Apartment Experts
Apartment Experts, operating as Perch Apartment Locating, is a free apartment referral service that matches Texas renters with available units across Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, earning referral commissions from property owners upon successful placement of residents.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Apartment Experts does
Apartment Experts, operating under the brand Perch Apartment Locating (with related DBAs Perch and Perch Agents), is a free apartment locating and relocation service headquartered in Austin, Texas, founded in 1987 and currently operating across four Texas metros: Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The company employs 51-100 people and functions as a Texas Real Estate Commission-licensed brokerage, providing consultative matchmaking between prospective renters and available apartment units. Its core product is a human-driven locating service supported by a proprietary database that captures availability, pricing, amenity, and neighborhood data, which locators query against customer criteria to produce ranked shortlists, schedule tours, and support lease negotiations.
The technology stack is modest by current standards: a proprietary apartment matching database, a website with a contact form, dedicated inbound phone numbers, and a content/SEO blog. There is no mobile app, no public API, no disclosed SDK, and no documented AI/ML components. Distribution is sales-led and direct-to-consumer, relying on inbound phone calls, web form submissions, organic blog traffic, and a post-sale Refer & Earn referral program; no paid acquisition channels are disclosed.
The revenue model is commission-based: the service is provided at no cost to apartment seekers, and Apartment Experts is compensated through referral commissions paid by property owners or property managers when a placement is successfully completed. Target segments include general apartment seekers (primary), UT Austin students and faculty, urban lifestyle seekers, and outdoor enthusiasts. The company is privately held with no disclosed external funding, M&A activity, or leadership transitions in the source data.
Apartment Experts firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Apartment Experts
- Legal name
- Perch
- Website
- https://apartmentexperts.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Apartment Experts, operating as Perch Apartment Locating, is a free apartment referral service that matches Texas renters with available units across Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, earning referral commissions from property owners upon successful placement of residents.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Apartment Experts is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Apartment Experts business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Referral Commissions from Property Owners: The company earns commissions from apartment properties when they successfully place residents. Properties pay the locators for referring qualified tenants, creating a commission-based revenue model where the service is free to end customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Free apartment locating service for all customers |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels3 records
Apartment Experts product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Apartment Experts (operating as Perch Apartment Locating) is a free apartment locating and relocation service that matches individuals and families with rental apartments across Texas. Local locators consult with clients on wants, needs, budget, and desired neighborhoods, search a proprietary apartment database for available units, schedule tours, and assist with lease reviews and negotiations. The service is provided at no cost to the apartment seeker.
Product overview
Perch Apartment Locating is a single-service offering focused exclusively on free apartment locating. The core product is a matching service where local experts use a proprietary database to find available apartments that match client criteria including location preferences, amenities, layout requests, and budget. The service guides clients through the entire process from initial consultation through lease signing, with ongoing support for tours and lease term review.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Apartment Locating Services
Quantifiable outcome
- Customers save money through expert negotiation of lease terms and avoidance of hidden fees
Companies that use Apartment Experts
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Apartment Experts technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Apartment Experts partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Apartment Experts competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Zillow: Broad real estate platform with a sizable rental search vertical; competes with Apartment Experts for renter mindshare and is increasingly enabling direct-to-landlord applications in major Texas metros.
- Apartments.com: Largest U.S. apartment marketplace operated by CoStar Group; aggregates listings from property owners across Texas and competes with Apartment Experts by enabling renters to self-serve search and tour requests.
- RentCafe: Yardi Systems' apartment search and resident services platform; provides online listings and application tools used by many of the same large property owners that pay Apartment Experts referral commissions.
Others
- Move.com: Real estate portal owned by Realtor.com operator News Corp that surfaces rental listings alongside for-sale inventory; a tangential competitor for renter attention in Texas metros.
Direct peers
- HotPads: Zillow-owned apartment and map-based rental search platform focused on urban markets; serves a similar renter profile to Apartment Experts in dense Texas cities like Austin and Dallas.
- Rentable: Apartment search site targeting younger renters with localized city guides and free-to-renter matching; competes for the same UT Austin student and urban lifestyle segments that Apartment Experts serves.
- Apartment List: Digital apartment search platform offering free, personalized renter matching with optional concierge locator service; competes directly with Apartment Experts for the same renter segment in Texas metros via a commission-funded model.
- Apartment Guide: Established apartment search site offering free renter-side search with monetized leads to property managers; overlaps directly with Apartment Experts' lead-generation role for landlords in the same Texas metros.
Emerging players
- PadMapper: Apartment and room rental search site known for map-based discovery; an emerging digital alternative to traditional locators in markets where Apartment Experts operates.
- Dwellsy: Free-to-renter apartment search platform with a no-fee advertising model for landlords; an emerging competitor that could pressure locator commission economics in the same Texas metros.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Apartment Experts social profiles
Digital presenceApartment Experts financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Apartment Experts leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Apartment Experts funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Apartment Experts M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Apartment Experts
What does Apartment Experts do?
Apartment Experts (operating as Perch Apartment Locating) is a free apartment locating and relocation service that matches individuals and families with rental apartments across Texas. Local locators consult with clients on wants, needs, budget, and desired neighborhoods, search a proprietary apartment database for available units, schedule tours, and assist with lease reviews and negotiations. The service is provided at no cost to the apartment seeker.
Is Apartment Experts a public or private company?
Apartment Experts is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Apartment Experts founded?
Apartment Experts was founded in 1987. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Apartment Experts based?
Apartment Experts is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does Apartment Experts make money?
One revenue line is on record: referral Commissions from Property Owners.
Who are Apartment Experts's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Zillow, Apartments.com and RentCafe. Move.com is listed as an others. Direct peers are HotPads, Rentable, Apartment List and Apartment Guide. Emerging players are PadMapper and Dwellsy.
Does Apartment Experts have an API?
No public API is recorded for Apartment Experts.