Seattle Area Rental Tips
Hi all,
I'm listing my condo up for sale in about a week, and if the place sells (lord willing) I'll be looking for a place to rent. (Just a bit of background, we bought in '03 and were expecting to live here a long time... but job/life changes are compelling us to move out of the city. Not to mention that I wouldn't mind turning the paper appreciation into cash while I still can.)
I occasionally read in the blog comments that some of you were able to find good deals on rentals by talking down specuvestors on their vacant properties. But I'm looking at Craigslist and seeing people asking ridiculous prices for anything decent, and I'm wondering how you talk them down? What other resources have you used to find rental properties? Can you offer any tips about how best to rejoin the renting world?
(Mods, it seemed like this was the best category for the topic, but I wasn't sure. Please move if you'd like it somewhere else.)
I'm listing my condo up for sale in about a week, and if the place sells (lord willing) I'll be looking for a place to rent. (Just a bit of background, we bought in '03 and were expecting to live here a long time... but job/life changes are compelling us to move out of the city. Not to mention that I wouldn't mind turning the paper appreciation into cash while I still can.)
I occasionally read in the blog comments that some of you were able to find good deals on rentals by talking down specuvestors on their vacant properties. But I'm looking at Craigslist and seeing people asking ridiculous prices for anything decent, and I'm wondering how you talk them down? What other resources have you used to find rental properties? Can you offer any tips about how best to rejoin the renting world?
(Mods, it seemed like this was the best category for the topic, but I wasn't sure. Please move if you'd like it somewhere else.)
Comments
The other day I was in my front yard and a woman stopped her car and asked if I knew of any rentals (Loyal Heights). I told her I hadn't seen a single one. She replied that, "because of the slowing housing market I figured there would be a lot." I sadly had to inform her that that was not the case. Rental vacancies in the Loyal Heights area of Ballard have plummeted precipitously in the last two years. There used to be a fair amount of single family homes for rent...but most of the owners cashed in on the recent appreciation so hardly any are left. And the few I do see are rented for a lot.
Somewhere between South Seattle and Tacoma, but most likely Des Moines or Federal Way. We need easy access to both Tacoma and Seattle. The apartment complexes down there that we've seen are all pretty sketchy except for one, and that's why I'm more interested in renting a SFH or duplex from an individual.
The best way to get a deal on anything is to be in a place where you don't need to make a decision. You have to act as if there is plenty to choose from and you can walk away from any rental, no matter how emotionally attached you become.
Other than that, simply ask. Bargain. If they want you to move in sooner, get a free month. Offer to write a 2 year lease and ask for $200/mo off rent. Pretty much anything is possible.
It also helps to be looking in the higher range $1500-3000/mo as these properties are more likely to sit on the market longer looking for renters.
My experience in February 2006 and now in February 2007 has been the same - plenty of supply and just about everyone is willing to make a deal.
If you are going to rent from a specuvestor, my advice would be to run a credit check on them! Ask questions..
1. how many properties do they own?
2. Will your rent cover their monthly expenses?
3. Do they have a toxic loan on any of their current properties?
Since selling my house in 2003 my wife and I have twice been the victim of specuvestors with failing finances. One is still paying our down payment and court costs back to us after 2 years. Fun stuff.
We rent from a corporate place now.
That is a very good point, and something I hadn't thought of. Thanks for sharing your experience and tips.
Of course, first we have to find a buyer for our place, and since it's solidly in the "First time buyer" market I'm praying we get a bidder who's not in the midst of the subprime mortgage debacle. Fingers crossed...
Just today I made the same observation. Craigslist is evidently a great place to find used light fixtures, but not so much decent rental homes. Yikes.
It's a townhouse, though. . .I didn't find a SFH in our price range ($2,000ish) that appealed to me.
Granted, I have other reasons for selling besides just cashing out (like job change, more space, and the desire to build a house and get a dog), but it makes me wonder if I should hang onto it for the long haul.
I think the "long haul" might be a lot longer than you might think. Why not sell it now and buy it back for $50,000 in 4 years? Or buy virtually any 1500-1800 sq foot 3bd/2ba in Ballard for $150K or less.
Depends on where and what you mean by decent, I think. Here's a tale from the trenches:
I am under contract to sell our house soon. I just finished up a search for a rental. I found a nice 3BR in Ballard for $1700. My wife wanted neighborhood, so we looked in "desirable" areas north of the ship canal in Seattle, which carry a price premium.
In two weeks of looking, with visits to maybe 12-15 properties, there were exactly 3 properties that we would have considered. One was overpriced and a bit small, so we didn't follow up. One was a nice house being handled by a leasing company for a family going off on a temporary relocation to Japan. They actually tried to create a bidding war for the place. We opted not to participate.
The third was the place we got. Of the three, it was the cheapest and the best fit, so I'm happy. It took two weeks of intensive monitoring of craigslist and a willingness to wait to get the right place. We were prepared to rent a long term stay motel room for a while if that's what it took. :-)
Anyway, I'd say that in the neighborhoods we looked in (Green Lake, Phinney, Maple Leaf, Wedgwood, Ballard) there was not much decent for under $1500. But if you're talking about further south where demand is likely lower, you probably could do okay paying less.
My husband is commuting to Tacoma every day, and I'll be commuting to Seattle probably 2-3 times per week (though thankfully not usually during rush hour). He'll also be coming to Seattle 1 day per weekend.
By corporate place, do you mean an agent? Or a corporate owner?
We rent a house, and our suspicion is that the owner owes a lot of money and if his self-employed business income drops.... let, alone any problems with refinancing.
Preferably either a SFH or condo between 1200-1500/mo, or reputable apartment complex for ~1000. Apartmentratings.com has really bad reviews on a lot of complexes in that area... the good ones seem to be few and far between. Murr.
Can anybody recommend good complexes in that area? Or particular units that you know are coming up for rent before June 1? We close right after memorial day, so would hope to move memorial day weekend. If we need more time, we could always try to rent back from the buyer, but I'd rather not.
Might not be what you're looking for. If it is, though, let the management know K110 sent you.
She was probably thinking "These houses look run down, the cars parked on the street are all old beaters and there's a really seedy strip club a few blocks away, bet I can find something cheap here. "
We found a place we like and are moving in next weekend. The rent comes to about $1/sq foot + utilities, in a "luxury" complex in Des Moines that gives us both good access to Seattle and Tacoma. They seem excited to get us in the door, as they've got several comparable units available... they gave us some incentives in addition to the "specials."
We had about four properties on our "short list" ranging in price from $950-$1250/month, the most expensive of which was a house in Federal Way. The owner was disappointed we didn't choose his house, and he offered to match the price per square foot of the one we decided on (which would have meant him coming down $250). Another unit was owned by some mid-twenties specuvestor guy... brand new townhouse-style condo conversion with granite countertops. The granite countertops were actually a factor *against* that unit for us. Don't like 'em, and who wants to be liable for any accidental damage to them? Not me.
Initially it looked like there wasn't a lot of selection, but the properties that are available haven't been turning over very quickly. Owners are claiming that they've been taking, "TONS of calls on this one over the weekend!", but strangely they're still around a week later. Hmm....