HotPads.com

• States
• Agents
• Offices
• Real Estate Options
• Filtering Options
• License
• Commission/Selling Cost
• Specialities
• Experience

States

HotPads is available in 51/51 states. This makes them available to people anywhere in the United States and doesn't limit them to one particular state, city or region.

Agents

As a website-based service, there are no agents required. This works well for renters who won't have to pay any agent commissions or go through a middleman.

Offices

HotPads has one main office. Their headquarters is located in San Francisco, California. As of February 2015, they have 47 full-time employees. As an Internet-based site, this is normal and holds no negative impact on business service.

Real Estate Options

HotPads offers services to help you rent. Zillow Rental Manager is the official listings creation tool for HotPads. Your listings will be seen on HotPads and distributed to Zillow, Trulia, MyNewPlace and other top rental sites. Unlike some rent sites that require you to sign up in order to view their listings, with HotPads, you don't need an account to search the site or view property information. HotPads offers users some great interactive services to help them find apartments, homes, condos, townhomes, and more. They have Android rentals and a real estate app. This app lets you take your housing search on the road, allowing you to conduct a Map-based housing search using GPS location or address, Search apartments, rental houses, homes for sale, and more, see detailed listings with photos, call or email properties with one touch, and more. You can save listings as "favorites" by clicking the outline of the star in the preview bubble or the thumbs up in the full listing view. The listing icon will turn blue so that you can easily see which properties you like. From the home page, you can also click on "Favorites" to see a list of all properties you have added to your favorites. Save your searches with your location and search criteria by clicking the "menu" button on your phone. Then, click "Save Search" and enter a search name. You can also opt to receive e-mail updates of available properties that fit your requirements In addition to Android apps, HotPads also has an iPhone App that takes your housing search on the road if you're an Apple user. HotPads also offers services to help you rent out property. Unlike some sites, they are not limited to rentals and to apartments. You can use their Map interface to search and buy homes, Lots and Land, Condos and Townhomes.

Filtering Options

There are 5 basic search filters, including: State, City, Pets, Price, Beds, and Baths. They also offer advanced search filters such as Search type, Listing type, Property type, Photo count, Listing freshness (i.e. last 12 hours), Square feet and Keywords. This makes a total of 12 filters. Being so specific makes it easier to find a needle in a haystack for apartment seekers.

License

HotPads is an online platform so they don't need real estate agents, realtor or real estate brokers to choose from. For renters seeking a place to live, this allows them to deal directly with the property owner or manager.

Commission/Selling Cost

With no agents, there is no commission or selling cost. This provides access to real estate/rental listings with no fees involved.

Specialties

In addition to offering services for renters and residential property owners, HotPads offers its platform to services for commercial real estate sales. You can sell and purchase Lots and Land through their website.

Experience

HotPads has been in business for 11 years. The company was started in 2005 in Washington DC by three college friends - Matt, Douglas, and John - who were inspired to create HotPads by their frustrating and unsuccessful experience searching for a place to live. As a result, the three friends pooled their resources together and built HotPads.com. In 2011, HotPads' team relocated to San Francisco in the heart of the Silicon Valley, where they were acquired by Zillow Group for $16 Million in 2012. In August 2014, HotPads launched an updated version of the site.

• International

International

HotPads listing do not cover rentals internationally. They are strictly located in the United States. This does not help those seeking to move to other countries.