Creators have turned the media industry upside down over the last decade, but their influence extends far beyond it. Now, the growth of the creator economy is exposing long-standing prejudices in renting, where landlords often expect proof of a steady salary and long-term commitments.

Often, creators have several streams of income and move frequently. That lifestyle doesn’t always fit a rental system built around traditional employment and predictable monthly income.

A successful creator might earn money from YouTube advertising, TikTok, sponsorships, affiliate commissions, subscriptions and their own products. Their income can be substantial, but variable. They can work from almost anywhere. They might spend three months in Los Angeles, take a project in New York and then work from somewhere else entirely.

Try explaining that life to a landlord asking for a salary, an employer and a 12-month commitment. That’s the problem New York-based startup Snag is trying to solve. The company has just raised a $4 million seed round led by Slow Ventures.

“We started the company because apartment hunting sucks,” co-founder Selin Sonmez told me. “The current way to find apartments is too slow, too expensive. The leasing process is terrible.”

Sonmez and co-founder Nikos Georgantas had previously built a social network for people living in apartment buildings. As that network expanded to thousands of buildings, they noticed something unexpected in the conversations taking place inside it. People were constantly talking about rooms, sublets and lease takeovers.

Younger renters were increasingly solving the problem themselves through Instagram Stories, Facebook groups and group chats. Their behavior had moved ahead of the infrastructure around it.

Snag’s answer is a marketplace primarily built around rooms and sublets, combining some of the behavior of social media with the protections and structure of a property platform. Sonmez describes the underlying idea as “liquid housing.”

“Everything is liquid,” she told me. “You can find a job. You can quit. You can buy a stock. You can sell a stock. Why are you locked into housing?”

For creators and others working outside traditional career paths, that question is particularly relevant.

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