Data Sources & Takedowns
Where our numbers come from, how we calculate the labels you see, and how a property can ask us to correct or remove information.
Where the data comes from
- Prices, fees, floor plans, availability and specials come from the public pages of each property’s own website, the same pages any visitor can see without logging in. We do not use Apartments.com, Zillow or other listing services as sources.
- The list of apartment buildings comes from public county appraisal records.
- Map locations come from public address geocoders: the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder and OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim (location data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License). Where an address can’t be matched, we place the building at the center of its zip code and say the location is approximate.
- Areas (such as “East Austin” or “Uptown / Oak Lawn”) are assigned by zip code, with map boundaries used where a zip code spans two areas.
- Maps are provided by Google Maps.
- Ratings, reviews and photos from Google come from Google’s Places service. We request them live when you open a building page, show them with Google’s credit and each author’s name, and don’t store them. Not every building has them.
How we collect it
Our collector is called RentBeagleBot. It reads only public pages that need no login, identifies itself in every request, signs its requests so sites can confirm they really come from us, follows each site’s robots.txt rules and visits each property about once a day. If a site blocks it, it stops instead of working around it. Property owners can learn more or opt out on the RentBeagleBot page, or by emailing bot@rentbeagle.com. We store facts such as prices, unit counts, fees and dates. We do not copy property photos or marketing text. Photos on building pages come live from Google, credited to the person who took them; elsewhere the building pictures are our own drawings, and we link to each property’s website for more photos.
How fresh it is
Prices change often. Each building shows the date we last checked it, and the top of the site shows when prices were last updated. Always confirm with the property before you apply.
How we calculate labels
- Deal labels compare a building’s lowest available price with similar apartments of the same bedroom count in the same area (or the whole city when an area has fewer than five to compare). Ten percent or more below typical is a “Great deal”; four to ten percent below is a “Good deal.”
- Special tiers are based on what a move-in special is worth in months of free rent: about two weeks is a Small special, about a month a Special, about two months a Big special, and three months or more a Super special.
- Effective rent spreads the value of a special over the lease. When the property doesn’t state it, it’s our estimate from the property’s own wording.
- Real monthly cost adds required monthly fees, plus sign-up fees spread over 12 months, when the property lists them.
- Data checks. Before each update we check that prices match their bedroom count and area. Listings that look like errors are marked “Price being checked” and left out of comparisons until confirmed.
Corrections and takedown requests
If you represent a property and something is wrong, or you would like your property removed, email legal@rentbeagle.com with the property name and address, what should change, and how you are connected to the property. We aim to respond within 5 business days. We honor reasonable removal requests.
Copyright concerns
If you believe something on RentBeagle infringes your copyright, email legal@rentbeagle.com with a description of the work, where it appears on our site, your contact information, a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized, and a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner. We will review it and remove material where appropriate.