Looking for house to rent. Where to start?

[odavey]

My wife and I are looking to move from our apartment into a house. Preferably we’d like to stay in West Seattle…

I have no idea where to start. Where are the best places to find listings?

Thanks.

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[charlabob]

Drive around. Seriously, there are gazillions of “for rent” signs on houses in WS; more than I’ve ever seen. I don’t know anything about the rental market, costs, etc. but I do know, for example, the house on our street at the corner of 47th and Admiral has had a sign for a couple of weeks and it always was rented within a couple of days before and tends to stay rented for a few years at a time.

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[K BJ]

My house in Arbor Heights is scheduled to be vacant starting Nov 1 (unless the tenants tell me otherwise by Oct 1). 3 BR, 1 Bath, large fully-fenced back yard. Room for up to 4 cars off-street.

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[jamminj]

we always like to peruse the listings on craigslist.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/apa/

but beware of responses from landlords that find themselves in africa and will rent to you real cheap just because they need someone to take care of the house. Oh yeah, and they want all your personal info!

But you can at least get an idea of some listings and pricing.

There are several management companies that you can start with as well.

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[sacatosh]

We lucked out on CL. I was perusing it at an off hour, and saw an ad that had been posted only a few minutes before. I was the first responder, the landlord was willing to hold it til I got there, and I walked in and immediately loved it.

Of course, between the time when I emailed and the time I walked in the door, I researched extensively to ensure it wasn’t in foreclosure, didn’t have any permits pending, hadn’t been listed for sale, etc.

I also googled the heck out of the landlord to ensure s/he was who s/he said.

We moved in a few weeks ago, and couldn’t be happier. Craigslist CAN work, but you have to do your homework.

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[ellenater]

I am getting ready to do the opposite of you-house to apartment. My landlords are total sweethearts, and honest. The house is sweet. You should post your pirimeters.

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[beachdrivegirl]

When we rented out our town home we used Craigslist. Others that I know have also used Craigslist to post their homes.

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[Sue]

I rented the house we’re in 2 years ago on Craigslist, and also did what sacatosh did in terms of researching it – having just gotten dumped from a rental townhome that was allegedly going to go condo, I didn’t want to get burned again, if possible.

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