Apartment Listings

Reading apartment listings is like navigating a jungle. There are many sneaky elements to look out for. Though some degree of trust is required when reading an apartment listing, it's wise--as a savvy adventurous renter--to be on the look out for the following suspicious ads.

The glitzy apartment listing


These ads are filled with overly colorful descriptions that are designed to entice you. "Most beautiful!" "Stunning!" "Best location ever!" Oftentimes, they're posted by apartment brokers whose main goal is to lure you into their office so they can show you their inventory. Clearly not every single apartment in their portfolio is going to be the best, biggest and nicest. This doesn't mean you should avoid them. They may have good apartments. But be on guard for overselling. Always cut through their pitch and see the apartments for what they really are.



The ad that spins round and round


Some ads will take the attributes of an okay apartment and spin them around to make it sound nicer or more romantic. For example, a small studio becomes a cozy apartment. A neighborhood with lots of traffic noise and sirens becomes a bustling or exciting area. These ads take the defects of an apartment and attempt to romanticize them. If you like smaller apartments or a busy location, that's fine. But remember that you, the renter, decides what's cozy, not the ad.



The barely there apartment listing


These ads say very little. Maybe just the number of bedrooms, the rent and a vague description. It's really difficult to discern what these mean. They could mean the apartment is really bad and nothing good could be said about it. Or it's a fake ad. Or the person is lazy or inexperienced at writing listings. Because of their ambiguity, don't waste your time and look at these only as a last resort.



The well written ad--but what's with the fake photos?


Some ads are very descriptive and promising with images to boot--until you see the fine print below that says "photos are similar to the apartment described." WHAT?! Suddenly, the ad loses a lot of credibility. But don't discredit these completely. Generally, these ads are by broker agencies with a lot of apartments, where it's not feasible for them to take photos of every single available apartment. Ignore the photos and focus solely on the written description to determine whether to answer the listing.

All of these ads are designed to attract your attention and get you excited. They're quite common. Because the apartment behind the ad could be a great space, don't ignore them outright. But when you're sorting through the many listings, pay attention to only the facts--the amount of rent, the location, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, basically any element that can be measured. And when you find a unit that meets your criteria, whether or not it has any of these tricks, go check it out in person.

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