Pros & Cons of Apartment Locators? (Houston, Austin: apartments, rental, condo)

[KWPN]

Not a bash on them at all, so please don't assume so.

Can I please get pros and cons of Apartment Locators from those that have used them?

I'll be moving to Austin from Houston for school in 4-6 weeks, and am contemplating on using an A.L. but I have a list of apartments I've found via AllAustin.com, ForRent.com, and ApartmentGuide.com.

Not attending UT yet, transferring to ACC for a year then lateral move to UT.

[Jennibc]

When we moved here in 99 we used an apartment locator service and while on the one hand, if you have a limited time to find something they are useful, on the other hand they limit their search to the big complexes because they are the ones willing to pay their fees. If we had to do it over again, we would have looked ourselves and found something smaller and more centrally located.

[brubaker]

What she said.

It's funny that some cities and states have no apt location services, Portland OR for example has *nothing*, nada, zilch.

[latikeriii]

Pro: they help you find great deals and save you time.
Con: they know which complexes pay better commission and they do steer you toward those management companies.

In NYC, apt locators and called "Brokers" and usually are for a fee..uggh. Austin is lucky to have free apt. locating services.

[tibbar]

We used one when we moved down in 1985 and had a great experience. In one day we were in a furnished 2 bedroom 2 bath beside a pool that worked out wonderful till we bought our house. The cable guy said they were older apartments and some of the roomiest apartments he had been in. The area has gone down hill but our time at the corner of Riverside and Willow Creek DR was a very good fit found by an apartment locator we got out of the phone book.

[CATXTransplant]

You can't assume that all locators steer people to the complexes that pay higher. The problem with some "locators" is that is the only way they make their living. As a Realtor, I do apartment locating just to help people out and to make more contacts in the area. I give people a list of all apartments that fit their criteria and will even show my clients the commission amounts if asked just to keep things on the up and up. Because it's not my main source of income, I don't need to try to make a pile of cash on every deal.

[highrez58]

I agree. Some of us are willing to do what we can to help people get located. Of course, I hope that when I help someone find an apartment, they will remember to call me later when they want to buy a home. Our job isn't just about money.

[Mamazalez]

Is it common for locators to help with rental house searches, too? We'd planned to go it alone, but now I'm wondering if we should work with someone.

What are the pros/cons of using a locator for a rental house search (and sorry for sorta hijacking the thread)?

[ILikeSmartHippies]

I got a relatively good apt with the stuff I wanted in 1 day (found + signed lease, then waited ~4 days for it to prep), which is the time frame I wanted as well.

Possible down sides might include...

- You get a lame locator. There are many so don't be afraid to drop yours & get a different one. With mine, I liked his "ad" (showed his go-getter personality which proved correct) and his "style" (basically meaning, he could relate to what I wanted & knew where to get it and how to describe what he had in mind in language I could understand... extreme wrong example might be me, as a college educated guy, going to a guy who only spoke rapper-language, or vice versa). Although I will admit, I dropped a couple comments like, "uhh, this pool area looks like it turns into beer party central, ugh yuck" and he took it as a positive (lol). Though I could have been more picky.


- They might have favorite "destinations" for you, whether you like those places or not; meaning, favoritism.

- They might locate you into "complexes", which is similar to what might happen going to a property management service, of course they cater to larger places or etc. Though this might depend on the locator. They probably won't ever know about privately rented places, and privately rented places have better quality-to-price-to-convenience (usually).

- They might have busy schedules so you get bumped from appointments.. though I dont see this happening really, because right now it is a Renter's market!


Summary.. you are looking for a college "dorm"ing situation.. they will know best because that is a highly specific market.

[Aaron Gordy]

Its rare that I post but after reading these I couldn't help myself. I have been doing apartment locating for 10 years so I have a little experience here. There are many pros and cons of apartment locators. We get paid from the apartment community for helping folks get an apartment. The commission fees vary from community to community and some locators only work with the places that pay the highest which is a shame and very short sighted. The best locators think of the customer as a repeat customer and try their best each and every time. The average cost of getting a new customer and a repeat customer is huge. So if a community is paying a pittance and they sometimes do...the locator shouldn't thumb his/her nose at that property because one should be thinking of the customer as a long time customer and hopefully friend and not him/herself. Some of the most obvious benefits are locators can save time/money for finding exactly what the customer desires....wood flooring, jacuzzi, ut shuttle, washer/dryer connect...or whatever... The other benefits are for the folks that have issues such as bad credit, a broken lease, eviction or a felony. I have come across so many folks in my career that have spent literally hundreds of dollars on application fees and have been turned down. The best locators are the ones that are very good at listening without condescending attitudes (paramount to a social worker at times) and getting that customer the best apartment that they can qualify at. Some locators have access to the housing/condo/duplex mls and some don't. If you are looking for a condo, duplex or a house specifically ask the locator if he/she has access to it. Some specialize in some areas and some don't. I could go on and on but I don't wanna toot my own horn. HOpefully this posting is of value to you all.