Apartment hunting is hard. That’s why we took a look at nine of the leading apartment search websites to see how they stacked up against one another. We’re here to give you the skinny on what each site has to offer, so that you can spend more time finding your apartment and less time figuring out where to look for it.
1. Rent Jungle
We talked to Spencer Whitman, Rent Jungle’s general manager, and he explained their platform as the Google or Kayak of apartment hunting. With anywhere between one and two million unique listings, they have the most extensive aggregation of apartments. From large luxury apartment complexes in cities to small trailers in rural wooded areas, they’ve got it all.
At Rent Jungle they have a ‘Rent Trend’ tool so users can understand the fluctuation of rent prices, and make informed decisions about the neighborhood they decide to live in. You can search for an apartment via their listings or map view, both are powered by advanced filters of you choosing. Rent Jungle listings also include a property’s Walkscore.
They do their best to be the only search engine you need to find your dream home. To avoid scam listings they have an automated learning machine that helps to weed out bad listings. On top of that there are real live people calling listing sites to see if they are legitimate.
2. RentLingo
RentLingo is all about you finding your ideal neighborhood. They’re awesome if you’re not familiar with a region and you want to know what the feel of the area is really like.
On their map-based search, you can choose between heat maps that show you their “street-level insights.” Those insights include things like noise level, overall charm, store prices, and lifestyle. Once you’ve found your favorite local niche, you can then search for apartments in the area with their other powerful search tools that help with parameters such as number of rooms and rent.
With Apartments.com, the devil is in the details. Over 400,000 properties have been visited and photographed by their professional research team, the largest in the industry. On top of that, they also have a comprehensive database with millions of detailed listings.
On their map you can search by location or point of interest as well as draw a specific area you would like to live in. Then from each listing you can use the ‘Plan Your Commute’ tool to see how long it would take you to get to work via public transit, bike, car or walking.
4. PadMapper
PadMapper is the site for you if you want simplicity. There isn’t much to distract you from their map based platform that automatically determines your location when you visit their site.
They get their data by pulling from several other apartment search sites like ForRent, Airbnb, and PadLister. That means they have a comprehensive accumulation of listings for all areas. To help with your apartment search you can then refine by categories like, rent, bedrooms, pets, and rent per bedroom.
5. RentHop
RentHop is based off of the idea of quality first. They give each listing a HopScore that ranks the listing according to things like accuracy, completeness, and recency.
While on their map search, you can see detailed information on neighborhoods and where there are star brokers in your area. For most neighborhoods they provide the above, below, and median rent prices for each style of apartment. They also have extensive filters that make it easy to find exactly what you.
6. Walk Score
Walk Score is a site that grades all properties on their proximity to things like dining, parks, schools, and public transportation.
When searching for a home in your ideal location you can use their “gotta have” feature to refine your search. For example you can look up residences that are within a 5 minute walk from a park, or a 10 minute walk from public transit.
7. Trulia
Trulia is a one stop shop for all realty solutions. You can buy, sell, rent, and get pre-approved for a mortgage on Trulia. It’s great for someone that is on the fence about renting or investing in a home.
The neatest feature of this site is the location-based information they provide on their maps. You can see crime density, school ratings, commute time, amenities, and affordability. You can also search demographics like median age, single, married, and the population with college degrees. There is a plethora of information on Trulia to help you make an informed decision.
8. Hot Pads
HotPads is a site owned by Zillow, so you get to see all 400,000+ listings that are posted through Zillow. Hotpads was also the first site to have a map-based search for rentals.
On the site you can search suggested locations to buy or rent around your target area. If you’re using Hotpads, take advantage of all their powerful filters. Listing types, square footage, and keywords like garage, pool and hardwood floors are just a few examples.
9. Lovely
Lovely is a platform that is very straightforward and user friendly. They use real-time data, so you know that the listings you’re looking at are accurate.
When looking for your apartment on Lovely, you can search parameters such as location, price, amenities, and whether a listing is pet friendly. Another perk of Lovely is that you can sign up to be alerted when a listing that meets your criteria is posted. Spend less time searching, and more time living.
Now that we’ve saved you the trouble of finding out what tools each apartment search site offers, you’re free to go hunt for that dream apartment in your perfect neighborhood. Good Luck!
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