Where Young Tech Workers are Looking for Apartments

Let’s face it. Craigslist is dead. Millennials, especially young tech workers, are abandoning it faster than rats on a sinking ship. Who can blame them? Craigslist seems to have zero interest in improving their broken search algorithm let alone dealing with duplicate listings and scams.

As a rental agent in New York City, I was forced to dig deeper to find where all the great tenants who abandoned craigslist were hunting for places to live. Over the course of my career, I rented apartments to young developers from Google, Uber, Yelp and dozens of startups with funny names and millions in seed capital. Besides generous relocation packages and six figure salaries, they all had one thing in common. They avoided craigslist like the plague.

Instead, they used (and helped build) new apps and communities to make the apartment hunting process suck less. Here are five places they’re looking instead of craigslist. 

By limiting access to management companies, developers and agents with exclusive listings, Zumper offers applicants the one thing craigslist lacks. Transparency. All listings must have an address, and all listings need to have listing information verified by Zumper.

The formula has been wildly successful. So successful that Zumper has already raised $20 million in venture capital and acquired another tech worker favorite, Padmapper.

Why your web developer loves it

Zumper offers prospective tenants transparency. Instead of sifting through hundreds of vague listings, they get the real address, a WalkScore, rent trends for the neighborhood, and custom alerts for new listings that fit their criteria.

Even better, instead of cobbling together photocopies of their tax returns, Zumper encourages all its users to fill out an application and get an Experian credit check on Zumper Once they’re ready to apply, they can send you their full application and background check right from their phones.

Since the entire process is handled by a third party, applicants don’t need to worry about handing over cash and personal info to a stranger, and landlords can be fairly certain they have a strong application. That’s a win/win in my book.

Why you’ll love it

Like Cosy, Zumper is completely free to use for landlords and management companies. They only make money on background checks ($30) which are paid for by the applicants.

Zumper also syndicates your listings to realtor.com and Padmapper for free. They even have a feature that let’s you add your phone number, name or logo as a watermark to the listing pictures you upload to Zumper.

Nakedapartments has managed to come close to dominating the cut throat rental market in New York City in just a few short years. They’ve been so successful that real estate leviathan Zillow Group recently acquired the company.

Why your web developer loves it

Like Zumper, Nakedapartments offers applicants what craigslist refuses. Transparency. Instead of serving up listings in the order they’re posted like craigslist, Nakedpartments uses a sophisticated algorithm to show users apartments that fit their criteria. Apartments listed by agents and owners with great ratings come up before everyone else's. While they don’t mandate users post addresses, they encourage it. Finally, listings are given an accuracy score which determines their placement in the search results.

They also give applicants the option to automatically book showings with any agent that’s available.

Why you’ll love it

While Nakedapartments charges $49 and up for agents, it’s free for small landlords and management companies. 

Hugely popular in San Francisco, Lovely pulls in data from craigslist, internet listing services, property management firms and landlords and presents them on an easy to navigate app.

Why your web developer loves it

Since Lovely aggregates data from multiple sources, that means checking fewer sites, and once again, more transparency for applicants. It presents listings in a clean, attractive layout and also allows applicants to set up listing alerts which are delivered right to their phones through Lovely’s app. Lovely also encourages applicants to create financial profiles so landlords can see if they’re qualified at a glance.

Why you’ll love it

Instead of charging applicants for background checks, Lovely offers landlords online rent payments for only $1 per transaction, paid by the landlord. The system lets tenants split rent among roommates, charge one time fees for utilities or security deposits, and best of all can set up automatic late fees for tenants who don’t pay their rent on time.

Famous for cat memes and bacon lovers, social news aggregator and community building site reddit bills itself as the front page of the internet. Considering its recent growth, (the site gets an astonishing billion page views per year and everyone from sitting presidents to astronauts aboard the ISS have participated in their “ask me anything” interviews) that claim makes a lot of sense.

Why your web developer loves it

Reddit’s most popular feature is the millions of user created and managed communities called “subreddits”. Since all content is user generated and presented based on community voting, breaking news hits local subreddits lightning fast.

Even though the site is massive, local city subreddits are often small, tightly knit groups with a great sense of community. If you’re a member of the community, you have instant trust from other members. That makes them great places to buy and sell goods and services from other members.

Why you’ll love it

Software developers, web designers, and other tech workers use reddit more than any other site. Since starting salaries for developers can be well into the six figures, gaining the community's trust can mean a steady stream of well qualified tenants.

The only caveat is that unless there is a specific subreddit in your city for buying and selling, promoting your listings is generally frowned upon. That said, once you’re a trusted member of the community user will want to know when you have vacancies.

Reddit can be a great place to network and learn as well. There are subreddits for personal finance, real estate investing, SEO, marketing and pretty much anything else you can think of. 

Local facebook groups are another place where tech workers look for deals. Most cities have a buy and sell group or a group specifically dedicated to real estate. In New York City, Boston, Washington DC, and the West Coast we have Gypsy Housing, where tens of thousands of members post rooms and apartments for rent.

Why your web developer loves it

In case you’re missing the theme here, your software developer is hunting for a place here because it offers what craigslist doesn’t. Transparency. Instead of the fake ads on craigslist, listings on facebook groups are posted by actual people.

Why you’ll love it

Besides accessing a semi-private group of people who’ve abandoned craigslist, you also get to preemptively vet your applicants. If their feed has nothing but pictures of epic keg parties and your other tenants are mostly senior citizens, then you’ll know they’re probably not the right tenants for you.

Next Steps

While developers may be working overtime to engineer the final nail for Craigslist’s coffin, it’s not going to happen overnight. Use these apps to supplement your traditional vacancy marketing efforts, not replace them.