Remember how the temporary place I was in last year flooded, and how I had to start looking for an apartment sooner than expected?
Fast forward a year, and switch out “apartment” for “house” and that’s about the only difference. THERE MUST BE A BETTER WAY. Seriously. It boggles my mind that no tech #startup in #vancouver has been able to tackle the asinine process of finding an apartment or house for rent. Searching Craigslist, emailing and phoning for inquiries, scheduling viewings and then going to the place only to discover it isn’t quite what was described = waste of time and totally inefficient. Some of you are no doubt nodding your heads, and if you’re inclined, HELP FIX THE PROBLEM.
I’ll point to an example: Chicago Apartment Finders.
I used them when I was looking for my first place in Chicago. It was incredibly easy. I filled out a form that included what I wanted to pay in rent, what areas I wanted to live, how many bedrooms, public transit access and if pets were allowed and a preference for hardwood floors. In one Saturday, ONE SATURDAY, I saw 7 places and signed the lease for one. Each place was a little different, and a little closer to what I wanted. The agent made adjustments on the fly, based on feedback I gave as we drove from one apartment to the next.
I do not see why such a service cannot exist in Vancouver. Given my experience, and what I’ve heard from just about everyone else who has a rental story to share, such a service would not be short of customers. And it’s not like there is a shortage of rental places either. Just check Craigslist.
But unlike Craiglist, a service like Chicago Apartment Finders, in Vancouver, will do the leg work for you. In theory, it’ll have established relationships with landlords, accurate listings and a database from which to cull available units that match the criteria you enter. So you can go to a site, for the sake of simplicity, let’s call it Vancouver Apartment Rentals, enter in the criteria like number of bedrooms, location, pets, etc., see a list of available units, fill out the contact form and then just wait for the representative to give you a call with a schedule of places to see on a particular day.
It would whittle down Craigslist to a set of check boxes and a contact form, and simplify the process.
Why does such a service not exist in Vancouver? I really do want to know. Does it have to do with real estate laws? Rental laws? Or has no one thought of this yet? Seriously. I do want to know.