An apartment search in any large U.S city can be an intimidating experience. Before you suit up and scour the Internet for your perfect urban oasis, let's consider some potential pitfalls.

1. "But the Internet ad said vintage feel, in-unit laundry and new appliances?"

   Sometimes management companies or individual owners purposefully embellish Internet ads to generate more traffic to a particular property. Know the area you are searching in so you can understand what is reasonable for that neighborhood. Words like 'vintage' or 'new' can be arbitrary.

2. Pictures can be deceiving.

   Often times the apartment picture you see with the large kitchen island and cathedral ceilings is not the same unit associated with the ad copy. Remember, sometimes the advertisement may be a picture of the model unit and not the actual unit you will be renting.

3. Searching online is time consuming.

   Many people start searching online for apartments, thinking this is the most effective use of time. However, if you aren't familiar with the neighborhood in larger cities, you could be wasting hours of your precious time by looking at units that are not geographically desirable. Additionally, many units require a landlord or an owner to show you the unit, which means you need to coordinate your schedule with multiple landlords just to step foot in the front door. Finally, the Internet is massive and sifting through all of the different websites is very time consuming. Consider using a broker service in your city to save you frustration, time and energy.

4. You are not an expert in apartment searching.

   When you search for an apartment on your own, you are relying on your own real estate savvies. Why not make apartment searching a less stressful, successful experience where you are escorted from apartment to apartment, saving you untold hours navigating from location to location, viewing options that might be miles from the local transportation hubs. When you search online, you miss the opportunity to have a professional agent guide you through the process -- many times at no charge.

Source: Justin Kling and Michael Pottern, founders of the Chicago-based apartment locating service Apartment Savvy, share their insights on the world of online apartment searching.

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Author Patrice Poltzer. Posted to our Real Estate Update. Copyright © 2007 Realty Times^®. Rights Reserved.