Contact management companies or, if you are a student, talk to the off-campus housing association to find leads. Larger landlord and management companies will often provide you a list of vacancies, free of charge. Online apartment locators or apartment finders allow you to search based on criteria such as price, location, number of bedrooms and other features. Apartment locators not only help you narrow down your options, but also give you a good picture of the wider housing market.

In larger cities, such as New York, it's a good idea to use a broker if you can afford it. A broker's expertise is immensely helpful, as they will be able to offer advice on the market, paperwork and neighborhoods. Also, some properties are only available through brokers. Brokers usually charge a percentage between 8% to 15% of your yearly rent. Usually a little cheaper than brokers are apartment agencies. You can pay a flat fee up-front to agencies and some apartment finders that will allow you access to listings usually only available to brokers. This can be an affordable compromise between using a broker and relying on classified ads. Finding an apartment is a hearty undertaking - by using apartment finding services and apartment locators you can make your search much easier.