Trying to find my Brother a place in Downtown, running out of time, he's recolating from Calif.

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by OpenD

Couldn't disagree with you more. In the current ultra-tight market they're almost essential.

The last time I used one, everything she showed me was bang on target, and the last thing she showed me was a choice I never would have thought of for myself, but which turned out to be perfect.

The trick is, you need to interview them first to find out who you can work with, and who will just waste your time.

I guess it's how resourceful someone is. In the time I waste interviewing apartment locators, I can just go locate an apartment by myself. Heck, I was there a couple weeks ago and located quite a few and have the paperwork in hand when it's time to go.

[homeinatx]

I think it depends on the areas where you are looking. Apartment locators get commissions from the mega complexes which are mostly located northwest and southwest. For anything central beyond the off campus dorms of west campus, they are basically useless, though they might be okay with the big new rentals downtown. I would still cut out the middle man and call those buildings directly and/or search on the lease section of austinhomesearch.com in 78701. If you want a carriage house or a house in downtown adjacent, you basically have to drive round looking for signs and then call the landlord directly. I think apartment locators work fine for more suburban locations. For central Austin, they are a complete waste of time, and a frustration to boot. Austin is not one market.

[achtungpv]

Go to Google Maps and zoom into downtown Austin.
Type "apartment" in the search bar and hit go.
Most of the complexes, with a few duds, will appear on the map with their phone numbers on the left.
Call them directly. You could literally find a place, if you have the cash, in 20 minutes.