Hotpads may look a little dated on the front, but its data is up to date and the map search is snappy and well featured. It pulls listing information from sites like Craigslist and other major listing services with commercial properties to represent, so you get a good mix of what’s really available in a speedy and smooth interface. The site also has helpful guides to help renters make sure they’re choosing the right apartment for them, street views for every listing, and specific maps to help you find low-income housing or foreclosures. If you’re looking to buy a home, it can help you out there as well. When you find candidate apartments, you can save them as favorites to check up on them later.

For many apartment hunters, Padmapper is the first stop in the journey to find a new home. Not only does Padmapper source data primarily from Craigslist, it packages it—and data from other services—into an attractive format. You can view the listings on your computer, take them with you on the go thanks to Padmapper’s mobile apps, filter to match your preferences, and save leads for later. The whole service is a top-down Google Map, and you can quickly jump between a location’s Street View, WalkScore, and photos without leaving the site. 

Lovely started out as another Craigslist-sourced, top-down map-based apartment search tool, but has added features that separate it from the pack. It has all of the features that you expect from an apartment search site though—you can enter your zip code to see what’s available on a map you can navigate. Click any of the listing clusters to zoom down to see specific groups in specific neighborhoods and watch for the red number markers to show you listings that have been posted in the past few hours. You can filter based on things like bedrooms, price, and pet friendliness. What makes Lovely really special though is that when you click on a listing, you can see a full-page view of all of its information and photos, and you can apply for the rental without leaving the page. Lovely reaches out to the landlord and immediately passes along your application information so you get a jump on others in a competitive market. 

Don’t forget your local newspaper when searching for an apartment. If a landlord is willing to pay to advertise their place in the paper, they’re usually not afraid of what they have to show, unlike some ads on Craigslist. Similarly, you can hit the pavement in your preferred neighborhood. Sometimes, actually going to your target neighborhood to check it out and scope for new rentals and signs can get the job done just as quickly and easily. So even if you take your search digital, those old analog methods still work.