Warning: Landlords in my area stopped listing prices on rental ads and it's messing everything up
I've been hunting for a new place in Columbus for about 6 weeks now and I swear something weird changed. Back in March, when I started looking, almost every listing on the big sites showed an actual rent number, like $1,250 or $1,400, right there in the title. Now I'd say 7 out of 10 places just say "call for pricing" or "ask about specials" with no number at all. At first I figured it was a couple lazy landlords, but it's basically all of them now, even the big apartment complexes that used to post rates. I called one place on High St and the guy told me the price depends on "availability and demand" which is just a fancy way of saying they'll charge whatever they can get. It's annoying because I can't even filter listings anymore, I have to call 15 different places just to find out if I can afford it. Has anyone else noticed this happen in their city, and is there a trick to get them to just tell you the rent up front?