Liveohana Omdömen 88

THE ABSOLUTE WORST WEBSITE TO SUBLET EVER

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! I was attempting to sublease my apartment after randomly finding Ohana after posting to other sites. Their ai interface and bot messages confuses chats between potential subletters and honestly ruins any potential leads. Everything seems sketchy and forced in order for them to make sure they stay in control. They take a percentage of the monthly rent instead of charging a one time listing fee. This feels almost CRIMINAL and makes me feel that I am being held hostage as the subleaser, let alone paints ME as the sketchy one... Not only that, but during a video call with a potential lead, which was moderated by a Ohana representative (So weird) who was on her phone the whole time telling us to pretend she wasnt there, I was forcefully kicked out after suggesting to come for an in person viewing to make things easier. My messages were blocked and deleted after sharing my number with various other subletters. And then my profile was removed all together...

All of this so that they can keep their control and assure they receive a cut of whatever the monthly fee would be. Other platforms feel so much safer and smoother. This made things feel unnecessarily sketchy and im sure scared away really good connections.

This review might even get deleted by them to be honest. Subleasing my apartment shouldnt have to feel like 1984.

I’ve used this platform to try to sublease my apartment in NYC twice but wasn’t able to. The UI sucks, not flexible to work with the dates and Google meet for every single potential guest is very extra and not efficient. I end up subleasing apartment using other platforms which works much better and easier and free

I used Ohana last year and it was excellent. This year was another story. I agreed to a sublease with a landlord with the understanding that they wouldn’t know if the place was available by the dates because of tenants who had overstayed. I was fine with this and the agent we chatted with was aware of it. I submitted a deposit to hold it, and knew the landlord would let me know by a certain date. Date came and unfortunately it wasn’t going to work, and this was 3 weeks before the move in. When we wanted to initiate cancelling, Ohana tried to force the landlord to pay $3k and hasn’t given me my security deposit back. They sent a timeline that didn’t make sense because we knew it wasn’t a sure thing. I then logged on and they had deleted the entire chat but jokes on them I save absolutely everything. Just initiated a dispute with my credit card.

Tenant cancelled midway through, Ohana team was super unresponsive and did not help me at all with pursuing the amount due. Terrible customer service. Would not recommend them at all.

Be cautious using this service. My partner was asked to pay a £40 non-refundable “holding” fee and we later discovered they also charge a 5% monthly fee on top of the rent, despite providing very little beyond holding rent until the tenant confirms the property is okay.

The process also felt unusually controlled. During a call with the host, an intermediary from the company was present, which made the interaction feel impersonal. When the host suggested speaking with housemates directly on Instagram, the company strongly discouraged any communication outside their platform.

After the call, my partner received several messages saying the host had offers from other renters and that they needed to act quickly and pay a deposit. When the host was contacted privately, they confirmed there were no other offers at that time.

Overall, the experience felt pushy and unnecessarily restrictive for what the service actually provides. Renters should be aware of the extra fees and the pressure to move quickly.

Honestly the coordinator who manages the chat was so unresponsive that it was enough for me to never want to coordinate with them. I got on a call and the house manager, Alex, was extremely friendly and considerate. He said he was going to follow up about a few things. However, I never heard back about any of it because unfortunately all the communication has to channel through the coordinators. The one I had was Dana and she was so unresponsive and unhelpful. I tried to get her to send me the links and decisions Alex had mentioned he would get for me and she never followed up. There were a bunch of other people on the chat who kept having to tag Dana to help me get answers and she was extremely unhelpful. Because of this experience I will never use Ohana. There are plenty of other amazing coliving places out there. Check out “Outsite” — they are my absolute favorite!

I really loved using Ohana to find a place for the summer. Lots of platforms are very sketchy and being able to meet the host before I sent any payments was really good and they made the experience really easy. 

They immeditely helped us when our original host underdelivered on his promises. They were there eveyr step of the way. The service was amazing. Espically as students we really appreciated how helpful and caring they were. Ezra also personally helped us. Its rare to see people within a company who actually want to help there customers.

I would never recommend to a friend. Shame on investors and whoever works here - I'm not even sure how what they're doing is legal.

Noticed marketing behavior I found shady and frankly gross and have serious concerns the may be using bots to post fake positive reviews across the internet.

For example, after initially using Ohana's site and being cautious about trusting a fairly new Startup run by mostly 20 year olds, I went to reddit to see if anyone else used them. To my surprise I saw tons of positive Ohana reviews
... except when I actually clicked on the account profiles of these "reviewers" I quickly noticed many of them were new or were only used only promote Ohana.

I can't tell you whether they're using AI bots or buying fake accounts, but as someone who's lived in nyc for 10+ years, have sublet many times, this raised every red flag for me and I'd encourage everyone to be super cautious with this startup. Ask yourself if you've ever seen glowing reviews of Zillow or StreetEasy online.

Even this Trustpilot is jam packed with, in my opinion, suspiciously glowing reviews.

EDIT: Ohana flagged my original review for removal for "defamation" ... AKA please keep in mind that they're on here flagging negative reviews to TrustPilot for removal and forcing people to rewrite comments they deem to be defamatory. Who knows how many times they've done that.

Lastly - I think its important to mention the founders of this company are 20-year-olds fairly fresh out of college who do not have extensive experience in whatever real estate market you're in. Is that someone you want to trust with housing?

I rarely write reviews but It's my opinion they may be using REALLY shady marketing tactics to fake demand. I'd never recommend them to a friend. Plenty of other options.

Super seamless process. I really liked the range of options and how easy it was to find the right rental. Would definitely use again!

I booked a summer stay through Ohana and was matched with Bethany, whose place was spotless and exactly as described. Communication from both Ohana and Bethany was clear and quick from inquiry to move-in, and check-in took minutes. What I appreciated most was how organized and transparent everything felt; expectations and next steps were clearly laid out upfront, so there were no surprises. The apartment was quiet, comfortable, and well-equipped, and Bethany’s local tips made settling in easy. Any small questions I had were answered promptly, and I always felt supported. For anyone who needs short-term sublet housing and wants peace of mind instead of endless DMs and guesswork, this is the way to go. I’d happily book with Ohana again and would stay with Bethany in a heartbeat.

I really enjoyed using Ohana. I consider it safer than FB groups because it is a third party between you and the sublessor. Everything is documented on the site (pictures of the place before and after, submission of payments/deposit, contract between you and sublessor) so if anything goes south, Ohana will help you. There's a small fee they take out of your initial deposit but I consider this worth it knowing my deposit is safe and the reasons above.

They don't have an app yet only a website but they are legitimate, me and my friend have used this site and had no problems. I can show proof too if you want to reach out to me separately.

It was a great experience. The process was seamless and both the host and the liveohana people were very accommodating and allowed me to not worry about anything! Highly recommend.

Very good options for listing, and great customer service. Would recommend.

Very helpful website and made finding a sublet very easy. In particular I really liked the safety and protection there was because they were with you throughout the whole process and if anything goes wrong you know you can contact them. For example, there is always a representative in all of the group chats and calls, they make sure your security deposit is handled responsibly, and they even give you a chance to report or call them for help if you have trouble accessing the unit.

Great place to find a sublet from. They act as a middleman and draft up a lease and hold your security deposit, which really ensures you are not getting scammed. They set up all the calls to meet the person subletting their place and also have policies in place if you do not find a suitable living place when you arrive.

Ohana matched me with the best host and was always there if I ever needed any help. It was such a relief booking through Ohana rather than some random person online. Highly recommend it!

Ohana!!! It’s the best.
Team is very communicative with you and helps the contact between lesser and subleaser !
You will have to put a security deposit down before moving in but you will most likely get it back a couple days after move out!