How Lumi House is Elevating the Student Experience with Cost-Effective, Flexible Housing Solutions

How Lumi House is Elevating the Student Experience with Cost-Effective, Flexible Housing Solutions

Today’s college students face the usual challenges of living off-campus, from navigating the rental market to co-existing with roommates. But some of these young adults face a much more daunting problem: A student housing crisis affecting almost half of the 20 million university students in the United States. 

Data shows that more than 56 percent of students faced housing challenges in 2021, while 21 percent said they were homeless. Universities are looking for new ways to alleviate the stress of student housing. 

One of those solutions is Lumi House, an all-inclusive, co-living digital platform for college-aged students.

A New Spin on Traditional Off-Campus Living

Founded in 2022, the Lumi team is on a mission to redefine the student housing experience. Shortly after he moved to the Miami area, where Lumi first put down its roots, the company’s CEO and co-founder Ryan Stohl recognized the urgent need for a new approach to off-campus living. 

“The process of finding and securing off-campus housing hasn’t changed much in 20 years. It’s the same stressful and aggravating experience I went through myself at that age,” explains Stohl. “But current students also have this housing crisis working against them.”

According to Stohl, an estimated 90 percent of housing developers are focused on 20 percent of the population—often affluent renters looking for luxury apartments and condominiums. Limited student-friendly rentals, coupled with rising housing costs and complex rental processes, force students into uncertainty. Or into expensive, cramped dorm rooms on campus if they are lucky enough to secure a spot.

Lumi offers students a different route to off-campus life. The platform helps students in every step of their housing search—a one-stop rental resource that lets students do most of the work from their phones. From virtual tours to digital contracts, Lumi’s rental process is straightforward and stress-free, especially for students who aren’t local to their college town.

Turning Monthly Rent Into an All-Inclusive Pricing Model

The company’s rental portfolio features 11 curated homes in Miami, Fla., like SoMi 63. Walking distance from the University of Miami campus, the home offers its student tenants a co-living experience with amenities not found in the typical college apartment. 

A student’s monthly rent is a flat-rate fee that covers everything a student needs to thrive, from furniture and parking to utilities and WiFi. Household essentials and favorite streaming services like Hulu are also included, creating an all-inclusive housing solution that combines the numerous experiences off-campus housing can accrue into one predictable cost. 

Like every Lumi home, the interior of SoMi 63 was carefully curated with its future Millennial and Gen Z renters in mind—modern, sleek, and a worthy backdrop of any Instagram shot. Most rooms start at $1,975 per month across all of Lumi’s properties.

The Cool Landlord You Always Wanted

“We want to help students find a perfect space away from campus, but we also want to help them thrive there,” Stohl says. “We’re trying to do what boutique hotels did to the hotel industry and create an elevated student housing experience.”

The Lumi team is always there to ensure a positive rental experience for tenants. Houses on Lumi’s platform get round-the-clock support for maintenance and service requests. Homes also receive landscaping and bi-weekly cleaning services, which are included in students’ monthly rent. Happy tenants also benefit the many homeowners turning to Lumi as a full-service, technology-driven property management solution. 

The proptech brand is already celebrating success in its local market, including connections with the University of Miami to help expand off-campus housing options for next year’s students. Lumi also plans to expand into Boston and Atlanta this summer following its pre-seed investment round. 

“There is a better way to do off-campus housing, and we are defining that approach with Lumi. Students have enough to worry about these days. But a clunky 20-year-old rental process shouldn’t be one of them,” says Stohl. Students, parents, landlords, and interested education partners can tour Lumi’s all-inclusive student housing rental platform at lumi.house.