Are you looking for a house to rent? Whether you are moving to a new city or want to shake up your current living situation, our guide will help you land a home you’ll love.
You can take a few options when trying to score a rental property. Do it on your own or work with a real estate agent. It’s important to know that not all real estate agents work in the rental end of the business, so you’ll want to find someone interested in rental clients.
If you decide you would like to try and tackle finding a rental on your own first, we’ll provide you with some excellent tips.
How to find rental houses near you
One of the easiest ways to find a rental is to go onto one of the best home rental listing sites. There a quite a few websites that will show a wide variety of rental properties. Maximum Real Estate Exposure has an excellent guide showcasing thirteen of them!
When going on these sites, you’ll be able to add several search parameters to find your ideal rental, including your desired area, rental price, number of bedrooms, etc.
Once you have narrowed down your search, start looking at individual listings.
After sorting through your results, look at the photos of the homes you like to see if they match your desired lifestyle. Pay attention to the description for additional information.
Many house rental listings do not provide a floor plan, but reading the description should indicate what the home is like.
The description could also include other information the photographs don’t show, such as how well the home is situated for your needs. This could make a big difference in which rental home you choose.
Proper research could also help prevent you from picking unsuitable ones and deciding to move again.
Lean on family and friends for assistance
If you can’t find the perfect rental on your own, lean on family and friends. Ask them if they know of any rentals that match your criteria or if they have any recommendations. They may be able to steer you in the right direction.
Your social circle could hear about a property and pass along the details when it becomes available.
House hunting can be a lot of work, but it’s worth it when you finally find the perfect rental home. Renting can be a fun experience, especially when you have great friends willing to help guide you through the process!
Browsing local newspapers could help land the perfect rental house
While finding a home for sale via the newspaper is almost extinct nowadays due to the internet, that might not be the case with a home rental. The newspaper can still be an excellent source for finding a gem of a rental.
For example, it could be an older couple who are not online savvy and instead post an advertisement in the local paper.
People use the internet for most of their activities, but that doesn’t mean newspapers are no longer relevant. People still use local newspapers for advertising homes for rent.
Use social media to find a rental home
Social media sites offer another excellent opportunity to find a rental property. Facebook is undoubtedly among the best. Facebook has millions of active users and a specific section of its site called Marketplace, where landlords can advertise properties for rent.
When you’re on Facebook, you can make a post asking for leads or browse Marketplace using the search feature. To find rentals on the marketplace, you can use the “Categories” tab and look for the “Rentals” category.
Craigslist could be useful to land a rental property
Many people believe that Craigslist has a reputation for being an unreliable resource for finding a property. Craigslist has unfortunately been the home of many scammers looking to take advantage of those who are naive.
It’s essential to be vigilant when looking for listings on Craigslist, as not everything is a scam. You just need to be more careful. There are red flags, such as low prices or unrealistic descriptions. If something seems too good to be true, it’s probably a scam.
Final thoughts
Once you’ve found a rental you love, ask lots of questions. Rents aren’t cheap, so you’ll want to be sure you’ve made the right decision before committing to such a significant decision.
Bill Gassett is a nationally recognized real estate leader who has been helping people buy and sell MetroWest Massachusetts real estate for the past 35 years. Bill is the owner and founder of Maximum Real Estate Exposure. For the past decade, he has been one of the top RE/MAX REALTORS® in New England.
