Web 2.0 for Apartment Hunters

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As anyone who’s rented an apartment will tell you, finding the perfect rental can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Many apartments are rented within days or even hours of becoming available.

Thanks to Web 2.0 technology, searching for available apartments within a certain area has become much easier. Apartment search engines, referrals through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, online apartment reviews and virtual apartment tours are a few of the ways the Internet can help apartment hunters. There are also hundreds of websites designed to help renters find a new home.

Here are five of the top websites that use Web 2.0 features to make apartment hunting easier:

1. HotPads is a map-based real estate search engine that includes home sale and rental listings for cities across the United States. Anyone who has a home or apartment to sell or rent can post a listing, and HotPads’ map search allows apartment hunters to pinpoint rentals in desired neighborhoods. Text search is also available to help hunt for apartments with specific amenities using keywords. The HotPads website provides a variety of useful tools, including a Renters Guide, a Buy vs. Rent Calculator and Google Earth search. HotPads also has mobile apps that make it easier to search on the go.
2. PadMapper takes apartment rental data from Craigslist and other apartment-listing services and displays them as pushpins on a Google Map. Apartment hunters can search different locations using standard Google Map operations and then use PadMapper’s filter feature to narrow down their search.
3. MyApartmentMap began as a website that plotted Craigslists rental ads on a map (like PadMapper) but has since expanded to include more advanced search features. Apartment hunters can jump from a 2D map to Google Streetview to take a neighborhood tour, browse interactive maps of local social spots and businesses, and compare rents to city averages.
4. Apartments.com is a well-established national apartment search website that features local maps, community information, customized searches, photos and floor plans for apartment communities, and classified listings updated daily from 120 newspapers. Apartments.com has one of the largest online pools of apartment listings, with 360-degree virtual tours included for many apartments. The website also has a Moving Center feature that provides support for renters as they move into their new apartment. The Apartments.com iPhone app works in conjunction with the phone’s GPS and allows you to see available apartment listings as you drive through different neighborhoods.
5. JumpPost is a low cost online alternative to using a property broker in New York City. Here’s how it works: An apartment renter who is about to move creates a post on JumpPost describing their current apartment. Apartment hunters can browse apartment posts and make appointments for viewing. If they like what they see and decide to rent, they pay JumpPost a brokerage fee (advertised as 50% less than the normal fee) and the current renter receives $500 or more for posting. JumpPost takes care of background and credit checks and rental paperwork. Although JumpPost apartment posts are currently limited to New York City, the website owners hope to expand it to include more cities in the near future.

 Since only 40% of the Technshare audience is from the USA, let us know in the comments below if any of the websites listed above have inspired you to try out some new Web 2.0 features on your website.

Web 2.0 for Apartment Hunters is a post from: Technshare

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