[nandemo]

I wanted a place that has an outdoor space (a yard, a porch, a balcony, or a deck), hardwood floors, laundry (in unit, in building, or close by), a very specific location (to balance three commutes), lots of light, and all of the typical apartment requirements (right size, budget, start date, etc). This was clearly the job for a human,

Er, no, this is clearly a job for a real-estate-specific website with a search form. The part that only a human can do is to actually visit the apartments but you can't outsource　that, at least not to a remote person.

Now, why in the world do people use craigslist by default instead of a better website? It should be beneficial to tenants -- who will save time and money -- and to landlords and agencies, who will gladly pay a fee to list their properties.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

As a former landlord, I can answer the latter: because it's free and it was good enough.

If there was a better free website, I'd use that; but it would have to be hugely better than Craigslist for me to open my wallet.