Search for Apartment Reviews and Ratings

The Importance of Apartment Reviews

Apartment reviews are an important part of renting an apartment. When you rate your apartment, someone else uses that evaluation to choose their next home. You can do the same the next time that you are apartment hunting.

Considering the apartment ratings available can tell you what the apartment complex website or brochure cannot: whether the apartment is truly in a good area or how effective the apartment building superintendent or maintenance worker is. Reading apartment reviews can tell you about small, yet important, details, such as how up to date the so-called "luxury" bathrooms are, or how well the apartment building's "no smoking" ordinance is administered.

As you peruse online apartment reviews and apartment ratings, you are sure to find a mix of positive and negative apartment ratings for a given apartment building. Just because there are widely varying opinions, does not mean that you should give up on the apartment building. Instead, consider when the apartment ratings were posted.

If they are recent additions to the website, then give them more weight than apartment ratings that are several years old. If there are only a few negative ratings compared to an overwhelming majority of positive ratings, then you should take that as a cue that the apartment building is a good one. You also can read through each apartment review to see whether the features that irked another renter, such as a no pet policy, would even be a concern for you.

Using an apartment review website puts all of the relevant reviews and ratings in one convenient location. Do a quick search by zip code or state to see which apartment buildings are in your target area. If you have identified the apartment building that you are interested in researching, browse to that apartment building's page where all of its reviews and ratings are housed. You can easily sort the apartment reviews by date or by rating to begin to read them. Many apartment review websites also encourage users to include photographs of the apartments in their apartment reviews.

Just as it is important for others to rate their apartments, it also is important for you to rate your apartment. When you rate your apartment, you are providing others with valuable information with which to decide whether to move into your building. While you may only post an apartment review at the end of your tenure in an apartment, you should be posting it while you are still living there.

Posting your apartment review is a surefire way to get your landlord's attention. He or she relies upon apartment review websites to lead to new tenants, and if you rate your apartment as lacking in important features, such as critical repairs or hot water, then far fewer new tenants will be calling.

To write a good review when you rate your apartment, be as specific as possible when describing both what you like and what you dislike about the apartment. Upload photos to show damages, if applicable, or positive features.