Do You "Yelp?" 6 Tips for Using Yelp to Find a Luxury Apartment in San Antonio

Yelp might have started out as a way to rate restaurants, but today you can use this popular app to find a mechanic, a dentist, and even a luxury apartment. In fact, Yelp is the second most-used review site for apartment hunters today!

Social media has made it easier than ever to find first-hand reviews, but you should approach them with some common sense (and a grain of salt). Here are a few simple tips for finding your perfect luxury apartment with a helping hand from Yelp.

Like many review sites, Yelp uses a simple five-star system to rate the different entries. The average score is shown at the top, but don't use that as your sole criteria. A lower number of reviews results in more weight to negative ones, so be sure to read all the related comments.

Yelp lets you sort reviews by date and rating, so sort them with the most recent reviews at the top. Apartment communities can go through substantial changes, such as remodels or new management, and you'll want to see reviews based on the most current conditions.

People will never reach 100 percent consensus on anything. Don't automatically strike a community off your list simply because of one or even a few poor reviews. Sometimes people have ulterior motives for posting negative comments, so keep them in perspective with the other reviews.

On the other hand, don't get too carried away by a review that makes a community sound like paradise. Some companies and organizations are not above planting fake reviews, so if you read one that sounds more like an advertisement, it just might be.

Some entries on Yelp have a caption at the bottom showing a number of reviews that are "not currently recommended." These reviews have been flagged by Yelp's recommendation software as potentially unreliable, but it could be simply because the poster had no "friends" or had limited activity on the site. Go ahead and read them, applying the same evaluations you use with the posted reviews. You could gain some valuable information.

If an apartment seems to have a lot of good qualities but some specific complaints pop up, check with the community's management. For instance, reviews might make mention of slow response to maintenance requests, but management could explain that they have increased the size of the team.

Springs luxury apartment communities, including Springs at Alamo Ranch, have received national recognition for outstanding online reputations. Our on-site management and maintenance teams work hard to make sure that life in a Springs at San Antonio community exceeds your expectations. Stop by our leasing office today to learn more about the Springs difference!