How to Find an Apartment Broker
Apartment brokers are real estate professionals --- usually Realtors or licensed real estate agents --- who specialize in matching renters with available rental units. Brokers can work independently or in a large firm and usually charge a fee equivalent to a percentage of the yearly rent to help you find an apartment. You can use various resources on- and offline to find an apartment broker to help in your housing search.
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Instructions
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Contact a nearby Realtor or real estate agent. Use online resources like the search tools on RealEstateAgent.com or the national directory published by the National Association of Realtors. With a few mouse clicks, you can produce a list of local Realtors and real estate agents who specialize in apartments. These resources also provide full contact information for local Realtors and real estate agents, as well as links to apartment listings that the broker is handling.
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Connect with your local chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). Building owners and the companies that manage buildings for landlords will have master listings and contact information for apartment brokers they use to fill their housing units. Use the national BOMA's tools to find contact information for your local BOMA chapter, and contact chapter staff to find local apartment brokers (see Resource). Be sure to ask chapter staff to identify individual brokers who work independently as well as broker companies like CitiHabitats or Anchor Associates that specialize in apartment placements.
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Check community ads. City newspapers, neighborhood or community websites and bulletin boards in community centers and grocery stores will feature business cards, ads or postings from local apartment brokers with housing listings. For instance, Whole Foods stores feature community bulletin boards in the front of the store, near the entrance, that feature postings from local apartment brokers and real estate agents.
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Check other sources for local ads. Most neighborhood gyms or health clubs will feature a bulletin board in a common area where local professionals, such as apartment brokers, will post contact information or directory listings. Newspaper rental listings frequently separate apartment ads into categories. Check the ads from apartment brokers first, then scan ads from owners or management companies. Building owners and managers will frequently use a broker to market available apartments and will post broker contact information instead of that for the management company.
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