Padmapper: Google maps powered rental search tool..and I love it!

If you’ve searched for apartments before, you know how frustrating it can be. You do the usual searches on Craigslist, Kijiji, MLS, and ViewIt, and aside from MLS and ViewIt the others aren’t map based which makes it extra fun when going through postings and weeding out the ones that people list as Toronto but are actually not in the city. Hurontario is NOT in Toronto, it’s in Mississauga.

Sadly, until people have grasped the ability to post properly we, the potential renters, need to click the “View Map” link on each potential spot and see where it’s located, until now. In my current search for a new place (aka The Bunker v2.0) I stumbled upon PadMapper.

This useful rental search tool queries Kijiji and CL postings and overlays them on a Google Map with the same useful search options you would find on either of the aforementioned sources, soo effective and soo simple.

Once you’ve clicked on a pin you get a pop up bubble displaying more info & photos including street view as well as a “Walk Score” which rates the spot based on the variety of local businesses in the area (pretty neat feature). One of my favorite things is how it compares the price of the rental to similar places in the area, for example with the attached photo it shows “29% less than median of nearby 1 BR leases ($950 vs. $1,350), Toronto, ON M6J 2J6, Canada” which is really useful for those of you who like to price shop and are willing to try and negotiate a deal.

Padmapper Details view

So for me it’s back to the grind of finding a new spot, however I hope you found this post to be useful to those of you who may be currently looking for a place and if you did, let me know with a comment or like below!