The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: Travis on April 29, 2015, 02:06:37 PM
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I'm moving this summer and I'll be renting a house for the first time (I've been in apartments most of my adult life). I found a number of possible locations on Zillow, but it's the end of April and I won't be looking to occupy until mid-July. How early is appropriate to start engaging landlords and agencies about their properties? When I moved into my current apartment, from introduction to moving in only took a couple days. How long does that process usually take with a house? According to Zillow most of the places I'm interested in won't be available until late May-early June so I don't want to start calling too soon. Along with making sure I'm not calling about properties that'll be rented out before I show up, I'm also trying to figure out how long I might be on someone's couch or in a motel during the process.
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There's no harm in starting the process now. Give a landlord/real estate person a call and explain you're coming from out of town and like to secure a place ASAP. They'll either get your information and start the process, or tell you to call back later.
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Landlords generally get at least 30 days notice their property is vacating. Same with property management companies. It generally can take anywhere from 1 to 30 days after the vacancy to get the property ready to rent again and sign the tenant. A good time to start looking aggressively would be near the end of May. If you know what you want and the move-in date, I would call several property management companies to ask about anything they know about now for a July occupancy. If you are in a hot rental market, a resume with info like your rental history, occupation, salary range, time with your employer, and credit score range might help with getting the place you want.