How I found an amazing apartment near San Francisco with only my phone - and without using Craigslist

I lived in an area called Japantown/Lower Pac Heights, 15 minutes west of downtown San Francisco.

It’s a nice neighborhood with a bunch of shops nearby. But I wanted to move out of the city, to somewhere warmer and quieter: the suburbs.

…where there are more palm trees and an outdoor pool.

So I started looking online. Like most people, I started on Craigslist.

But for apartment seekers, it's kind of a nightmare. It’s cluttered, hard to use, and doesn’t show much information.

So I downloaded an app called Rent.com instead.

The app solved a lot of the problems I had with Craigslist immediately. All the listings were shown in an actual map, so it was easy to see in where the listings were located.

You can zoom in to see a more detailed view of the map.

I made sure to narrow down the search to one or two bedrooms. You can also set your rent price range, or the pet-friendliness of the building.

If you tap the numbers, it’ll show you a list of apartments available in that specific area.

This one was a little out of my range, but it looked really nice.

Each listing has its own page, with all the information about the place: building description, floor plans, rent range, amenities, office hours, and the map. There’s also a direct contact button at the bottom.

If you’d like to see the exact location of the place, you simply have to hit the “Get Directions” tab below the map. It takes you to Google Maps.

I made sure the place was near a commuter train station. Google Maps made it easy to look around the area.

I made a shortlist of the places I wanted to see, but they were all far apart, making it almost impossible to get around without a car. Public transportation out of the city is terrible and taxis take a long time to call.

To move around, I used Uber. Even though I wasn’t in the city, there were plenty of Uber drivers in the area, including Uber Pool.

It was better than renting a car because I didn’t have to worry about parking or the return time of the car.

Finally, I settled on this place. It was near the train station, close to a nice downtown area, and has a great outdoor pool!

The only downside of this approach: there’s no option for roommates or sublease apartments. For those, Craigslist is still the way to go. But all in all, I’m happy with my experience.