The Pros and Cons of Using Craigslist to Find an Apartment for Rent

Are you looking for a new apartment to rent? If so, you can go to the classifieds section of your local newspaper. You’ll find apartment rentals there, but you’ll also find them on the popular classifieds site Craigslist.org. If this is your first time using Craigslist, you may be wondering what are the pros and cons of using the classifieds website to find an apartment.

The professionals

It is free to use the Craigslist website. Unlike many other popular online apartment rental sites, Craigslist.org is free to use. You can view listings for 1 unit or 100. There are no limits. The website is 100% free. When it comes to finding a rental, the only money you have to pay is rent.

It’s relatively easy to search on Craigslist.org. To find a local apartment for rent, visit the Craigslist home page. Then select your state and the location of the closest city. Look on the left side of the page for a search box. Change the search setting to housing, and then search. The only problem you may run into is if you want to search multiple areas at once. Unless you download a search tool from Craigslist, you’ll need to do separate searches on each location page.

Your options. Not only can you browse or search through apartment rental listings, but you can also create a home search ad. Landlords will occasionally browse these sections looking for renters.

The cons

Property owners do not always include photographs. Before renting an apartment you will go to see it. For that reason, images are not a big deal. If a landlord doesn’t have photos on Craigslist, ask them to email them to you. Look at the photos. Is it a quality apartment worth looking at?

There are some scams surrounding Craigslist.org and apartment rentals. Most of these scams tend to focus on rental services. Remember, the only money you have to pay is for rental costs. You shouldn’t need professional help finding an apartment, so don’t pay for it.