Any tips bees can share with me on a searching for a rental house?
We are getting ready to move next month to a town a few hours away. I've been checking Trulia, Zillow and Realtor sites every day and inquiring about rentals, but it's been frustrating so far. Seems like rental agents are not very responsive! I'm worried we'll have to jump on a rental site unseen in order to not lose out. We're limited to only being able to visit on weekends, if needed.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
That is so tough. What about just getting an agent for you?
cantaloupe / 6171 posts
It really depends on the location! I've found that in NYC, you usually have to go through a broker, who makes appointments with individual places (or even has exclusive access to some places), and who usually charges a fee, or you can contact a specific building directly. In DC, on the other hand, I found all the apartments that I lived in via Craigslist, because there many of the apartments for rent are condos that individuals own, rather than being owned by some huge property company.
persimmon / 1165 posts
@T.H.O.U.: I have tried reaching out to a couple of agents I found online who say they specialize in rental home searches. No one will respond to me!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@sunshineandsushi: Check the local newspapers! That's how I found some of mine. When we moved to our current city, I had my mom send me some of those Apartment Guides to look through before we went on our weekend tour. Craigslist is also a good option.
pineapple / 12566 posts
When we moved to our current city we did a ton of online research beforehand to get a feel for neighborhoods and prices. Then, when we moved, we booked 2 weeks in an Airbnb apartment so that we could start somewhere. Before arriving we were able to make appointments to see a few places. We spent the first 3 days just apartment visiting. I think we saw 6 places and agreed on the apartment we liked. It was still available and we took it. The market here wasn't very hot though, so we had the luxury of time to decide instead of making an on the spot decision. Good luck!
persimmon / 1165 posts
@lamariniere: ooh, interesting! I hadn't thought of airbnb. I'm definitely going to keep that in mind the closer we get to moving.
I fortunately am pretty familiar with the area. I lived there in college and in a neighboring town when I was a child. But of course, it's totally different moving back with a family in tow!
pineapple / 12566 posts
@sunshineandsushi: it was a good plan for us, gave us some extra flexibility and it was much more affordable than a hotel. We also didn't have to move our stuff, we had a moving company and they brought it when we moved in.
pomelo / 5791 posts
Have you tried VRBO? It's for "vacation rentals", but you never know....you might be able to find a house on there and at least be able to contact the owner directly.
That's how we found the beach house we rent and have had a great experience.
pear / 1961 posts
We have had some luck using VRBO/SabbaticalHomes/etc for long-term rentals, but in our case, it was a year and we wanted a furnished place.
Otherwise, I have mostly used craigslist. If you know people in the area, you could also see if they use NextDoor and have them post there. Sometimes there is also a neighborhood fb group, or a neighborhood moms group, where you can ask around!
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