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We once heard someone say finding a new apartment every year or so is a "Los Angeles thing to do." True or not, apartment hunting is a big business here--from Westside Rentals to various other pay websites to the free Craigslist where free rent can be found, provided you're willing to throw in some spanking and leather here and there.Today, MyApartmentMap, which aggregates rentals on the market into their slick looking website, launched a new tool that aggregates deals. "Basically, what we did was crawl 100's of classified sites and pull just the listings that are offering deals & incentives," explained Ian Reardon, founder of the site that once brought us dirtiest apartment in America contest. "The rental market is really bad right now and most property owners are giving away quite a bit to entice potential tenants. It's a great time to find deals on apartments.
So far, the website has found nearly 200 deals and specials, ranging from a couple months of free rent to paying for moving costs or a $1000 American Express Card. Although not a rental, Curbed LA recently pointed out a development in Venice that is offering free a Prius with a purchase of a loft.