Looking for an Apartment? Earn $100 While You’re At It.
When I moved from MD to NoVA, I decided to become a renter again. Temporarily. So I scoured the net to research the area before my girlfriends and I set out to find the perfect place. While online, I stumbled across many sites that were very helpful. Just to name a few, move.com showed me the available communities and apartmentratings.com gave me the real scoop about the property and its management. One other site that served me well was rent.com. While it didn’t provide the most comprehensive list of available rentals, it did offer something I hadn’t seen anywhere else:
…we’ll send you a $100 reward when you let us know that you found your new home on Rent.com!
What? $100 just for telling you I found my apartment on rent.com? Well shoot, I’m looking for an apartment and you’re giving away money – sounds like a plan to me! It sounded so simple, it was almost too good to be true.
I continued my search on other sites and created a list of apartments I wanted to see. When the leasing consultants asked me how I found their property – whatcha think – I gave them a big ole’ kool-aid smile and said “Rent.com!” Then proceeded with business as usual.
When I finally chose an apartment, I went back to the site to “claim my reward.” I answered a few questions about the property name, POC information, and move-in date. Then I received an email stating they would send me a $100 prepaid Visa after confirming my information with the leasing office.
I moved in May, so when I hadn’t received anything by mid June, I thought it was a scam. However, later in the month, I received another email stating my information was confirmed and I should receive the reward in 7-10 business days. Still skeptical, I was hesitant to post about it because I didn’t want to believe it until I received it. I searched the site to read more of the fine print and that’s where I noticed they have to confirm that you actually lived in the property for 30 days and will send the reward 6 to 8 weeks after you move in. Oooooooh, they say reading is fundamental.
True to their word, this little gem arrived in the mail today. Just in time for my weekend excursion.
If you’re looking for an apartment, I recommend using rent.com as one of your resources. It’s an easy way to earn $100 for doing…umm…nothing.
Peace & Blessings
~*~*~*~*~*~
Work to achieve, not to acquire.
And as always, BE FABULOUS!
~SM
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The complex (lister) actually pays this money. Say I list my apartments there, someone rents it out..I pay rent.com fee for listing (no fee prior to this). Then rent.com pays new happy renter $100.
Too bad lister didn’t shhhh up the amount to $150 and give you cash.
Oh, so an owner can list on rent.com for FREE and is only charged when a potential tenant reports the reference? And I assume the list fee is higher than $100 since that amount is being passed on to the renter.
At any rate, it’s a decent set up that benefits the renter either way.
I’ve been to Rent’s site alot (as my hubby was always into relocating) and I always thought it was bogus. I never moved into any apartments on their list, but glad to know they do actually give folks the money.
This would be a college kid’s dream. Man, I wish I knew about long ago!
Rent.com charges the landlord $300 for every renter that says they found their apartment via rent.com. The landlord is out $300, you are up $100, but you know who eventually pays the difference…. ;)
I should also add that Rent.com apartments, at least in my area are EXPENSIVE! Craiglist has MUCH cheaper apts, and you can find the smaller complexes that are cheaper and have a little more for amenities and/or more personal service and flexibility.
I compared my rents to rent.com rents in my area and people renting through rent.com are paying $100-125/month more… which is a lot when the rent we charge is only $625.
@ savvy – Rent.com does not own the rental property, so I don’t understand your statement “rent.com apartments are expensive!” And I didn’t rent “through” rent.com, it was merely an information source – no different from a newspaper, MLS, or Craigslist. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe the amount of rent a property owner charges will vary based on WHERE you find the property listing. I own rental property and the rent amount I advertised was the same with every listing source. Doing otherwise has got to be against fair housing laws.
As mentioned in my post, rent.com did not have a comprehensive list of available properties, so I don’t doubt there are more apartments that can be found elsewhere. Their listing may or may not be restricted to the more expensive properties. Perhaps that’s their target market, I don’t know. When I stumbled across their site, I was simply gathering data, so price was of little concern. I was looking for properties in my preferred school district, desired floor plan, short distance from my job, and metro accessible.
Please note, I also mentioned that I used multiple sources to find my apartment. In fact, for many of them, I spoke directly with the property’s marketing specialist before visiting a property. In my experience, the rent quoted did not vary with the information source.
It just so happens the apartment I chose was listed on rent.com, as well as crossed referenced with many other sources. Therefore, dropping their name as a reference was an easy way to earn $100.
I don’t recommend limiting your apartment search to ONLY on rent.com. In fact, I said use it as “ONE of your resources.” NOR do I recommend renting an apartment JUST BECAUSE it’s listed on rent.com. Again, it’s merely an information source to find what you are looking for. One should choose an apartment based on their personal needs and standard of living.
However, IF the apartment you choose is also listed on rent.com, it doesn’t hurt anything to tell the leasing consultant you found it on rent.com. Earn an extra $100 for doing absolutely nothing. It will have zero impact on the monthly rent you are charged.
I’m using rent.com as one of my searching tools for that area, and I was fascinated about that add, too. Glad to know it actually works.
I used Rent.com to find my apt when I relocated and I had to follow up a couple times b/c my apt complex took it’s sweet time in validating that I had actually moved in and mentioned Rent.com. But I did receive my visa card and promptly used it.
Filing that information away for later use. Somebody might be moving & going back to renter’s status in the next 6 months.