Since launching in 1995, Craigslist has become one of the top 10 Internet companies and it’s the top classified ad service on the Web. People use Craigslist to buy, sell and find just about anything…cars, collectibles, jobs, travel deals, homes, appliances, babysitters. You name it, you’ll find it on Craigslist.

But why is Craigslist such a key for people searching for apartments, specifically? I believe it’s about the basics.

Consumers get frustrated by all the fluff around the info that they are actually looking for. Craigslist does a good job of providing the basics, and just the basics. You choose your location of choice, and then type in any keywords that might help you find exactly what type of apartment you are looking for. The list of results will likely have a few spam listings, but for the most part (if your search terms are narrow enough), they’ll be pretty much right-on. You can easily flip through listings and send a quick note to get more info on the ones you are interested in.

Even better, there are thousands of fresh listings every single day. Sure, you’ll see some of the same listings re-posted every few days, but you’ll also find brand new listings the minute they are posted.

No signing-up for service, no flashy ads and no pressure.

CasaSugar, a great home/apartment blog, offers some basic (but great) advice for how you can find your dream apartment on Craigslist. The blog says that the wonder of Craigslist is that it allows you to add your search terms to your RSS reader and each download an app to your Blackberry or iPhone for your RSS reader so you can read listings on the go.

Have you found Craigslist helpful in your search for an apartment?