apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Even though a picture is worth a thousand words, 999 of those words are usually lies.

Many of the shots apartments on Craigslist are obviously taken to make them look as good as they can—and often it looks better than it does in real life. To get a more realistic glimpse at what you're getting into, do a little 'net surfing legwork and find amateur photos.

Sites, like ApartmentRatings, that let current tenants write reviews and upload photos are always helpful, but you can get a little more creative:

• Do a search for the name of the apartment complex on a user-submitted photo site like Flickr. You'll find real-life, mostly undoctored pictures that show the place for what it really is.
• Get yourself acquainted with geo-tagging (we love the Flickr map) and find photos taken in the neighborhood where you're searching.
• Look up the address of the apartment on Google Maps' street view. You can't find a more true-to-life shot of the building and neighborhood than this.

(Apartment Image: Flickr user Dave_mcmt under license from Creative Commons.)