Finding a rental apartment has been an interesting experience so far. We are interested in three parameters (a) location (b) amenities (c) value for money.
Location encompasses a couple of different aspects - but the most important aspect for us is distance to workplace. Bangalore's traffic situation deserves a separate post - but I can summarize it by saying if you want to go 10 km, better plan for an hour or more during peak hours (which I haven't determined accurately yet).
Amenities - there are apartment complexes with lots of fancy amenities including swimming pool, landscaped areas, bowling alleys and so on. These are typically self-contained big complexes with 1000-2000 apartments that are along the edge of the city. Current rent for a 3 BHK (Bedroom-Hall-Kitchen) in such places is 25-30K. The places that you'll find closer to the center of the city e.g. Ulsoor, Indira Nagar etc have few amenities - sometimes they do not even have a power backup. However, their rents tend to be way higher because of location.
The general procedure is to find a broker (they prefer to be called real-estate agents now) who will show you properties based on your requirements. The agent gets one month rent as his commission, should you end up finalizing something that he/she shows you. Ask around in your social circle for contacts - it is always good to go by reference. Talk to multiple agents in parallel. We would see 4-5 apartments over 3 hours. Check out apartments during daytime - everything looks good at night :) You will occasionally find ads in the newspaper or in craigslist (yep - there's a bangalore section), but they are few and far between. Finally, good apartments aren't available for very long - so if you like something, try to finalize it quickly.
