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Apartment locator services

Licensing regulations vary from state to state. To inquire, or complain, about an apartment listing service, contact the appropriate state licensing agency.

Online apartment listing services

These websites allow you to search their listings for a fee. They vary in quality and you'll need to do some research. The first thing you can do is to compare the listings of an apartment hunting site to those in the newspaper. If they're identical, then you're not likely to gain any advantage by signing on. However, if a site has different listings, and ones that you think look promising, then check it out further.

A good test is to send an email to the 'contact us' option. The quality of the response will give you a good indication as to the way the site is run. If you get no response, if the response takes a long time to come back, or if you simply get an automatic 'thank you for contacting us' email that doesn't answer your question, then you might want to move on.

Try to find out how often the site is updated. Are listings added and taken down daily? There's no point in having your time wasted by a site that doesn't remove listings as apartments are rented.

What period of time does the fee cover? You want to get value for your money. What features does the site offer? Does it simply list apartments, or does it allow you to search specific areas and enter such requirements as nearby schools, churches and community centers? Are you able to enter the location of your workplace and search areas within walking distance? Will it show you transit routes? Does it have a secure server for payment?

As is the case with bricks and mortar listing services, licensing regulations vary from state to state. To inquire, or complain, about an apartment listing service, contact the appropriate state licensing agency.