Are you looking for a new place to live? There’s an app for that!
Apartment hunting is no easy task, especially in today’s market. What’s more, you’re likely already on a tight schedule to make the move. There’s no sense wasting time and effort apartment hunting the old fashion way. You need to find the best options quickly and without a lot of stress.
That’s where we can help! We’ve put together a list of the best apps (in no particular order) that will help you find the perfect apartment.
Zillow Rentals
While most people associate Zillow with the homes for sale real estate market, they also have a Rentals App that provides all the same functionality (and, quite frankly, addictive search function) for apartments, condos, and single-family homes available for rent. With over 40,000 properties across the continental United States, you’ll be able to find lots of options in your area. You can set up notifications for listings that meet specific criteria, so you won’t miss that perfect spot.
Zillow is a very versatile service. It has a ton of options for each search and allows you to tap and directly select certain geographic areas on the map to limit your search. Zillow also offers a Rent Affordability Calculator to make things easier in your search!
Zumper
When it comes to researching neighborhoods, Zumper has it all. The app gives information about city culture, landmarks, and even local weather statistics. According to the CEO, Zumper’s goal is “making apartment rental as easy as booking a hotel”. The search filter is solid, giving you all the options of Zillow with the bonus of using Google Maps to give you a realistic view of the listing’s location.
The app has an “Instant Apply” feature that automatically sends your application to the property manager. You can get prequalified and even put in a deposit for your new place without leaving the app. Talk about an all-in-one!
ApartmentList
This is probably the most unusual app on our list because it combines social media and real estate in a pretty unique way. ApartmentList focuses on making personalized recommendations to each user after analyzing their answers to some basic questions about where you want to live and your lifestyle. It’s a little like online dating but for the housing market.
The app is easy to use, too! You just answer a few questions and the app does the rest of the work for you, prioritizing your results based on how well your questions matched up to available listings.
Trulia Rentals
Owned by Zillow, the big draw for Trulia Rentals is its one-click feature. This streamlines the inquiry process – in one click, potential renters are put in contact with the property owners or managers. No need to fill out a form or search out a phone number or contact information elsewhere.
Trulia has some great features for area statistics, including local school reports by parents in the district, online crime statistics, and even commute lengths.
HotPads
If you’re looking for a place in a large metropolitan area and want information on specific city neighborhoods, the HotPads App might be the winner for you. HotPads is frequently considered the best app for big finding housing in big cities and for finding roommates! It also lets you know how popular – hence how “hot” – any given listing is so you know how much competition you have.
What makes the app stand out is the ability to go roommate hunting after you’ve found a new place. The app gives you the option of putting up a room for rent once you have a place. It’s convenient and safer than Craigslist!
PadMapper
While owned by Zumper, PadMapper is an independent apartment hunting app that’s designed to put you in touch with the maximum number of listings that match your criteria for the perfect new home. The search engine pulls from over a hundred other sites to provide the most up-to-date rental listings in your area.
Much like HotPads, PadMapper also lets you search for roommates or sublets on the app if you’re looking to a new area and need housing quickly. With the aggregate search function gathering listings from so many sites, it’s a great app for both urban areas and more rural spots.
StreetEasy
Are you currently located in New York City? Or maybe you want to move there? Fortunately for you, StreetEasy is designed for this specific market. This NYC-based app only looks at rental properties inside the city, making it much easier to look for prime apartments in such a small but dense area.
You can save your searches and revisit them periodically to look for new listings as well as enable notifications on your device, so you won’t miss the perfect place when it does open up. With a market that moves this quickly, you have to take any advantage you can get!
