FAQ
How a Licensed Apartment Search Actually Works
The questions renters ask before trusting a stranger with their search — answered with the mechanics on the table, not slogans. Money flow, licensing, verification, and where our job ends.
Free for renters — communities pay our referral fee. No obligation to lease.
Questions and answers
Is apartment locating really a licensed profession?
In Texas, yes. Helping someone find a rental for compensation is real-estate brokerage activity, so it must be done by a licence holder working under a sponsoring brokerage, with the Texas Real Estate Commission as the regulator. That structure exists for renters: it means required disclosures, record-keeping, and a named person who answers for the search.
What happens on the first call?
About fifteen minutes of scoping: budget, move date, bedrooms, commute anchors, must-haves, and deal-breakers. No paperwork, nothing to sign. From that conversation we build the shortlist and start verification calls — the target is your first written list within one working day.
What does “verified” actually mean when you send a list?
That a person spoke to each community’s leasing office before the figure reached you. A verification pass covers the current rent on your specific floor plan, any special and its expiry date, the complete one-time and monthly fee schedule, and whether a unit genuinely exists for your dates. Each answer is written down with the date it was given.
What information do you need from me — and what will you never ask for?
We need search criteria: budget, timing, size, locations, and anything that shapes the fit. We never ask for Social Security numbers, bank credentials, or driver-licence numbers — those belong on a community’s own secure application, not in a chat or an email to anyone.
Walk me through how you get paid, step by step.
You lease at a community we introduced and list us on the guest card or application. After you sign, the community pays us a referral fee out of its marketing budget — the same budget that would otherwise buy advertising placement. The fee is contingent on your lease, comes entirely from the community, and never appears anywhere in your rent or move-in costs.
What if the rent changes between your quote and my tour?
It happens — many communities reprice daily, and pricing authority always stays with them. This is exactly why our quotes are dated: the earlier figure gives us standing to call the office and reconcile the difference, and we re-verify anything that has aged before you apply. What we won’t do is pretend a quote is a guarantee.
Does the service stop once I pick a community?
No — the same person stays on your file through the finish. That means tours scheduled and prepped, applications sequenced so you don’t pay three sets of fees, the lease’s money terms checked line by line against your dated quotes, and move-in logistics — inspection documentation and utility setup — in the right order.
What documents does Texas require you to give me?
Two, and you should expect them from anyone in this profession: the TREC Information About Brokerage Services form, which explains whom a licence holder represents, and the Consumer Protection Notice, which tells you how to reach the regulator. Our sponsoring brokerage and licence details publish alongside both in the footer of this site at launch.
Tell us what you need. We’ll bring back the verified version.
One conversation to scope your search, one working day to your first list — every figure on it confirmed with the community and dated before it reaches you.