When you need to move, chances are you need to move pretty quickly. Not only that, but everyone you are competing with for apartments also needs to move quickly, which makes the apartment hunting market a cutthroat competition where the snoozers lose and the early bird sometimes gets a worm that’s a real lemon.
Instead of hunting through the yellow pages or combing the streets for rental signs as people did twenty years ago, the smartphone has come to your rescue with a plethora of apps that make finding the perfect place easy and convenient, streamlining the process and giving users an edge over the competition. Try any one of these 12 Apartment Finding Apps and breathe easy as moving day approaches.
For Rent
For Rent maps out the floor plan of its listings and offers highly detailed information. It helps renters budget by offering move in quotes and a rent calculator. It does tend to favor listings from large management companies and complexes, so if you’re looking to rent a simple garret owned by the lady who lives downstairs, this app isn’t going to help much.
Apartment Guide
For the convenience of touring your new apartment from the comfort of your old apartment, Apartment Guide can help. The app features 360-degree tours, photos, and videos. Floor plan layouts and icons indicating apartment specifics such as pet policies and included amenities help you determine at a glance of an apartment meets your needs. This is another one that will mostly find you mega management companies and larger complexes.
Lovely
When neighborhood is what matters most in your search, Lovely is, well, a lovely resource. On this app you search for apartments by zip code, and then when you’ve narrowed down your location you can click on the listings you like for full information and photos, no tours or comprehensive layouts, but enough to give you a sense of the apartment. You can also fill out your application right on the site, saving you time in a competitive market.
PadMapper
Padmapper takes most of its data from Craigslist, though it also takes info from around the web and packages it into an easy to use format. It’s kind of your one-stop-shop for apartment hunting on your phone or tablet. You can set up alerts for new listings, and everything on the site is real-time, so you’re never left looking at an apartment that is already taken.
Rent.com
Rent.com offers HD videos and tours, with 3-D layouts for you to view, but the lag time occasionally makes using these features more trouble than they’re worth. For a quick check on available viewing times and booking tours, this app is great. They also offer reviews from residents, so you can hear from the neighbors before you commit to moving in.
Radpad
If you’re looking to move to a new city and you don’t have the leisure of staying in a hotel or with friends while you hunt for your new home, Radpad can help. Find an apartment in any city, share your credit score securely, apply, and sign your lease all with a tap on your touchscreen. Though Radpad advertises rent paying services, those were indefinitely disabled in October of 2016. Their other time saving, convenience oriented features are still up and running, though!
Zumper
Beloved by users, Zumper provides free VIP service where they make your viewing appointment for you and all you have to do is show up. Their organizational system makes it easy to find apartments in your price range and to keep track of which apartments you’ve seen, messaged, or viewed. The only real draw back to Zumber is that not every landlord or management company lists with them, but enough do that finding an apartment is still pretty painless.
Zillow Rentals
Zillow makes it easy to customize a search to exacting needs. Most people already know if they need a pet friendly apartment or an extra parking space. Filtering out all the apartments that they already know won’t work allows for quick browsing through only apartments that fit their particulars. One drawback is that Zillow is not always the most up to date, so avoid listings that have been up for a while. But if you try the Zillow app and love it while you’re apartment hunting, they can also help when you’re ready to buy a home of your own.
Trulia
Trulia is great for streamlining applications. A one-click feature puts potential renters in contact with the right people without having to fill out numerous rental applications. Trulia also provides detailed information on each listing and customization for searches. The alerts they send out are not always pertinent and they do tend to send a LOT of email.
Apartments.com
Apartments.com is up to the minute with availability, offering 3-D tours before the formal viewing and detailed information so apartment hunters know what they’re getting into ahead of time. Listing apartment amenities and any additional fees, Apartments.com keeps its users in the know. Some features, such as budget adjustment, don’t work as well on this one as on other apps, but over all this is an easy to use and handy tool.
HotPads
While HotPads caters mostly to high density urban sprawls, those in less populous areas can often still find apartments listed in their neighborhood of choice. HotPads is really great at displaying neighborhood details, such as schools and neat features within walking distance. They will spam you with emails if you sign up for that feature, though.
Apartment Finder
Apartment Finder is best for renters on a budget and the younger generation just stepping out on their own for the first time. It has a moving cost calculator and a great budget filter. The customer service can be a little lacking and it’s a tiny bit buggy, but nothing that should bother most renters too much.
