What was it like?
Did it make it easier? How much did it cost? Did you find stuff you couldn’t have found on your own?
I’m looking for an apartment and considering an agency.
Round these parts (Boston metro area) it’s much easier to find an apartment if you go to a real estate agent. Most apartments aren’t listed in the paper or those free apartment-finder guides, and most real estate agents have exclusive listings, so you won’t find the same apartment listed at more than one agency, so I usually go with 3 or 4 agencies at a time.
Yeah, then you have to pay a fee, but some real estate agents only charge a 1/2 or 3/4 month’s rent as fee instead of the whole month they’re allowed to charge.
I found my current apartment and the last 2 through an agent that charged 3/4 fee.
I think this varies depending on what city you live in. There are probably cities where most apartments are listed in the paper.
My GF in Boston used an agency, and had to pay a full month’s rent as a fee. She said that was more or less standard in the Boston area. I am assuming the fee will be considerably less here in the Los Angeles area.
at least, I hope it will be.
We went with Spectrum Apt’s. This is Las Vegas, but they may be in LA as well. There was no fee for us, but you had to tell the apt leasing office that they sent you so the apt office would pay the fee. It was really helpful, I tried to do the online searches on my own, but we had specific things we wanted that were’nt part of the online searches. The clerk was really helpful–we’re both military, and I’m a college student, and she found all the apt complexes here in the city that have military or student discounts. We also had our own washer/dryer, so she was able to find the apt’s that allowed you to bring your own in. The place we went with actually knocked off 10$ a month from the rent since we weren’t going to use theirs. Also, she had been to most of the properties, so she was able to give us the insiders info about the areas, and the ones to avoid.
From my experience, I’d say go with it, even there is a fee, if you have specific things that you need. But, if you’re pretty much open, or have a specific area that you want to live in, you might be better off doing it yourself.
I used a real estate agency to rent an apt. in Venice Beach, CA once. There was no charge for the service, and they were very helpful in finding what I wanted at the right price. I just noticed the company and walked in and inquired. It helped a lot because there are good areas and bad areas in Venice.
I used Rentech in San Francisco back when finding a decent appartment was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I thought they were terrific; I registered with them, put in some preferences for what I was looking for and got eMails every day with new appartment listings. Great company imho.
Things may have changed with the rental market going soft, but back about 8 years ago using an agency in Chicago would guarantee that you would only be shown the crappiest apartments that couldn’t be rented out on their own merits.
My friend used a room mate/apt finder once. She found a guy that she THOUGHT was compatible. They have lived together for 3 years. They never talk to eachother and they hardly see eachother. Which is amazing because after living together for 2 months the guy went on disability and doesn’t work.
They were shown an apt in a mediocre area. One that was not in the free apartments books that are given at the grocery stores.
So they would not have found their apt on their own.
Your best bet IMO would be to go through a real estate agency. They tend to know who is more respectable.
I used two agencies finding my current place. The first agency showed me three places, all of which I didn’t particularly like, and the second showed me a wonderful place which I took on the first try. In both cases, the agencies only took a fee if I rented the place, so the first guy got no money from me.