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Friday, March 5, 2010
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19 comments:
I am starting to get really upset that all the places I email that are condos from private owner or single family homes in Arlington are actually sounding more like scams than someone actually wanting to rent something.
Craigslist seems like not a good place to find a rental. Anyone know any reputable sites?
What is the matter with you?
Huh?
HomesDatabase.com allows you to search the MLS for rental listings.
Thanks Shamrock!
sehrwunderbar,
can you give me an approximate location of the law school you attended? like a state in which it is located?
Craigslist seems like not a good place to find a rental. Anyone know any reputable sites?
What I have done successfully in the recent past is to market where I wanted to live. Like driving the neighborhood compulsively every opportunity I could arrange. Once we drove by and saw a street party. So we parked around the corner and walked the dogs right past the party. Stopped, got introduced, chatted everybody up and found out two rentals that were coming on the market. We ended up not taking them but both were unlisted rentals.
Agree about Craigslist. It's just one tool. You need to have a big toolbox if you want to find that one in a thousand "deal."
Konstantin said... sehrwunderbar,
can you give me an approximate location of the law school you attended? like a state in which it is located?
Now that's subtle...does the thread end with "...and your mother dresses you funny?"
LOL.
sehrwunderbar,
I also like the ease of using Fairfax Realty for finding rentals. Homesdatabase tends to put me all over the place for some reason.
Thanks Harriet for the extra site.
Texas Native, that's an interesting idea. Our real estate agent had told us the same kind of thing to do when looking for a good neighborhood to buy. To go up to neighbor's houses and knock and see what they think of the neighborhood.
To go up to neighbor's houses and knock and see what they think of the neighborhood.
Uhhh...no. I wouldn't necessarily agree with that strategy. I think you need to slide the aggressive tactics slider bar a bit more to the left. Random door knocking might not be the best way to meet your *future* neighbors. My comment was more along the "Carpe Diem" type of strategy. Seize opportunities when you see them vs. forcing those opportunities.
FWIW.
Really? My realtor said it was a great way to get a feel for the neighborhood. My husband and I really want a neighborhood that we can actually hang out with neighbors, meet them, trick or treat on the block all that sort of stuff.
I had never thought of knocking on neighbors' doors before. I had really just thought of the usual of driving around the neighborhood at different times of day and weekend etc.
Sehrwunderbar,
I think military folks use this site to find housing http://www.militarybyowner.com/
I don't think you need to be military to use the site and the landlords don't really care as long as you can show yourself to be a good tenant.
Good luck.
Intrigued by a message on The New York Times Web site offering to help people with small decorating budgets (the message is no longer online), Mr. Kelly sent an e-mail message describing his situation: "Having just bought the apartment (with some down payment help from my dad), I don’t really have much money left over for furniture, design elements, etc.," he wrote, but "basically, I want to live like an adult, not a student."
Article
I wonder how much his father gave him. $100k? I meet so many people who have their parents pay for the down payment. It is slowly becoming as common as paying for college.
It's weird because on the one hand people should be allowed to do what they want with their money. But on the other hand it's yet another way in which we make it harder for people to move up the class ladder. If more and more parents subsidize home purchases (even when their son is a lawyer), then prices go up (or do not fall as much) making it harder for those from more modest means to buy property.
The other harm I see is whether the parents really can afford to help this much. I don't watch Suze Orman much but the few times I have she always seems to be yelling at parents who are giving too much money to their adult kids and jeopardizing their ability to have enough money through retirement.
tbw,
I watch Suze every once in a while. It would be interesting to see historically whether this has changed or not. Clearly not a good idea for parent's who need the $$$ hemselves.
Shamrock and Harriet
Thanks for the rental links. I was having the same problem as sehr finding a good rental site. In my case, I am trying to figure out all the advice that I find online about calculating home value pricing vs. rental parity. I haven't been able to find enough information to get a good feel for rental prices in a specific area. When I find rental listings as onsies and twosies on various realty sites, the rental pricing seems all over the place. Having a better source will help.
Sehrwunderbar
I agree with the spirit of what your realtor is trying to tell you but I think that Tex is on target. Don't go knocking on people's doors - some people interpret that as aggressive or weird and feel somewhat threatened. The important part is to get out of your car and walk around.
Heck, I take the bus into the general area, chat up people on the bus and waiting at bus stops. I will make a casual comment on the weather or ask directions (even though I know where I am going) from people walking their dogs or working in their yard. People with dogs seem much more prone to chat with strangers than other pedestrians. Almost anyone who speaks English will at least try to give you directions. I use that as a wedge to fish for other information. If they know you like the neighborhood, they will usually try to be helpful.
Then again, this won't work for everyone. I am a bit more Low Rent than many on this blog.
Try taking the bus into Great Falls. As if.
Ditto for talking to people working in their yard. They have Salvadorean gardeners for that sort of thing and I no hablo Espanol. Though I could strike up a lot more conversations on the bus if I did.
I really cannot imagine any home owner telling anyone that the community into which they bought sucks. They would be committing home value suicide.
So, knocking on peoples' doors to find out their opinions about the neighborhood may not be the best strategy.
I think you need to experience it by driving at different times, observing, walking, checking out how close are shops that you need for your daily living, parks, etc. And asking specific questions such as, are there neighborhood get toghether, community events, etc.
I had a realtor tell me I should ask people in Arlington how bothered were they abou tthe noise of planes in a particular neighborhood to help me in my decision if a particular home was good for me. I don't need other peoples" opinon for that. Again, they will probably tell me is fine, otherwise why would they live there. I know what kind of noise I find tolerable. So the same holds here.
No home owner is really going to tell you the truth of the matter about their neighborhood.
Maybe not homeowners. But renters will tell you in spades!
Yes, renters of similar dwellings you are looking for are a better source.
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