I just signed a new lease for an apartment here in Boston and was thinking this morning about the rental market and how it differs so much from city to city, and even from section within city to section within city. Around here, if you see anything that even seems remotely passable at a decent price, you need to act immediately (as in same day), show up with check in hand, be pressured, give a pint of blood and some fingers, and then pay first/last/security/brokers fee in many cases.