How To Compare Apartment Communities Using ORA®

Most apartment communities look great online, and a tour can only show you a small slice of daily life.

ORA® helps you compare resident experience based on real renter feedback, so you can make a more confident apartment rental decision.

Step 1: Pick 2 To 5 Apartment Communities

Start with the apartment communities that fit your basics:

Location and commute
Budget range
Must-haves such as parking, pet policies, layout, or amenities

Keeping your list small reduces decision fatigue and makes comparisons clearer.

Step 2: Pull The ORA® Score For Each Community

ORA® Score
Month and year

Look for:

Compare ORA® Scores from the same month and year.

Example

ORA^® Score

February 2026

A monthly-updated resident experience score based on real renter feedback, designed to help renters compare apartment communities with more confidence.

Strengths:

Maintenance
Cleanliness
Communication

Opportunities:

Parking, Noise

The ORA app shows the most current ORA® Score in comparison to the national average and whether it is trending up or down. It does not display the month and year.

Step 3: Compare Strengths And Opportunities Side By Side

Two apartment communities can have similar ORA® Scores but very different resident experience patterns.

Strengths show what is going well right now.
Opportunities show what is showing up as a pattern and is worth verifying.

Reviews are the raw input. ORA® is the standardized monthly interpretation.

Step 4: Verify What Matters Most To You

Use opportunity areas to guide your questions before signing.

Example question:

I noticed residents often mention maintenance response times. What has the team done recently to improve that experience?

Reviews can be useful as an optional verification step when you want more detail behind an opportunity area, especially in close comparisons.

Making A Final Decision With Confidence

Look for alignment, not perfection.

A strong ORA® Score indicates avoidance of sustained negative reviews in critical resident experience categories within the last 6–12 months, suggesting a more predictable resident experience relative to the National Average ORA® Score benchmark.

Even strong scores can have opportunity areas worth verifying.

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about Comparing Communities

What if two apartment communities have similar ORA® Scores?

Use strengths and opportunities to see which community aligns with what you value most. Similar scores can reflect very different patterns.

Should I ignore my tour if an ORA® Score is strong?

No. Use ORA® to guide what you verify. A tour and clear questions still matter.

Is ORA® trying to sell me on a community?

No. ORA® is designed to be unbiased and not influenced by marketing participation or payment. ORA is built to empower renters to make more confident decisions when renting their next apartment.