Chabot’s CLASS-Web Web advisor has become a well-known electronic tool to set students up on an academic path and simplify semester enrollment; just like sites such as craigslist, Apartment Finder and Rent.com have become the trendy resources for student tenants seeking housing.

Chabot, like many other community colleges, does not offer on-campus housing but is surrounded by an abundance of apartments, complexes, and shared-housing opportunities.

Students’ lack of time to browse, limited transportation, restricted budgets and differing ideas of what home feels like only puts a damper on the search results of what’s out there to rent. Rent.com, however, allows a person to search according to location, rental type and price range.

For Hayward, Calif., a search for a one-bedroom in the price range of $500-1000, currently results in 125 findings, approximately 15 pages of property. This can be considered a great variety or a seeker’s worst nightmare.

CLASS-Web shelters students with the ease of making selections but the World Wide Web requires students to be aggressive online and off to find the perfect place to call home.

“[I liked] ApartmentHunterz.com because of the virtual tours,” said Tania Jones, a Hayward resident living only a few minutes from Chabot’s campus.

Roommates.com indicates it is “the Web’s most popular roommate matching service, receiving over 50,000 visits … per day.”

“Don’t miss your $100 prepaid Visa debit card,” advertises Rent.com, an incentive to lease with one of its online classifieds.

Sites like Rent.com typically are free of charge, providing specifications and pictures of rental properties. Many sites have links that allow seekers to check unit availability and leave comment/correspondence with property management.

Sukhi Dhillon, who now calls Hayward her hometown, shared that she found pricing “a struggle” coming from a cushy environment of living at home. Dhillon indicated that “apartment size and amenities” varied, some in comparison to the online pictures. Overall, however, Dhillon was pleased with the online resources.

While popular sites like PennySaverUSA, craigslist and Rent.com are out there, for the best results students should know or obtain their current credit rating (many sites with listings have links to pull a credit report), have their income documentations ready, and generate a map of prospective rentals instead of driving around aimlessly looking for a rental sign.

It might not be as simple as logging on to CLASS-Web, but resources have come a long way from printed classifieds and laundry mat postings.