Apartment Cyber-Search

From around the world and without even leaving your home, you can conduct a full apartment search. Web sites let you do everything from searching for an apartment by location, cost, and amenities to viewing them through photos and virtual tours to e-mailing apartment managers about their availability. Here are some of the best online resources to help you in your search:

• AllApartments (http://www.allapartments.com/).
• Apartment search: Search by location, cost, amenities. Photos, driving directions. Number of listings: 5,000,000.
• Other features: Moving resources include moving cost calculator, mover's checklist, links to moving, truck rental, and furniture rental services. Features to help you get settled include information on renter's insurance, free Address Express kit to help establish your new address, and discount clubs.

• Apartments.com (http://www.apartments.com/).
• Apartment search: Search by location, cost, amenities. Photos, virtual tours, driving directions.
• Of note: Partner with 140 newspapers. Number of listings: 800,000.
• Other features: Moving Center features links to moving, truck rental, and furniture rental services.
• Rent Net (http://www.rent.net).
• Apartment search: Search by location, cost, amenities. Photos, virtual tours, driving directions, floorplans.
• Of note: Can contact apartment managers by free 1-800 phone number. Number of listings: 2.5 million.
• Other features: City guides. Matchmaking service.

• San Jose Mercury News Classifieds (http://www.mercurycenter.com/).
• Apartment search: Search by location, cost, amenities. Photos.
• Of note: Focus on Silicon Valley area. Number of listings: 3000.
• Other features: Features to help you get settled include entertainment and yellow pages sites and local Silicon Valley area news.

• Yahoo! Real Estate (http://realestate. yahoo.com/).
• Apartment search: Search by location, cost, amenities. Driving directions.
• Of Note: Aggregation of listings from sources including Rent Net, Apartments.com, Renter's Digest. Number of listings: Undisclosed.
• Other features: Insurance center, instant online credit reports, salary comparison, city comparison, city profiles, school reports.

-- K.T.