I need to find a house to rent in Colorado

[binny]

What is the best way to find a rental home in another State? I havent rented in almost 10 years but we are moving the first of December so there is no way I can close on a house in that amount of time

The old way would be to find a newspaper and go from there. Now I would normally look at Craigslist for the same info but there are so many scams out there its hard to know which to trust.


So how would you go about finding a rental house in another State?

 

[nskjerven]

I'd try Craigslist and talk thru the whole transaction & and ask for references. We use it to list our rental house, so not everyone on there is a con. Good luck, it's a hard thing to do in this day and age and you have the right to be leary.
You could also call real estate offices in the local area, often times they list houses for people who want to rent and not to the landlord part of the deal. FYI, the agent is in the transaction for the commission so it might be a difference experience than renting directly from an owner.

 

[dawson5]

my cousin lives in Ohio and has rented his home to someone from Chicago. They found each other on craigslist.

(FYI: He actually has three homes. One they will sell when the market rebounds--this is the one he rented out, one they have "bought" but there is a contract on it for another year and one they just bought and moved into because it was too good of a deal to pass up--bought because the market was down and they could pick it up cheaply. It was cheaper to buy the third house and rent out the first one. He also has a condo in Florida that he rents out. No clue what he is going to do with all this real estate.)

 

[wvjules]

Some real estate website lists rentals.

When I moved the last time I actually used a realtor. It was great. They got a finders fee.

 

[brockash]

What is the best way to find a rental home in another State? I havent rented in almost 10 years but we are moving the first of December so there is no way I can close on a house in that amount of time

The old way would be to find a newspaper and go from there. Now I would normally look at Craigslist for the same info but there are so many scams out there its hard to know which to trust.


So how would you go about finding a rental house in another State?

What part of CO are you moving to? We just left Colorado Springs-(if you're moving around that part feel free to PM me with any questions.) You can google houses for rent in whatever city you're going to be looking at and as long as it's not too small, there should be a good # of houses to look at. We've looked at many houses that way. Also, we've started looking at houses, bought a house, been moved in within a week, and closed within a month every time we've moved (we're military and never have much time.) So if you're going to have a chance to go out there at all beforehand, it is possible, if you'd rather buy.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Agree with using a realtor.

Or you can go on Realtor.com and look at the rentals. Instead of clicking on for sale, click on for rent.
http://www.realtor.com/

 

[malibuconlee]

Contact a real estate agent. That's how we found the last home we rented. That particular agent wouldn't run ads in the paper because it was a college town and didn't want college kids in tearing up the houses...somehow he managed to rent them out by word-of-mouth. I cold called every real estate company listed in the chamber of commerce book. He was the only one who had any rental properties.

 

[binny]

We are going to the Denver area. I have been googling a lot lately. I guess I am just a lot more leary than I used to be.

We found our first apartment here through the paper. I called the owner and chatted with him and went ahead with it. We were moving from out of town and neither of us had been here in years. While the apartment itself was ok it was next door to the most crime ridden drug infested apartment complex in town I guess that is why Im a little gun shy LOL.

I really thought we would just go ahead and buy down here but given all of that has happened in the last year that isnt going to happen right away.


Thanks for the input. I would love any help or or guidance. This is happening really quickly now. The moving van will be here on the 1st

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Believe me, renting is the right thing to do. I am so glad we rented because it took forever to find a house. In fact if we staked out the property we wanted we would have just been moving in now.

It takes alot of pressure off to find a house right away.

 

[ZachnElli]

Is James there? Around here alot of rental houses don't advertise at all, they just stick a sign in the yard. By the time they get to a property management company or real estate office, the price goes up because they have to cover the cost of them too. If he is, have him drive around some neighborhoods. I've also noticed here, that alot of houses and townhouses (brand new even) that have been sale for a long time also now say, lease option on the signs. Good luck Binny!

 

[binny]

Nope he is in the other 2 places this month. I think we may have to make a trip down there though.

We did find someone through the relo company but he wants a full months rent as his fee. I just cant see spending that much!

 

[ahutton]

I would suggest finding the "local" neighborhood paper, not the main paper, but the ones they deliver for free in the area you want to live in if you know where that is.

Otherwise, you might want to check a short term rental apartment and then you can look for 30-60 days. It would be worth it to me to move twice (local moves are less expensive anyway) than to end up in a neighborhood I don't want to be in. I would put all but the bare necessities into storage (or a garage if they rent them) and use the first couple weeks to figure out commute times and where you want to be.

I lived in Denver, but that was a long time ago and I would not be sure about neighborhoods now... In the early 90s Cherry Creek Village was nice if you wanted to be on the south side of town, Parker was nice if you wanted to live on the far east side. Westminster was northwest of town but no idea which parts would be good or not.

If you think you'll eventually want to buy something, you might check on vrbo.com. Usually that is more for vacations, but there may be someone there who would be happy to have a longer term rental.

 

[teacups]

We did find someone through the relo company but he wants a full months rent as his fee. I just cant see spending that much!

Id never pay that. I imagine if its anything like here, houses are sitting empty with for rent signs.

 

[momsully]

We live in Highlands Ranch and there are alot of rental houses right now. do you know where you want to live? What school system do you want? PM or email if I can help or send you something.

 

[nskjerven]

Nope he is in the other 2 places this month. I think we may have to make a trip down there though.

We did find someone through the relo company but he wants a full months rent as his fee. I just cant see spending that much!

Here in the Bay Area, Northern Ca the fee is paid by the owner of the house, not the renter. Just keep asking and you should be able to find the right fit. If the realtors are asking you for a fee, then it's likely there are lots of places availble for rent thru other outlets. good luck

 

[jsmith]

As others have said you need to know where you want to live before you start to look-other wise you will get overwhelmed-we lived in the northwest denver metro (arvada, westminster and thornton) for 17 years-but we knew going in where we wanted to be. You also need some parameters on the house-and that kind of stuff-then you can start looking-and i would use a realtor or property managment service-it cuts down on land lord headaches later.

 

[binny]

We live in Highlands Ranch and there are alot of rental houses right now. do you know where you want to live? What school system do you want? PM or email if I can help or send you something.

Thanks I will pm you. It would be great to have a locals opinion!

We do know what we want as far as areas, we are looking at South Aurora, Littleton or Highlands Ranch area. Would like Cherry Creek schools but since I am homeschooling right now it isnt that important.

thanks for the input Im glad to know Im not the only one who was shocked by the fees that guy wanted.