I just wanted to say thanks for all your help finding a place to live -- I'm only sorry I didn't join your service earlier. Anxious to save the fee, I did the usual thing and searched the newspaper for a share. But as you say in your ads, New York is a scary place and when it comes to finding a roommate you can't be too careful.

After looking at a few apartments I quickly realized how true this statement was. Every newspaper had a big listing of shares, but most of them are unsuitable. Many bear little resemblance to what's advertised and others are filled with strange people. A lot of the apartments had shared bedrooms or living rooms that doubled as a bedroom. Needless to say what should have been a simple process was a nightmare.

After a couple of weeks of this I broke down and joined Roommate Finders. I was impressed from the beginning. The staff were knowledgeable and I was given a list of 150 apartments when I joined, only one of which I had seen advertised (he wasn't impressed with the people who responded to his ad, so he joined Roommate Finders). I called 10 of the listings and while none of these were what I was looking for they were better than 90% of what I had seen advertised.

I called your office every day at 5pm and was given between five and ten listings every day. I contacted those that interested me and looked at several. All of the people were "normal" and it was a lot easier than searching through the paper every week. On day four I found exactly what I was looking for and set a date to move in within a week.

Had I joined your service when I started looking, I would have saved four weeks of agony, as well as a lot of time and effort. I'm very pleased with the service you provide and would happily recommend it to anyone I know (even if they're not looking for an apartment). While the fee may seem high, it's low compared to the time and effort you save.

Once again thanks for all your help.