Two years ago, Alexi Stathakis and Lauren Witonsky met as summer interns at a public relations firm. They became fast friends and stayed in touch after returning to school — Ms. Stathakis to Fairfield University in Connecticut and Ms. Witonsky to Syracuse in upstate New York.

After they graduated in the spring, both with jobs in Manhattan, they were eager to room together. It was easy for Ms. Stathakis to ride the train to the city from Fairfield and take charge of the apartment hunt. Listings, photos and videos flew back and forth.

“She almost acted as my real estate agent,” Ms. Witonsky said. “She was doing all the legwork, which was awesome.”

The friends wanted a two-bedroom rental in a fun neighborhood with a reasonable commute to their jobs. Ms. Stathakis is the social media manager at Berns Communications Group in Murray Hill, while Ms. Witonsky is a social media assistant at Health magazine, in the financial district.