Introduction To National
Apartment & Rental Locator Services
Most apartment and rental locators
are moving onto the Internet to make their services more convenient to those
who are wired. National
services, which virtually did not exist just a few years ago, now strive
to cater to the whole country and the coverage of some is impressive.
Local rental services restrict their operations to specific metropolitan areas
and niche markets such as offering luxury housing, up-scale apartment
communities, high-rise buildings, senior citizen complexes, hard to find
cottages, etc. National services will usually provide listings of a
large number of available units in an area it serves, others claim that they
expose the largest percentage of all units advertised in the US.
(See
our list below of top National On-line
rental locator services).
Fees & Commissions
Locator services make their money by connecting
landlords who have vacancies with tenants searching for new residences.
A landlord lists his property and its features and benefits, and sets
out general criteria for acceptance of applicants.
A prospective tenant will describe the area in which he wants to live,
general characteristics of the type of residence he would like to rent, and
fills out an on-line application. The
service matches apparently qualified prospects with apparently suitable
properties, and the landlord contacts the applicant by email.
The service is without charge to the prospect. The landlord pays a fee or commission that is agreed upon
when the landlord lists his property.
Landlords & Tenants Make
Final Decisions
Once placed in contact, the
parties are free to conclude the transaction, or not, between themselves. Some
rental industry experts forecast that within the next five years as much as
80% of all future advertising for rentals will be done on the Internet.
Top Tier National
Locator Companies:
