Rent.com
 | |
| Web address |
www |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | Yes |
| Owner | RentPath |
| Launched | 1999 |
Alexa rank |
 11,926 (April 2014)[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Rent.com is one of the largest apartment search websites on the Internet. It is owned by RentPath, LLC, an operator of a number of apartment search websites, including Apartment Guide, Lovely, Rentals.com, and RentalHouses.com. RentPath is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
History
Rent.com was founded in 1999 as Viva.com. In the winter of 2004, eBay purchased Rent.com for $415 million in cash plus acquisition costs, net of Rent.com's cash on hand.[2] On May 8, 2012, RentPath, LLC (then known as Primedia, Inc.) purchased Rent.com from eBay for approximately $145 million.[3]
Re-Branding and National Campaign
In June 2015, Rent.com launched its first ever-national advertising campaign, featuring comedian and actor J.B. Smoove as The Legit-a-Master™. The ad launch came as part of an overall re-branding of Rent.com, which includes a new brand logo, an updated website look and feel, and an influx of new listings that more than tripled Rent.com’s inventory of apartment listings. The integrated campaign also highlights investments Rent.com has made over the past few years to provide HD photos, 3D floor plans, apartment listings that have been verified by Rent.com, and Certified Resident Ratings & Reviews® featuring feedback from people that Rent.com has confirmed as actual residents in the building.
Site Search Capabilities
The user can search without creating an account with rent.com. There are many options for searching e.g. bedroom, min/max rent. The site also includes a "more filters" feature which allows for selecting amenities or other features e.g. air conditioning, pool, washer/dryer, parking.
Site Search Capabilities Shortcomings
The user can search by zip code. The results, however, will not be specific to the desired input zip code. The listing will include accent zip codes. Even when the user chooses to sort the results by "best match", the desired zip code listing may not be in the first few listings.