My lease is up at the end of July, and I don't have a clue what to do about it. Not really, anyway. I'm fully aware of the normal steps one would take in my position: ask friends if they know anybody moving out; write a long, cryptic email to your real estate agent buddy expecting the world for cheap and no broker's fee for the privilege; scour mislabeled, repeating Craigslist ads that say they have pictures but really don't; procrastinate, panic, repeat.
I'm being whiny, I know. But moving apartments in Boston is a temper tantrum inducing experience. Inventory is low, rents are high, life is short -- I just want the place I want without being taken for a ride to get it. Is that too much to ask?
Of course not. But you should know that Craigslist is not your only option. This is Boston after all, the land of plucky startups, innovative entrepreneurs and centuries of baked-in exasperation when it comes to finding our next place to live. Better solutions were bound to surface sometime.
Here's a rundown of resources you'd be wise to consult before succumbing to more mindless apartment scrolling:
Zillow: By now a household name in the local real estate game, Zillow.com offers a fantastic combination of aggregate apartment listings, filtered by location, price, amenities, etc. as you'd expect, and industry-leading research and market statistics. They should be a regular stop on your search for a new apartment of home.
Trulia: Another nicely cultivated apartment site you can slice and dice any number of ways to arrive at your perfect place. It suffers from a bit of the Craigslist syndrome, listing a good amount of repeat properties, some of which don't have pictures, but it still should give you a good handle on what's out there.
RentHop: Born of Boston roots, RentHop operates on a refreshing premise: Through the power of technology and math (read: clean data), this site, which cut its teeth in the cutthroat apartment market in New York, sorts properties based on quality, not quantity. The resulting HopScore allows users to know immediately what's most worth their time.
JumpShell: Ready for this one? JumpShell removes the broker from the equation entirely. Instead, you list your apartment with them, they help put you in touch with people who might like it, then you coordinate your own showings. And the best part? You get a piece of the cut just for being so enlightened. Bold? Yes. Worth a try? Without a doubt.
Rentenna: Also by way of New York, Rentenna crunches a bunch of criterion to rate its offering on a scale from one to 99 depending on what's most important to you, slapping its score on every apartment right on its homepage. Its interface is as beautiful as its data is clean -- no shoddy listings here.
Your friendly neighborhood real estate agency: Brokers get a bad wrap, and many of them deserve it, not listening to what we really want, but instead just showing us whatever hellhole they pray we'll be stupid enough to gobble up. That's not a fair assessment of the profession as a whole, though. Sure, they largely work based on commission. But nobody knows the pulse of the market better than them. And while finding one you like can be a slog, you'll be in capable hands when you do. Broker fees are the worst. But get a broker who knows what they're doing, and you'll likely leave feeling they've earned it.
Craigslist: Old habits die hard. There's nothing to lose by combing Craigslist for you next digs. Nothing, that is, but hours and hours of your life you could be spending doing other things. Like enjoying your new apartment.
How do you find an apartment in Boston? Sound off in the comments section below.
