The Best (and Worst) Apartment Rental Sites

5. MyNewPlace

MyNewPlace is pretty bare-bones. The site does have some advanced search features that will let you sort by rent price or show you pet-friendly apartments, but the available listings are sparse. My ZIP code only showed 27 listings, whereas PadMapper, MyApartmentMap, and HotPads showed hundreds. After searching, the site required I give my email before I could view any of the listings. The signup sheet had a disclaimer that basically promises to spam my email with advertisements from the site. And it adds, “Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications.”

6. Rentals.com

In my area, Rentals.com mainly listed sponsored ads from corporate apartment complexes with a few private rentals mixed in. While the site listed tons of complexes, the listings themselves weren’t all that comprehensive. None of the ads had floor plans, the photos included were mostly of the complex, and the pricing usually said “Varies.”

7. RentCompare

RentCompare was a navigational nightmare. The site’s two search options – sort by ZIP code or sort by city name – both came back with errors, no matter how many different combinations I tried. When I finally got a search to work, the site required me to sign up before I could see the listings. Sign-up took four separate tries with four separate errors. In the end, I was able to see a few listings with some decent information, but the site wasn’t worth the hassle.

While I tried to cover most of the popular sites, there’s no shortage of others out there. Do you have a favorite site I didn’t mention, or one to avoid? Don’t keep that valuable information to yourself – give us the scoop on our Facebook page!

For more apartment advice, check out…

• Why I’m Still a Happy Renter: 4 Tips for the Apartment Hunt
• 3 Tips to Lower Your Rent
• 6 Myths about Renter’s Insurance – and How to Save