Kato Student Housing UMD

03/11/2026

Last week, we celebrated 10K students who have used Kato! That's roughly a quarter of UMD's student population! Thank you to everyone who has supported the team as we built and tested our platform which aims to help students find off-campus housing. Stay tunned for more updates coming soon!

02/19/2026

Huge shoutout to all the students who’ve trusted Kato to post their sublets this semester!

Because of you, there are now 78 active sublets available on Kato.

Everything from spring semester lease takeovers at places like The Hub and Landmark… to discounted 2026–2027 full-year leases at Terrapin Row… to summer subleases at Union, Varsity, and South Campus Commons.

We’re seeing:
• Students studying abroad
• Interning for the summer
• Graduating early
• Moving in with friends
• Or just trying to get out of a lease

…all able to connect directly with other UMD students who are actively looking for housing.

Spring is crunch time for off-campus housing, and subletting is one of the easiest ways to:
✔️ Avoid paying for an empty room
✔️ Lock in a discounted rate
✔️ Find flexible short-term housing near campus

If you’re looking for a place, or looking for someone to take over your lease, Kato is here to help make that connection happen.

You can browse all 78 available sublets now on Kato 🐢🏡

02/12/2026

Thrilled to see Kato featured in Maryland Today, the flagship news publication of the University of Maryland!

Finding an off-campus apartment can be incredibly stressful. Comparing floor plans, tracking pricing, evaluating amenities, and timing lease decisions across scattered websites and group posts is overwhelming. That frustration is exactly why we built Kato: to bring clarity, comparison, and confidence to the housing search process.

The article highlights our mission and progress so far, from automatic price tracking to side-by-side comparisons that help students make informed, data-driven decisions.

A special thank you to Karen Shih for thoughtfully telling our story and capturing the heart behind what we are building. We truly appreciate the time and care that went into this feature.

We are proud of how far we have come and excited for what comes next.

Read the full feature here:

Pitch Dingman Winner Kato Housing Offers Floorplan, Amenity Comparisons, Price Histories

02/10/2026

Welcome back to campus, Terps and Terp parents! 🐢🌸
Hope everyone had a restful break and is ready to kick off the spring semester strong.

Quick heads-up (especially for sophomores, juniors, and their parents): spring is crunch time for off-campus housing for next year. Prices change fast, availability disappears quietly, and most students are stuck bouncing between dozens of apartment websites trying to figure out what’s actually still open. Fun times… said no one ever.

That’s exactly why we built Kato.

How Kato helps UMD students and parents:

📊 Live pricing & availability pulled directly from apartment websites near campus
🔍 Side-by-side comparisons so students can see options clearly without guesswork
⏱️ Historical pricing insights to understand what’s normal vs. overpriced
🔔 Price-drop alerts so students don’t miss better deals
🧠 Built by UMD students, for UMD students, with transparency as the goal

Instead of asking “Is this a good deal?” after signing a lease, Kato helps students answer that before committing.

If housing is on your radar this semester (or you just want to stay ahead of it), check it out here:

👉 katohousing.org

Wishing everyone a great start to the semester and fewer housing headaches this spring.

02/10/2026

See the recent post by the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business:

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship · Published December 18, 2025

E-Fund Fall 2025 Award Announcement
$1,000 Awarded to Kato Student Housing

Empowering Student Housing: Kato Student Housing Receives E-Fund Support
At the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, we are always inspired by ventures that tackle real-world problems with innovative solutions. This semester, we are thrilled to spotlight Kato Student Housing, a promising new platform that is transforming the way students and young adults find their first apartments and homes. As the latest recipient of our E-Fund, Kato Student Housing is poised to make a significant impact on the student housing experience.

The Challenge: Navigating the Student Housing Maze
For many students and young adults, searching for off-campus housing is a daunting rite of passage. The process is often overwhelming—filled with endless tabs, outdated listings, and the constant fear of missing out on the best deals. Many students resort to creating complex spreadsheets, manually updating them week after week, and scouring over a dozen different apartment websites just to keep up with the ever-changing market. This not only consumes valuable time but also adds unnecessary stress to an already busy college life.

Kato Student Housing recognized this pain point and set out to create a solution that would bring clarity, efficiency, and transparency to the student housing search.

The Solution: A Smarter, Simpler Housing Search
Kato Student Housing is building a platform designed specifically for students and young adults embarking on their first housing search. The platform works quietly in the background, aggregating and updating apartment listings from multiple sources, and presenting them in a centralized, easy-to-navigate interface. With up-to-date information and comprehensive ratings, students can make informed decisions without the hassle of manual research.

By streamlining the search process, Kato Student Housing aims to save students and their families thousands of dollars each year. The platform also levels the playing field for apartment owners, ensuring equal exposure and access to a wider pool of potential tenants.

The Impact: Transforming the Student Housing Experience
The support from the Dingman Center's E-Fund is more than just financial—it's a vote of confidence in Kato Student Housing's mission and potential. By alleviating the financial burden of essential technology costs, the E-Fund allows the Kato team to focus on what matters most: building a platform that truly serves students.

The anticipated impact is significant:

Time Savings: Students can reclaim hours each week previously spent on manual research, freeing them to focus on academics and campus life.
Cost Savings: By providing transparent, up-to-date information, Kato Student Housing helps students and families avoid overpriced listings and hidden fees.
Equal Opportunity: Apartment owners benefit from increased visibility, ensuring their properties are seen by a diverse pool of prospective tenants.
Transparency: With centralized ratings and reviews, students can make more informed decisions, reducing the risk of unpleasant surprises after move-in.
Looking Ahead: A Bright Future for Kato Student Housing
As Kato Student Housing moves forward with the development of their MVP, the Dingman Center is excited to watch their progress and support their journey. The next six months will be critical as the team refines their platform, gathers user feedback, and prepares for a broader launch.

We believe that Kato Student Housing exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship—identifying a real problem, crafting an innovative solution, and leveraging technology to make a meaningful difference. With the backing of the E-Fund, we are confident that Kato Student Housing will not only simplify the housing search for students but also set a new standard for transparency and efficiency in the rental market.

Stay tuned for more updates as Kato Student Housing continues to grow and make waves in the student housing landscape. At the Dingman Center, we are proud to champion ventures like Kato that are shaping the future, one solution at a time.

12/03/2025

Big news from the Kato team 🎉

We’re thrilled to share that Kato won Best in Customer Discovery ($3,000) at the Pitch Dingman Luby Idea Track through the Dingman–Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship at UMD!

This support helps us keep improving our free student housing platform and continue building tools that make finding off-campus housing simpler, clearer, and way less stressful for Terps.

Huge thanks to Dingman, the judges, and everyone who has supported us so far. We’re just getting started. 🚀

11/18/2025

Hi Terp Parents,

As UMD students who went through the stress, confusion, and endless searching that comes with finding off-campus housing, we wanted to build something better for the next wave of students.

That’s why we created Kato, a completely free platform built by UMD students for UMD students.

Kato brings everything into one place so your student does not have to bounce between outdated sites or make dozens of calls that go nowhere. Our platform shows live pricing, full apartment details, price history, deal identifiers, and even custom price alerts so your student knows the moment a unit drops into their budget.

We built this because we know the pressure students feel, and we know the peace of mind parents want. If our tool helps even one student avoid the stress we went through, that already feels like a win.

If your student is starting their housing search, we’d love for them to try Kato and let us know what would make their experience even better.

KatoHousing.org
Helping Terps find home.

11/17/2025

Looking to sublet your place at UMD?
We just made it a whole lot easier.

Kato now has a dedicated subletting board where you can post your listing in minutes and get it in front of over 300 daily viewers on our platform. Students are actively checking for openings every day, so your listing actually gets seen.

Whether you’re studying abroad, heading home for the summer, or switching leases, Kato gives you a fast way to get your sublet out to the UMD community.

Tap into a growing audience of Terps who are searching right now and get your listing up today.

Let’s make subletting stress-free.

11/14/2025

Hey Terps and Terp families,

Ever feel like checking apartment prices every day is turning into its own part-time job? Kato just made that problem disappear.

We now offer custom price notifications for off-campus apartments in College Park. You set your budget, pick the units you care about, and Kato watches the prices for you. The moment a unit drops below your set price, you’ll get an email notification. No refreshing. No guessing. No stress.

Whether you’re a student planning for next year or a parent helping from afar, this feature lets you stay ahead of deals without digging through every site on the internet.

Built by UMD students, for UMD students and families.
Go Terps. 🐢

11/10/2025

Every apartment site feels outdated. Every call is a dead end.

Kato fixes that.

Search every off-campus listing live — and with custom price alerts, we’ll tell you the second what you want hits your budget.

No more daily checking. Just set it and forget it.

👉 Try it now: katohousing.org

11/07/2025

👋 Hey Terps (and Terp parents)!

Ever spent hours opening a dozen apartment tabs, trying to figure out which ones are actually available near campus? Yeah… we’ve been there. That’s exactly why we built Kato — a housing platform made by UMD students, for UMD students.

With Kato, you can:

🏙️ See every off-campus apartment option live in one place

🏠 (Coming soon!) Explore houses in Old Town and nearby neighborhoods

🔑 Post sublets, find roommates, and read real reviews from other students

Whether you’re planning next semester’s move or helping your student get settled for next fall — Kato makes it simple, transparent, and built for the way students actually search.

💥 We’re launching Monday, November 10th!
Check us out at katohousing.com
and follow along for the big day.