Want to rent a home?
Renting a home is just like renting an apartment: it starts with hunting. Searching for a rental house is easy. Just start looking at ads and calling up realtors. However, find a good rental home takes determination, know-how and a bit of luck.
In this article, we will discuss what all you need to do to find a home for rent.
How to Find a Rental Home
You should take the funnel approach to finding a rental home. Start by picking the city, then the neighborhood, then start scanning the homes themselves, checking their histories, their landlords and their conditions.
How to Choose a Neighborhood
You can always driving aimlessly through neighborhoods until you find one you like. However, for a more efficient home hunt, do some research and pick out a few neighborhoods that interest you.
- Run Internet searches – Identify the different neighborhoods in your city. Also, try to get a map of the city by running an image search, such as “neighborhoods in San Francisco”.
- Ask around – Talk to people about well-known and well-liked neighborhoods befitting of you.
- Follow what you like – Check the local newspaper(s) and listing to find some events you dig and see where they’re taking place.
- Research the neighborhood – Once you have a neighborhood in mind, check Wikipedia, which has demographics, events, places of interest and the general information. Also, try to find a local paper.
- Yelp – Yelp allows you to search for businesses, like dry cleaners, by neighborhood. Check Yelp to see what all a neighborhood has.
- Crime maps – Check the local law enforcement agency’s website for maps showing locations of crimes.
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Check Out Some Houses
Once you have a neighborhood or two in mind, start checking out homes:
- Rental home listings – There are websites and magazines that collect rental listings.
- Hire a realtor – You can pay a realtor to search for you. This can be especially helpful if you are moving to an area that is competitive for good rents and locations. A realtor can be an advocate that gets your application to the top of the pile.
Make sure you check out numerous apartments so that you can get a general idea of pricing. You can also use Rentometer.com to help identify what a reasonable price for an area is.
Think About Logistics
Once you have a few options in your price range, think about which one is best for you personally. Among other things, consider the following factors:
- Transit options
- Parking
- Surroundings
- Access to things you like
The Home Itself
What are the basic amenities of the home? Do you want a pool? A garage? A basement? Come up with a list of “needs” and “would likes” and compare your options. Some things to consider:
- Number of floors/rooms/bathrooms
- Washer/Dryer/Dishwasher/AC
- Garage
- Pool
- Yard
- Garden
- Patio/porch
- Golf course access
- Attic/basement
Once you think you’ve found a good rental home, it’s time to determine whether you should rent the home. This requires a lot more, so read up by clicking that link! ^
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