RENT411 Relocation Guides

When it comes to searching for an apartment, men and women do it differently according to a new survey completed recently Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area apartment renters.  Women tend to be more through, searching for a longer period of time before making a decision, consulting more resources and taking more factors into consideration.  While 80% of men look for an apartment for less than a month before signing a lease, the average apartment search for women takes between one and two months.  In addition, men are more likely to sign short term leases than women.  The average lease signed by a man is 15% shorter than a lease signed by a woman.  Women are also empowered by simple tools on the internet offered by rental search websites, like Minneapolis based RENT411.com.  Using these websites women look for more detailed information beyond the number of bedrooms and monthly lease rate, and target specifics like security, proximity to shopping and schools, fitness center, parking during their apartment search.  Armed with that information, visiting only those apartments that make the cut and finding their next home makes life easy for them.  Lucky for apartment owners, 75% of rental decision makers are women. 

How consumers search for a place to live is changing rapidly.

As is the level of satisfaction they receive from it. According to a new survey completed recently with Minneapolis-St.Paul metro area apartment renters, 90% of apartment hunters start their search by visiting a rental search website, like Minneapolis based RENT411.com, and 62% of them also consult a rental magazine.

Old favorites such as driving around, asking for recommendations from friends and family, or even taking a look at the newspaper have become much less popular. They prove time-consuming, slow or unreliable.

When asked how useful the different methods of finding an apartment in Minneapolis-St.Paul were, renters thought:

• rental search websites were useful more than 80% of the time,
• while driving around or the newspaper listings fell short of their expectations with less than 20% useful rating.

Among rental search websites that were highly rated, RENT411.com, Rent.com and Craigslist.com were top three for Twin Cities Metro renters.