Some of the most popular sites used to search for rental properties include Abodo, Apartments. com, Craigslist, Hotpads, Realtor. com, Trulia, and Zillow. Don’t rely solely on the Internet to find your rental property. While it’s a helpful way of getting general information about available homes in the area, using these search engines won’t tell you everything you may want to know about a particular neighborhood, such as the look and feel of it.
For example, if your income is $2,000 a month, you shouldn’t pay more than $400-$600 in rent. The amount you can afford to pay for rent may vary based on your personal financial situation. For instance, if you earn $2,000 a month but never spend more than $1,000 on bills and living expenses, then you can theoretically afford up to $1,000 in monthly rent.
Make sure you work with a realtor who specializes in rental properties, rather than home sales, to get the best assistance for your situation. Unless you’re uncomfortable about finding properties yourself, don’t pay a realtor to help you find a rental home. There are several free methods to do this, including working with other realtors who won’t charge you.
You can also look on a newspaper’s website for property listings, if you don’t have access to the physical paper.
If you don’t know where the association’s office is located, search the name of the neighborhood online with the words “neighborhood association” or “homeowners’ association” to find their contact information.
If you’re looking at rental properties in a major city with a competitive real estate market, like New York, you’ll probably need to hire a real estate broker just to get you an appointment to see any available locations.
If you’re subletting a townhouse or home directly from the owner, you may also find maintenance to be unpredictable or that the owner is slow to respond to maintenance issues.
For example, while it may be nice to have a front yard of a certain size, it probably shouldn’t be something your next rental home absolutely has to have.
The amount of the security deposit varies from landlord to landlord, although it is often also equal to the first month’s rent. You won’t have to actually pay this money to the landlord until you’ve signed the lease, but you should definitely make sure you have the money before you sign anything.
The best free website to use is annualcreditreport. com, which allows you to see your credit score for free once a year.
If you don’t have these reference letters, ask your current or former landlords for them! They can really strengthen your rental application with future landlords, especially if you have bad credit.
Do not sign a lease for an apartment without being able to walk through it first. Bring a cell phone charger and use it to make sure all of the outlets work. If the rental comes with any appliances, turn all of these on to make sure they work as well.
