When contacting a real estate agent about a particular rental listing, should I provide additional information about what I’m looking for?

Yes!  Many apartment hunters do their search by going to multiple websites, viewing listings and contacting agents to set up appointments or ask for more information on individual properties.  However, most do not tend to provide information on what they’re actually looking for to agents when contacting them.  Why not? (Hint: You should!)

Most agents have access to several databases of open listings and can run a full search to come up with multiple options to show you.  It is impossible for brokerage firms to post every available listing on their websites, so only a limited selection is published at one time.  The one listing that led to you contacting an agent is just ONE listing, which could have already been rented, so give yourself an opportunity to have an agent help you better by providing all of your criteria and preferences.