Best Rental Websites to Find Your Next Home Fast

The rental market doesn’t wait for anyone. It’s move fast or miss out! Moving homes can be exciting, as it means a fresh start, but it can also come with some nerves. Rental websites can either ease those nerves or add to them because many are littered with old property listings, poor photos, and scams.  So, it’s all about which platform you choose. 

Don’t let the bad rental websites get to you. There are plenty of great rental websites that help you find, secure, and manage your next home. As the US rental market gets fiercer, these platforms are doing more to help renters with their journey, from specific benefits to added convenience.

We’ve gone through the most popular platforms to compile a list of the best rental websites on the market and their most important features you should know of.

The Best Rental Websites 

1. RentCafe.com

RentCafe.com is one of the most convenient platforms to use throughout your entire renting journey, as you can stay on the same platform and deal with everything from finding your apartment to leasing it, paying rent, submitting maintenance requests, getting access to services like utilities and renters insurance, and everything in between. Plus, they have a rewards system that allows you to get points as you use their services and use those points for all sorts of discounts.

Advanced filters, reviews from verified residents, video tours, and tidy listing summaries make it easy to find the best apartment fast. Plus, you can compare your favorites side by side, which saves you from jumping back and forth between listings. Booking online tours is simple, and you can update your application status to know where you stand when you log in. When it comes to communication with the management side, RentCafe is the clear winner. All the features you need to communicate with your landlord, pay rent, and submit maintenance requests are found in the Resident Portal.

2. Zillow

Zillow is one of the largest names in real estate, so it’s a good platform for finding your next home. It’s good at property recommendations based on your property search history. It has basic management features to pay rent and message the landlord but they aren’t as comprehensive as expected. For example, there’s no feature to submit a maintenance request. You have to contact the landlord through the app. However, they have a very large inventory and therefore many options.

3. Apartments

Apartments is another leader in the US rental space. It has effective search features, filters and a helpful rent affordability calculator – handy for first-time renters, students, and those on tight budgets. Another standout feature was its neighborhood guides for top markets. These show you the population, median household income, average rent price, and local points of interest to give you a good idea of what to expect before you move to a new neighborhood.

4. Zumper

Zumper has several advanced features to help you start finding suitable properties fast. Audits are carried out regularly to ensure listings are legitimate and up to date. We also liked its National Rent Report: each month it analyzes over a million listings to give you a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. This is absolutely worth reading in the months leading up to your next move.

5. HotPads

HotPads’ search functionality is fantastic in helping you visualize the suitability of apartments in your desired area, something that can be overlooked when focusing heavily on the property. This is especially helpful when moving to a new city. It calculates your commute time and has an interactive map you can use to find the stores and services in the area.

6. Rentberry

Rentberry is another rental property website that’s popular with location-independent entrepreneurs and young professionals. They have a high number of listings with top-quality 360° virtual tours. You can apply online and negotiate your rent. Once secured, you can carry out basic management features from your dashboard.

7. Nestpic

Nestpic specializes in furnished apartments only. It’s popular with location-independent entrepreneurs, young professionals, and students. It has over 3 million listings worldwide and features many luxury apartments. As for the US, it has listings in New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and more. Listings are thorough with quality visuals and descriptions to show you exactly what’s included.

Conclusion

All of these platforms are important names in the real estate industry, and as a renter it’s good to know your options. We hope this list helps you find the best platform for you based on your needs.