Caro
TL:DR
*Go to the source of who provides rentals: property management companies or private landlords.
*Sites like Zillow, Trulia, and Hotpads are great tools (with caveats).
*Avoid rental listing scams.
*Leverage your network.
*Call the landlord if possible (don’t email/text) to see if the home is still available and how many applications it currently has.
From one street towns with 20-person populations to high rise condos with ritzy ocean views; finding a home can be both an easy Sunday morning or a brutal, morning after hangover. Where should I look to find homes? Are websites like Zillow and Hotpads reliable? How do I avoid rental scams?
Now that you have all the monies and paperwork ready to rock you can commence with your noble home search. But where? Just by Googling “homes for rent *insert city name*”? That’s definitely a common sense first approach, but there’s a better way.
Save a ton of time by going straight to the source of who provides the rentals: property management companies or private landlords.
To find local property management companies, Google a phrase similar to “property managers in *insert city name*” or “*insert city name* property management companies.” Create a list of all property management companies you find in your town and go to their direct website and look at their vacancy list or available rental list.
Why does this save time? Because even though third party rental websites like Trulia and Zillow can be helpful in your rental search, oftentimes property management companies are the original source of property inventory and are just pushing their listings out to other websites. However, once a home is off the market it can take days or even weeks for it to be removed from a third party website. Therefore, in many cases the most up to date listings can be found on property management websites.
Finding private landlords can be a bit tricker as they don’t always list their homes on websites like Zillow. Oftentimes they use other routes like Facebook Marketplace. Somehow even Craigslist is still used for finding housing but be extremely careful if you go that route (too many horror stories out there).
Are websites like Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads still worth using to find a home?
Yes! Even though their rental listings might not be super up to date, many private landlords still use these websites to post their homes for rent. You can still find relevant and timely listings overall. In fact, if you do decide to use these websites, look at the listing description and try to find the property manager who is responsible for the listing and go directly to their website to see if the home is still available.
How do I know if a rental listing is a scam?
You’ve heard the tales. Scammers pretending to be landlords while stealing fat stacks of rent and deposits and then ghosting the renter are prevalent and a bummer deal. You’re out the money and typically you’re unable to find the scammer since they use a fake name or pretend to be a landlord at an actual established property management company. How can you avoid getting scammed?
It starts with clues in the listing.
Being able to spot a fishy rental listing is the first line of defense in protecting yourself from rental scams. This isn’t a comprehensive list but it’s the ones I’ve seen the most:
- Are the pictures low quality? Are there only 1 or 2 photos of the home? Do the photos have a copyright logo imprinted on them but the person advertising the home isn’t connected to the copyright name? These are signs that the scammer has made a low effort attempt at copying and stealing photos.
- Poor spelling, grammar, and slang. A “Gr8 Apartment 4 Rent!!!!!!!!” isn’t probably being offered by an established professional property manager. Both private owners and property managers take pride in offering quality homes and their listings should reflect that. Steer clear.
- Any ‘too good to be true’ deals. A 5 bedroom oceanfront house for $1,000 per month? Def a scam, bro. Even if the house is only a few hundred dollars below what you’re seeing for other similar houses, be weary and try to research why the price is so much lower than comparable rentals. Renting a house is an investment and source of income for landlords and they usually aren’t pricing low out of the goodness of their heart. Harsh truth but honest truth.
- Does the private landlord actually own the home they are renting? To confirm ownership, visit to the County Assessor’s website for the county the home is located in and see if you can look up the property or parcel using its address. If so, the Assessor’s website should give you info such as who owns it along with a bunch of other fun facts.
*Note: A majority of County Assessor websites provide this info for free. However, there are occasional counties who charge to view this info.
- Is the landlord asking for a deposit or rent before you view the home? A typical scam is to convince folks to pay before they see a house and then dip out with the money. Never wire money to a landlord and make sure you have all the contact info of the landlord before arranging for payment.
This is one situation where it’s nice to rent through a property management company versus a private owner because companies are established, have reviews you can read, and typically have a brick and mortar building you can visit should the need arise.
It should be noted this isn’t an exhaustive list and the Federal Trade Commission also has a sweet article you can check out for more info.
Leverage your network.
Many times you can connect to private landlords or receive recommendations on solid property management companies by leveraging your network. Don’t by shy and give a shout out on social media if you’re looking for a place to rent! You’d be surprised how far you can reach and connect with someone you might have otherwise not thought about. Plus, oftentimes a personal referral will get you better and more personalized results than cold calling property managers or online ads.
Once you’ve found a home you like, what should you do next?
I hate to go ye olde school again, but calling the landlord right away to make sure the home is still available should be your next task. There’s a few key questions you should ask up front:
- Is the home still available?
- How many applications does the home currently have?
- Requirements/eligibility for renting if you have a criminal history (if applicable).
There’s no use in spending time filling out an application or paying an application fee if the home is already rented and the online listing just hasn’t been removed yet. Once you confirm the home is still available, you should also ask how many applications the home has on it. Does it have only a couple? Does it have 20? 100? This number should also inform whether or not it’s worth your time to proceed with filling out an application. If you have a criminal record, be sure to ask the landlord if they accept certain convictions and if there are any eligibility requirements you’ll need to meet to be considered.
If you don’t see the credit or income requirements on the rental listing or website this would be a choice time to ask the landlord about it. Be sure to make it quick! Time is money for everyone and if you have certain credit or income stipulations, say them up front and leave out the 20 minute backstory about how your trash credit is from your ex who did you wrong five years ago or your job for some reason doesn’t give you pay stubs blah blah blah.
Sorry not sorry but nobody wants or needs to hear that and the landlord isn’t your personal friend who has the time to shoot the shiz.
Once the stars align and you’ve found a home that meets your criteria, go ahead and submit an application! Most landlords offer an online application as well as a way to pay the application fee online. If not, they should give detailed instructions about how to apply if there’s another method they offer (such as a paper application, emailing a PDF application, pigeon carrier, etc.)
Cheers to you and good luck finding your next spicy home!