<p>My sons and daughter had a pickle of a time getting anyone to reply to Craigslist emails when they were hunting hard for apartments in 3 different cities, post-graduation. They became more selective in their reading of the ads to surmise who was desperate to find a roommate very soon, mention of roommates who’d just left others in the lurch or were subletting, that kind of thing. They read ads looking for opportunities to view an apartment (open house) as their chance to lunge for something, bringing checks to the open-house in case they reached agreement and could put down a deposit immediately. They became aware of which part of the month it was, relative to the search. For example, many leases begin the first of the month, which means roommates and landlords become aware they’ll need a new roommate or tenant when the last month’s rent comes in with notification. Soon after that, they run an ad (so early in the month). If the apartment is good/great, it’ll get snapped up then. If there’s a problem, they’ll still be looking by month’s end, say, the week before next month’s rent is due in. </p>
<p>Often my kids took the worst room among all the roommates, to get a foothold, and then move up into a better bedroom after the next person moved on. It’s more important to like the other roommates than to get the very <em>best</em> room imaginable, they felt.</p>
<p>Since your son has already gone to school and lived in D.C., he should certainly use his Facebook or Twitter to alert his friendship circle that he’s looking.</p>
<p>One of my sons who knew the neighborhood he wanted (downtown Los Angeles) had better luck walking the neighborhood, looking for big box apartment buildings and finding the building managers who had office hours. Those apartments never get onto Craigslist. But he was interested in a tiny single, not roommates. It did work out well for him, and six months later he’s excited to move to a higher floor in the same building, with a better view.</p>
<p>On Craigslist, instead of writing an email about what a great roomie he’d be, he might focus on getting into the driver’s seat to try to let him come over sooner. He could write a bit about his wonderfulness as a roomie but then add, “I’ll be right in your neighborhood this week; may I come to view the apartment or meet some of you?” And give his contact information or ask for theirs. Teach him to always leave correspondence with the ball in his own court, so he makes the next call, if possible, rather than awaiting callbacks from others. Sometimes it doesn’t work or is impossible, but that should be his goal in the email.</p>