Finding Rentals in Columbus

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"Where do I look online to find a new apartment?"

A lot of people have been asking me lately where to look for apartments and rental properties for rent. So, I decided to compile a list for Columbus. Share and enjoy - leave your tips in the comments!

There are a few websites specific to Columbus, so if you want to "shop local", check here first:

  • Metro-Rentals.com - this site has a limited number of properties, but covers many areas. It breaks down the city by neighborhood, which is nice. Also worth a look is its sister site,
  • Suburban-Rentals.com - what it says on the tin. See above.
  • ColumbusRealEstate.com - which is run by the Columbus Dispatch. A decent amount of properties here, but sparse on details. Basically an online version of the paper classifieds.
  • Columbus Underground Urban Living - new site with rental listings, in addition to condo and home sales. [added 5/1/12]

The big hitters are nationwide, but do a good job with our city. Links go to the Columbus listings:

  • Craigslist.com - The default answer. It has the highest number of listings and covers every geographical area of the city.
  • Padmapper.com - Great. Basically a huge Google Maps, with the location of places for rent overlaid. It pulls data from CL and Apartments.com. Absolutely check this site - they have a cool blog too.
  • Zillow.com - Another good one. Their main area of focus is home sales, but they cover apartments and houses for rent as well. Map-based interface.
  • Trulia.com - Similar to Zillow; they have a nice interface and appear to have a few hundred listing for rentals in Columbus.
  • Apartments.com - They don't have as many listings as Trulia or Zillow. Worth a look, I mean they own the domain, right?
  • Rent.com - A big hitter. You must register to search.
  • ApartmentFinder.com - I like this one. Large pictures, good descriptions.
  • ColumbusOHForRent.com - This is actually a nation-wide company that sets up little websites for each city, and the Columbus one only shows 33 rentals in the entire city. Skip it.
  • ApartmentGuide.com - The most rentals I've seen on one site. Over 600 in Columbus, apparently.
  • Rentals.com - Sure are a lot of these, aren't there?
  • RentalHouses.com - Yawn.
  • ColumbusRent.com - Another one of those "clone for each city" websites.
  • Hellocolumbus.com - Another one of those "clone for each city" websites.
  • ForRent.com - Not a lot there.
  • Oodle.com - A lot there.
  • RentJungle.com - This is quite similar to Padmapper.com [added 3/8/11]
  • ForLeaseByOwner.com - What it says on the tin [added 3/8/11]
  • Hotpads.com - Similar to RentJungle and Padmapper [added 3/3/12]

Local property managers and rental companies:

I must give partial credit for this list to Metro-Rentals.com - they have a great list of Featured Owners which is well worth a look. The following is by no means exhaustive, but should provide a good start if you want to contact these companies directly or browse their websites.

 

Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments and I'll add it.