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Need some advice on how to find a place to live.
mare_imbrium
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I am not in an emergency situation, but I am in a situation that has become quite intolerable. Added onto that we've been kicking around relocating. Either way it is starting to become inescapable that my family and I need to find a new place to live within the next six months-ish. The difficulty is that we've been living in the same place (renting a house) for nearly eleven years. I don't know how to look for a new place to live. See, I'm old. I'm so old that the first time I ever looked for an apartment the place you looked was the classifieds in the newspaper-oh, or you went to Denny's or something and got one of those free little books full of apartment complexes. Now once time passed I did do some research on some apartment websites - forrent, I remember, apartments dot com, etc.
Another difficulty is I've been scammed before. Years ago we had this idea that we were going to rent a house with another couple. Ended up with a lot of listings for homes for rent that turned out to be fiction. Numbers led to this company who said, oh, that house isn't for rent anymore, but if you come into our office and pay this money we'll help you find someplace and we did because we're stupid and all they did was give us a list of addresses.
Another difficulty is it isn't just me and my husband anymore, we have three kids. I'd honestly prefer to rent a house.
Another possible difficulty is that we'd have to find someplace to rent in another state. We are not 100% on relocating but it may very well be that we'll have no choice in the matter. But when I looked into this on city-data there was a lot of complaining that you can't get a rental from out of state, you need impeccable credit (which we don't have), and even then it's really tough, etc.
Craigslist was the place for a long time, I think, but when I do searches on Craigslist for rentals right now in my area most of the listings are for cities at least ten miles away (even though I asked for my own city, because every damn ad adds text lists of every damn city in the county because obviously if I am looking for something in Huntington Beach I must be willing to settle for Fullerton or Mission Viejo, ugh) and I'm fairly sure that half of them are fake or scams or something. Way too much noise there. I looked a bit at zillow. Is that where you go now?
Please help, people who have rented during this decade!
Another difficulty is I've been scammed before. Years ago we had this idea that we were going to rent a house with another couple. Ended up with a lot of listings for homes for rent that turned out to be fiction. Numbers led to this company who said, oh, that house isn't for rent anymore, but if you come into our office and pay this money we'll help you find someplace and we did because we're stupid and all they did was give us a list of addresses.
Another difficulty is it isn't just me and my husband anymore, we have three kids. I'd honestly prefer to rent a house.
Another possible difficulty is that we'd have to find someplace to rent in another state. We are not 100% on relocating but it may very well be that we'll have no choice in the matter. But when I looked into this on city-data there was a lot of complaining that you can't get a rental from out of state, you need impeccable credit (which we don't have), and even then it's really tough, etc.
Craigslist was the place for a long time, I think, but when I do searches on Craigslist for rentals right now in my area most of the listings are for cities at least ten miles away (even though I asked for my own city, because every damn ad adds text lists of every damn city in the county because obviously if I am looking for something in Huntington Beach I must be willing to settle for Fullerton or Mission Viejo, ugh) and I'm fairly sure that half of them are fake or scams or something. Way too much noise there. I looked a bit at zillow. Is that where you go now?
Please help, people who have rented during this decade!
Wii: 4521 1146 5179 1333 Pearl: 3394 4642 8367 HG: 1849 3913 3132
mare_imbrium on
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http://www.padmapper.com/
Nothing beats driving around a neighborhood and looking for signs or just dropping in to apartment complexes though. We normally compile a list of places from the web, then check them out and whatever else we can find in the neighborhood.
Spoiler for huge:
Jan 16 New Years Special. *View this amazing 3 bedroom 3 bathroom unit* $1500 / 3br - 1450ft² - (Fountain Valley) pic
Jan 16 $2184.00 3bd. 2 bath. Last one at this price. Large plan, Appliances. 3br - 1150ft² - (Orange County) pic map
Jan 15 All new interior-cabinets, flooring & quartz counters w/large patio $2285 / 3br - 1071ft² - pic map
Jan 15 RARE 3BR Townhome! Next to Pool, Laundry & Park Area! Spacious Plan! $2580 / 3br - 1153ft² - (Irvine, Woodbridge) pic map
Jan 15 Why rent a regular apt when you can rent a TOWNHOME!? 3 bed 2.5 bth $2405 / 3br - 1161ft² - (Irvine) pic map
Jan 15 OWN in Garden Grove 3bd/2ba * Only $1600 down * $1600 / 3br - (Garden Grove)
Jan 15 1st Time Home BUYERS!! 3bd/2ba OWN in Fullerton* Only $1,600 down * $1600 / 3br - (Fullerton)
Jan 15 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 15 STOP RENTING! BUY in Garden Grove 3bd/2ba ** Only $1600 down $1600 / 3br - (Garden Grove/ Anaheim)
Jan 15 3 bedroom house located in the beautiful city of Fountain Valley $1900 / 3br - (Fountain Valley) map
Jan 14 1st Floor 3Bd/2Ba,Huge Patio w/Bonus Storage!Brand New Quartz! $2285 / 3br - 1071ft² - (Irvine/Windwood Glen) pic map
Jan 14 Ever Consider BUYING instead of renting?? $1600 only out of pocket! $1600 / 3br - (Cypress/ Buena Park)
Jan 14 Ever Consider BUYING instead of renting?? $1600 only out of pocket! $1600 / 3br - (Cypress/ Buena Park)
Jan 14 Ever Consider BUYING instead of renting?? Only 1600 down to OWN! $1600 / 3br - (Anaheim)
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Lovely Upgraded Condo with Attached Garage w Mission Viejo Lake Access $2450 / 3br - 1340ft² - (Mission Viejo) pic map
Jan 14 Anaheim Hills View Condo attached 2 car garage $2350 / 3br - 1600ft² - (Anaheim Hills) pic map
Jan 14 ☆☆☆☆Anaheim Hills View Condo attached 2 car garage $2350 / 3br - 1600ft² - (Anahiem Hills) pic map
Of that giant list, only TWO of those listings actually claim to be IN the city that I searched for, and neither one has an address listed, which makes me think they are actually fake listings. The other ads that are actually FOR rental properties are ALL for cities nowhere near the city I searched for. I mean, I know in Orange County all the cities are all smushed up against each other, but they aren't even for cities that share a border with the city I entered into the parameter. That's just for Jan 14-15 but the whole thing is like that. It's very frustrating.
Wii: 4521 1146 5179 1333 Pearl: 3394 4642 8367 HG: 1849 3913 3132
I don't know why idiot brokers think is is a good idea to post the same home 26 times in a row. Usually in ALL CAPS.
Wii: 4521 1146 5179 1333 Pearl: 3394 4642 8367 HG: 1849 3913 3132
They do make commission on the deal. You don't pay before they find you a place. If they ask you to pay upfront they are probably scammers.
A quick google reveals that it probably varies by city.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/typical-commission-real-estate-agent-charges-rental-44332.html
So yea, contact your ex-realtor friends. Even better,ask them for recs for current good realtors if they still have friends in the biz. Realtors are often sleazebags, so a personal rec can do wonders.
but they're listening to every word I say