Find an Apartment

Looking for an apartment can be a social experiment — especially if you tap into your social networking tools to help you find the perfect place. Use your favorite online networking tools, like Facebook and Twitter, to share your search with friends and score a great apartment they will all want to visit.

Use your connections
When you kick off your apartment search, one of your first stops should be your social network. A Facebook post or a tweet asking for apartment suggestions from friends can quickly generate a list of potentially cool places to live. Your friends can also provide you with apartment reviews and helpful pros and cons about communities.

In addition to asking about favorite apartments, inquire about hot neighborhoods (or ones to avoid). Once you have your list in hand, it’s easy to track down those apartment communities online and map out a visit. Who knows? You might even be able to persuade a few buddies to go apartment shopping with you. (Simply coordinate your schedules with Doodle.)

Be sure to keep the social media connections going as you search. You might take photos of apartments that you visit and post them on Facebook to get feedback. Your social media tools can recruit friends and family to help you narrow down your choices. Once you make a final decision on your apartment, you can use social media tools like Facebook events or Pingg to invite everyone to your apartment-warming party.

Work their connections
Many apartment communities have gotten smart about social media outlets and provide potential residents with helpful information about their communities. In addition to robust apartment search Web sites, Facebook pages have become a must-have for apartment communities. These resources allow you to easily connect with apartment managers to learn more about what they have to offer.

Participating in a social media presence can give you insight into the people who live in a community and their activities. If you have questions about an apartment community, post them on their own Facebook wall and watch for informed responses.

Pages like the Apartment Guide Facebook page also give you an inside look into apartment communities with features like posts from residents, event calendars, photos, discussion boards and easy access to apartment search tools. (When you visit AG’s page, be sure to “like” what you see in order to keep up with the latest info and apartment search resources.)

Also, apartment hunters using ApartmentGuide.com have the opportunity to invite Facebook friends to join along in their apartment search using the “Search with Friends” function. Once invitations are sent, Facebook users can add friends and form search groups, look for and save favorite apartments for rent, and add apartments to the “My Favorites” section on ApartmentGuide.com. Once a user saves an apartment to the “My Favorites” section, others in the apartment search group will see it in their Facebook activity feed and be able to comment on the property. This “Search with Friends” capability also gives roommates a quick and easy way to search for apartments together.

Complete the connection
Once you have used your favorite social networking sites to investigate and find a great apartment, remember to stay in touch. Message your friends and let them know your new address. Invite them over to see your new place. Most importantly, make the most of your new community’s social networking tools to make friends with your neighbors.

Many apartment communities stay very connected online and discuss everything from city politics to poolside potluck planning. Get in the loop with your new community and remember to help your online friends the next time they reach out for apartment search advice.

Being social can help you get settled when you maximize your social networking tools to make your apartment search easier. A happening new home is practically at your fingertips!

Source: http://www.movingtoday.com/use-social-networking-tools-to-find-an-apartment/?WT.mc_id=30331