How we edit.
Most international-student-housing sites describe themselves as “100% verified.” We don't. The word verified means something specific, and meeting that bar takes a process. This page explains exactly what we mean by every word we use, and where we are on the path.
The verbs we use, and what each one means
Each verb maps to a precise level of evidence. Interchanging them is a small lie, and small lies compound.
Listed
A property management partner has shared inventory data with us. We display it. No claim about the building beyond what the partner has stated.
activeReviewed
Our Chicago editorial team has assessed this building against neighborhood fit, price band, and university adjacency. Applies to Chicago inventory, where our direct market experience lives.
activeAudited
Desk audit completed: photo audit (cross-reference partner photos against street view), utility cost check (we call the utility company in that postcode), landlord call. Recorded with a date.
rolling out 2026Toured
In-person walkthrough. The card displays the tour date and a 60-second walkthrough video clip filmed during the visit.
rolling out 2026Verified
Reserved. Currently unused on the site. We will not use this word until our audit and tour processes are running at scale and we can stand behind every property carrying that label.
reservedWho edits.
Every Chicago building we list is reviewed by our Chicago editorial team before it reaches you. Editorial decisions about which buildings we recommend are made by that team, not by an algorithm. We publish the process and the track record, not names: the work should speak, and the promise below is what you can hold us to.
Replies within 24 hours in English, Mandarin, or Hindi.
If you're a current international student who would like to write a city guide ($50 per piece, full edit rights), email [email protected].
How to challenge a recommendation.
If you've lived in a building we recommend and disagree with the recommendation, tell us. Email [email protected] with the building name, your tenancy dates (we'll verify against the partner's records with your permission), and your concern. We respond within 7 days. If the concern is substantiated, the recommendation is withdrawn and we publish a brief note explaining why.
The numbers we publish.
Every number on this site that describes us, review record, coverage counts, response time, comes from a single typed data module or a database row, never from marketing copy. Coverage counts are derived from the same data arrays the pages render, so they cannot drift from reality. If we can't source a number, it is removed, not estimated.
One last thing
We are a young company.
Most of these processes are partially in place and being built out through 2026. This page exists so you can hold us accountable to what we're promising. Bookmark it. Watch the verbs change as processes mature. Send us evidence when reality drifts from the claim.
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