fun to the party, as long as you choose carefully. You don’t want to dread going home after a hard day at work.

Don’t force yourself into a cash-strapped corner you will do anything to get out of because you rushed into the first person to answer your ad!

You have to live with this person day in, day out. That’s EVERY day. Wake up and they are there. Come home from work and they are there.

Don’t leave it to a shoot-out between the bloke who has mentioned his pet snake one too many times, and another month of paying for an empty room.

Remember that even when the stars align and you have found a sane saviour, the whole process invariably will take time to complete.

Churn is a fact of life when it comes to house sharing.

People grow up; meet partners they want to move in with, get sick of house shares and want to go solo, get a promotion requiring a move interstate.

Perhaps the bachelor/bachelorette dream is over for that poor, disillusioned soul.

But you’re still living the dream! Time to get a wingman or woman lined up!

Let’s hope the departing housemate shows respect and notifies you as early as possible, giving you time to find a replacement.  If there was no stipulation on notice period before, get something in place!

But don’t waste time in getting out there to find a replacement once your housemate has given notice – you don’t need to wait until they’re out the door before you start your search. A little bit of planning and forethought go a long way to getting the right person to share your home with.

TIME = PICKINESS = GOOD THING

Leaving plenty of time to select the right candidate affords pickiness. This is a good thing.

When a person ticks all the boxes on paper, but you do not get a good feeling; REJECT.

When a person talks about their ex-partner/guinea pig too much; REJECT.

Think about what works for you before you’re stuck with a housemate who puts Barbecue Shapes back in the box after licking them.

Get as much information about the person as possible to test compatibility. Sports jock? Cat lover? Vegan? Astronomer? Serial dater? Midnight steak fiend?

Anybody in the market for a room two months down the line is likely to be strong with time-management (bills and rent) and will probably organise your social life too. TICK – you’re starting in the right place.