Last-Minute Apartment Rental Tips

One day, Tanya Alison got an urgent phone call from a friend in need of an apartment rental. "She was moving here with a husband, a dog and two cats in less than two weeks," Alison explains from her Brooklyn apartment. "She was flying in for twenty-four hours and intended to use the ones in which she wasn't asleep apartment hunting."

New York City, with its 2.8% vacancy rate, is decidedly one of the nation's most expensive (and difficult to navigate) markets for apartment rentals, according to Forbes Magazine. So Allison's friend had her work cut out for her.

Finding the right apartment rental, even in the coldest of markets, definitely takes time. But finding one at the last minute is hardly impossible, if you know where--and how--to look. Here are some expert tips for landing an apartment rental in record time.