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We are happy and excited to be moving to Albuquerque in late June!
We'll be searching for a house to rent as soon as we get there. We are seasoned renters and will be using all the usual online tools to search, (Trulia, Zillow, Apts.com, HotPads, Cragslist etc), but I'm wondering if there are any local websites, noticeboards, rental agencies, individual agents, or secret tips you'd recommend for finding a great house?
Apologies if this sounds cheesy, but our ideal rental would be a fauxdobe Pueblo Revival house with a kiva fireplace, tile floors, viga and latilla ceilings, you get the idea. We're looking for at least two beds and a nice little yard. We think the older neighborhoods with proximity to downtown will work well for us eg. Wells Park, Raynolds Addition, Mandells. Also perhaps the Near North Valley.
We are a middle aged couple, no kids or pets, good credit. We're the kind of awesome tenants and respectful neighbors who can be trusted with a nice property: we take care of our home, beautify the yard etc.
Sooo.... would love to hear from locals how to search smarter in ABQ to land the great little house we have in mind.
Also, how intense is competition likely to be for the kind of property we want, in July?
This concept of competition for places to rent is alien to this area. If you see a place for rent and the price and terms are right, it's generally yours.
The best deals will probably found by landlords whose entire advertising campaign consists of a "for rent" sign with a phone number on the property itself. Start "mowing the lawn" in the neighborhoods you're interested in and take notes on the for rent signs you see. This time of year in particular can be pretty good for finding places.
Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com all have wealths of information on properties they themselves don't have as listings, and are best used as an information gathering tool after you already have the situs addresses of the places you're interested in.
We are happy and excited to be moving to Albuquerque in late June!
... Also, how intense is competition likely to be for the kind of property we want, in July?
University's fall session begins in August, so the sooner the better. I used Zillow and walked around with my checkbook. Took less than a week to get a great place. I did find local real estate agents were less responsive than what I was used to (in the big city). Half of phone calls never returned or returned a week later, etc. Shouldn't be too tough, though.
This concept of competition for places to rent is alien to this area. If you see a place for rent and the price and terms are right, it's generally yours.
The best deals will probably found by landlords whose entire advertising campaign consists of a "for rent" sign with a phone number on the property itself. Start "mowing the lawn" in the neighborhoods you're interested in and take notes on the for rent signs you see. This time of year in particular can be pretty good for finding places.
Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com all have wealths of information on properties they themselves don't have as listings, and are best used as an information gathering tool after you already have the situs addresses of the places you're interested in.
Very helpful, thank you. Some cities do seem to be more about the 'sign on the lawn' method of renting, and it sounds like ABQ is one of them!
I didn't know Zillow etc had data on properties they aren't listing - very useful info.
University's fall session begins in August, so the sooner the better. I used Zillow and walked around with my checkbook. Took less than a week to get a great place. I did find local real estate agents were less responsive than what I was used to (in the big city). Half of phone calls never returned or returned a week later, etc. Shouldn't be too tough, though.
Yeah, I was concerned that we'll be competing with UNM students, incoming staff and faculty, so I was kind've preparing for rental wars lol. Sounds like it will be manageable but I'm seasoned from living in bigger cities, so I'm probably going to be in overdrive as usual to get a great spot
Good to know about local agents. I wont plan to lean on them too much.
The best deals will probably found by landlords whose entire advertising campaign consists of a "for rent" sign with a phone number on the property itself. Start "mowing the lawn" in the neighborhoods you're interested in and take notes on the for rent signs you see. This time of year in particular can be pretty good for finding places.
^^^ This. There are 6 units in my neighborhood with for rent signs out front. Not a single one is on Craigslist, Realtor.com or in the paper.
You'll want to look through neighborhoods that are slightly more affluent and high priced that you would expect to afford, check out what is for sale, contact the realtor and ask if they are interested in renting. Once in a while you will have someone sitting on an expensive piece of property but they have moved away and the place not having occupants is costing them a lot of money, so they're desperate enough to rent. It happens enough to where it's worth checking on.
And no, this is not exploiting the homeowner because you're providing them much needed financial help. This situation is more common the last few years in part because of the unstable real estate market in the US in general.
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