It used to be that if you were relocating to a new city, you had to make a special trip there beforehand to find an apartment -- unless, of course, you were lucky enough to work for a company that took the liberty of finding one for you. For most of us, however, the apartment search was ours alone.

Either before or immediately after your arrival, you'd scan the classifieds section of the local newspaper, anxiously searching for available apartments. You'd try to think of someone -- anyone -- you might know in your new hometown who could help. Then, after a hectic, frazzled weekend of apartment tours, rent shock, and serious mileage, chances were good you'd leave empty-handed. A second trip -- and maybe even a third -- was inevitable.

Recently, however, the Internet has started to revolutionize the apartment-search process. While some Web-browsers initially were slow to warm up to the idea, online apartment searches are gaining popularity. While not every consumer is ready to make a sight-unseen commitment online, the recent addition of services including truck rental, child care resources, car insurance, job searches, and 360-degree virtual walk-through tours are winning apartment-search sites many fans. Across the board, online apartment search sites are experiencing unprecedented traffic, as more consumers seek to save themselves time, money, and grief by researching apartment complexes via the Internet. Even for consumers who still insist on visiting the properties they're seriously considering, the Internet allows them to narrow their search ahead of time, eliminating wasted trips to complexes without the amenities they demand.

"[Online apartment searches] are gaining in momentum," says Rent.Net President Phil Marcus. "A year ago, a lot less people were searching the Internet for apartments. Now, with the same amount of advertising, we're getting more people, and people are actually soliciting us."

Andy Jolls, director of marketing for AllApartments, a national apartment-search site with 5 million listings, says despite the inefficiency of traditional apartment-hunting methods, most people are still relying on those strategies to find apartments. "But that means our growth opportunity is tremendous," Jolls is quick to add. "The challenge is to get folks like my mom and grandmother to search this way. It's easier to browse on the Internet. With the classifieds, you physically have to visit each place."

The typical apartment-search method of scanning local newspapers left many consumers with an incomplete representation of the local market, Marcus says, because most larger apartment complexes don't advertise in the classifieds section. "It's too expensive," he says. "Around 15 years ago, the apartment guide magazines started taking business away from newspapers. Apartment communities could display more information in the guides, and do it for less money. Now the Internet is taking business away from the apartment guides for the same reasons."

The Internet also provides more interactivity between leasing agents and prospective renters. Web users may narrow their searches using various criteria -- number of bedrooms, cost of rent, washer and dryer availability, for example. Users often may fill out a rental/credit application online, which is then forwarded to the complexes in which users are interested. Submitting the form early saves time for both prospective renters and leasing agents.

In addition to apartment listings, the larger sites include such as national guides to corporate housing, lists of storage facilities, information on truck rental and furniture rental, renter's insurance, and job listings. The recent innovation of 360-degree walk-through technology, available on a growing number of Rent.Net's listings, is an eye-catching feature that Marcus says usually draws more attention to those listings. Marcus says Rent.Net has the exclusive rights to that technology. Approximately 2,000 of the site's listings have that visual enhancement. Jolls considers the technology cumbersome, however; AllApartments has chosen not to use 360-degree walk-throughs. "Most users don't have the bandwidth or the patience to use that type of technology," he says. "And while you might get it to work on your computer, not many properties offer that feature." Marcus defends the 360-degree technology, claiming it generates more traffic. "The '360-degree' icon is intriguing," he says. "And the people who download the walk-throughs are generally more qualified. Anyone who takes the trouble to download them is more serious."

Who is the average apartment-search site user? Often, it's the "young professional" type: Rent.Net's average user, for example, is between 23 and 26 years of age, Marcus says, with the mean falling between the ages of 20 and 35. Generally, users have graduated from college or graduate school and are preparing to relocate to a new city for a new job. Jolls says, on the other hand, that AllApartment's demographics have surprised him; the site's users are anywhere between the ages of 18 and 55, proof that the Internet is gaining more older converts. "The demographics of the Internet are becoming more mass-market, and residents of apartment complexes comprise a wide range of ages." In 1996, 75 percent of Rent.Net users were relocating to another city, and 50 percent were relocating to another state. In 1997, 70 percent were headed to another city, and between 45 percent and 50 percent were moving out of state. Rent.Net has generated the most traffic in eight metropolitan areas: the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Southern California, Phoenix, and Seattle.

Marcus estimates only a handful of comprehensive national apartment-search sites exist. Regional and citywide sites, particularly in larger metropolitan areas, number in the hundreds, although "many of the others are trying to provide links to other services" -- links to listings which may or may not be current, Jolls says. Another thing to consider is that "there are sites out there that claim to be national, but they've only got two to three listings, or no listings, in some states," Marcus says. The real challenge for any apartment-search site, Jolls says, is obtaining listings in the nation's smaller towns; that's where prospective renters have the most trouble, and where they can most benefit from an Internet resource. "We get a lot of response from users looking for apartments in small markets," Jolls says. "While we want to be successful in the major markets, we want the small towns, too." Both Rent.Net and AllApartments cater to larger apartment complexes, where turnover is frequent -- usually more than 50 percent each year, with the average stay being one year. "The larger complexes always need to advertise," Marcus adds.

Can consumers be reasonably certain they're finding the majority of a city's available apartment listings on national apartment-search sites? Marcus estimates Rent.Net contains 45 percent to 50 percent of the nation's listings; in major metropolitan areas, he adds, the site contains more than half of the available listings, on average. Jolls says AllApartments lists approximately 30 percent to 40 percent of the larger complexes in most of its 4,000 cities. Other major national apartment-search sites include Apartments Plus, Apartments On-Line, and Apartment Locators.

The advantage of going through a major national site is that the listings you download are current, reflective of the going rental rates, which -- as we all know -- are subject to change at the drop of a hat. AllApartments' 5 million listings, scattered across 4,000 U.S. cities, are kept current by customer service representatives in AllApartments' Phoenix office. Rent.Net's 2.3 million paying customers, comprising approximately 8,500 apartment communities, are contacted every three months in order to ensure the most updated information possible.

Coming tomorrow: a hypothetical apartment search in Washington, D.C. How do some of the major apartment-search sites fare? Log on to find out.

Published: January 15, 1998

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