Dive Brief:

• Two online real estate companies have come up with a way to make potential homeowners a bit more comfortable about the neighborhoods they’re considering: They’re renting rooms by the night in nearby homes so would-be buyers can get a feel for how they would like living in the area.

• A partnership between Airbnb, a website for homeowners who take in lodgers, and Realtor.com, an online property listing service, are offering a “try before you buy” service in some communities. For about the same price as a hotel room, home shoppers can spend a night in a private room in a home near the block where they think they would like to live.

• Users can book their nights at Realtor.com, which identifies the neighborhoods where the deal is available with an icon that says “Airbnb before buying.” The rented rooms are in single-family homes, condos, lofts and even in one property described as a “peaceful treehouse,” which goes for $250 a night.

Dive Insight:

The campaign is aimed at millennials, who comprise the largest group of homebuyers despite the reluctance — or financial inability — of millions of them to make their first property purchases.

Spending a night in an appealing-but-unfamiliar neighborhood might ease a young potential buyer’s fear that the community might not be a good fit because it’s too noisy or too quiet after hours, or have unexpected quirks.

One Texas realtor told news site CultureMap Dallas the program could “give [millennials] a taste of a neighborhood and change them from renters to buyers.”