Six alternatives to Craigslist you should know about

There’s no shortage of online platforms with which to find an apartment in D.C.

By Michelle Goldchain@goldchainam Updated Jul 19, 2019, 1:30pm EDT

A row of colorful building in Washington D.C. — Residential buildings in D.C.

Craigslist is a well-known and popular way to apartment-hunt, but sometimes it can feel clunky or lacking. Comparing rentals and their particular features on the platform can be difficult as well. Below are six alternatives to Craigslist that also let people look for homes.

PadMapper

This website quickly maps rentals on the market, while offering needed information like the rent, home size, and photos. Listings are paired with Google Street View images, and users can favorite or hide listings.

Bozzuto

With Bozzuto, searching for apartments in specific neighborhoods and cities is a breeze. The site displays a variety of residential developments within a given area, and users can easily compare the prices of different types of rentals. Also, the site clearly lists all of the amenities each development offers, and includes accessibility functions.

Realtor.com

Looking for a specific type of amenity? Realtor.com has you covered with a search engine that not only filters listings by number of bedrooms and bathrooms but also whether you want a dog-friendly home or one with a swimming pool. List and map views are included.

Zillow

Tried and true, Zillow is one of the most-intuitive online real estate tools out there. The side-by-side view of city maps and listings—including photos, rent prices, and addresses—helps users save time. You can also filter by how many days listings have been on the site to make sure you catch the newest ones, draw boundaries, and see school districts.

Apartments.com

Apartments.com allows you to draw exactly where within a map you want to see listings. If you're targeting certain areas of D.C., you can easily limit your results through the website's Polygon tool. There’s also a “lifestyle” tab that sorts student, senior, and short-term housing.

RentCafé

This website lets users sort by housing type, property- and community-specific amenities, and ZIP codes. You can also draw boundaries to define where you want to look for a home. RentCafé also compiles and publishes neighborhood data such as the average rental price.