How to Find a Home for Rent

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:

• Craigslist

• 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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How to Rent an Apartment

What Is a Lease?

How to Get a Rental Deposit Back

How to Find a Good Landlord