Questions about renting a house and buying used car (Detroit: for sale, apartment)

[jwt8070]

Hi,

I am an expat who has been living overseas for over a decade. My family will relocate to Ann Arbor this summer. We would like to rent a place for at least a year before buying our own. Last time I rented a place in the US was 20+ years ago. Back then I was single renting an apartment. Now I am married with two school aged kids.

We would like to rent a house zoned for Thurston or King Elementary School. I see several houses for rent on realtor.com within our price range ($2000-$2700/month).

1. Should we contact the listing realtor directly or find a realtor to represent us and work through our own realtor? Does it make a difference either way?

2. Other than realtor.com, what are other sources (both online and offline) where we should also look for houses for rent? We will come to Ann Arbor after June.

3. How long will it take from the time when we submit application to when we can move in? After moving in, how long does it take to hook up electricity, water, internet, etc.

4. What companies provide internet connection in the Ann Arbor area? I work online so I will need fast internet connection.

5. Where to look for reasonably price furniture?

6. We also need to buy a car (maybe two). Where do people go to buy reliable used car or light SUV? I know one can visit car dealers. Are there other options?

As you can see I am a bit out of touch with life in the US so any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

[craig11152]

I will answer #4
Comcast/Xfinity pretty much covers the whole town with speeds up to 150 Mbps I think.
I pay for 75 mbps but I just tested on Ookla at 92.5 down and 12 up

AT&T is the other main player. They have DSL everywhere and are currently running Fiber-optic but nobody seems to know how far along that is.
My daughter 5 blocks from me has AT&T fiber-optic at 100 mbps. But I can't get it at my house yet.
The thing with their DSL is your speeds will depend on how far you are from a "hub". In my case AT&T can only get me 18 mbps at my address.

#3 utility hookups are just a day or two especially in early July. Once you reach late August when the University is getting back to full steam some utilities can take a tad longer.

I don't imagine your coming from overseas should impact that since we get a lot of people from around the world every fall.

[craig11152]

6. We also need to buy a car (maybe two). Where do people go to buy reliable used car or light SUV? I know one can visit car dealers. Are there other options?

The best bet to insure some level of reliability in a used car would be from a dealership offering a warranty. Of course you will pay a premium for that.

I am no expert at buying used cars by any means.
But you need to pick a price range or a brand/model to start with. If you buy from a private party you should have it looked over by a good mechanic to hopefully pinpoint potential problems. Finding a good mechanic is another discussion.
I was at my Kia dealership the other day for routine maintenance on our car and I notice three 2017 new cars, (never sold) at remarkable discounts. The upside is obviously a new car with a new car warranty. The downside is the new car is 2 years old out the door since 2018 and 2019 cars are on the road.

[aa1986]

Hi!
1) I think a realtor is a good way to go, especially since it sounds like you'll essentially be coming here without having a chance to physically look at properties. Ann Arbor is not a big town, so I think just about any realtor working an Ann Arbor is going to have deep practical knowledge of the neighborhoods. If I were to pick, I'd select one that has similarly aged kids perhaps, so that they can empathize better on your needs when it comes to schools and family amenities.

2) You could try looking at something like Craigslist to see what's out there. June is not a bad time to be moving in. Since we are essentially the town for University of Michigan, there is maybe a good chance that a lot of families are trying to move out of short term leases when the academic year is over in early May.

3) Utilities should take about a day in June I imagine... it's a quieter time in regards to the academic calendar, I don't think there should be a inconvenience issue for you. Late August is slower because students are moving back in and the utility appointments get packed.

4) I don't know where you're relocating from, but my opinion is that US broadband trails the population centers in Europe and Asia. Our big players are Comcast and AT&T in Ann Arbor, you'll find a variety of priced options for speeds on their website.

5) Craigslist is a good source for used furniture especially since there is a lot of transient situations in this university town. People generally like to shop at Ikea about a 30 minute drive away for somewhat cheap new furniture.

6) For used cars, one tip I like... look at the bulletin boards at Asian groceries or Asian restaurants around town, or the metro Detroit area. Since Detroit is a world automotive center, there are a lot of Japanese auto-related companies here, so there are many engineers who come here for 2-3 year assignments. So sometimes they have to sell their cars on short notice and are desperate to do so as they are leaving the country. And as automotive engineers, while I have no proof to back this up, I think they tend to maintain their cars better. The bulletin boards also have other items for sale, like furniture or houses too.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by jwt8070

1. Should we contact the listing realtor directly or find a realtor to represent us and work through our own realtor? Does it make a difference either way?

Doing your own research is great, but you will often find that realtors have more inventory available to them. We worked with a realtor both when renting a place ourselves and renting our own place out and they do make it easier to do, well, both.

2. Other than realtor.com, what are other sources (both online and offline) where we should also look for houses for rent? We will come to Ann Arbor after June.

Craigslist, but, as usual, be wary of scams. Padmapper, Redfin, Zillow.

3. How long will it take from the time when we submit application to when we can move in? After moving in, how long does it take to hook up electricity, water, internet, etc.

It's all individual. If a place is empty already, you could move in tomorrow. As far as electricity/water, that should be same-day, 24 hours at worst. Whatever house you end up renting will have the services running already, you'll just need to switch them into your name. Internet can take up to a week, depending on technician availability, but if you end up going with Xfinity (as most of A2 is "theirs") and the house is already pre-wired, you can pick up a kit at one of their stores and do it yourself. Just be prepared to spend some time on the phone activating it.

4. What companies provide internet connection in the Ann Arbor area? I work online so I will need fast internet connection.

Xfinity. Love it or hate it, the majority of Ann Arbor is covered by them. Uverse is another option, but it's a lot slower.

5. Where to look for reasonably price furniture?

If you want to go second-hand, the same Craigslist is your best shot. Also join a website/app called Nextdoor. If you want new, there's an IKEA in Canton, about 20 minutes away.

6. We also need to buy a car (maybe two). Where do people go to buy reliable used car or light SUV? I know one can visit car dealers. Are there other options?

I prefer buying used cars from private sellers, but you need to be a bit savvy to do that - and to have a good mechanic available to you to check out whatever issues they may have.

[craig11152]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

.Xfinity. Love it or hate it, the majority of Ann Arbor is covered by them. Uverse is another option, but it's a lot slower.

As I mentioned earlier ATT is slowly but actively wiring the town for fiber optic.
It's not available at my address but 5 blocks away my daughter can pick between 100,300 or 1000Mbps depending on what they want to pay.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by craig11152

As I mentioned earlier ATT is slowly but actively wiring the town for fiber optic.
It's not available at my address but 5 blocks away my daughter can pick between 100,300 or 1000Mbps depending on what they want to pay.

Yeah, I'd checked my address as well and it's not wired yet. So I'd err on the side of caution and assume it won't be there quite yet.

[craig11152]

At least we have an address checker.....something I couldn't find a year ago.
But as far as time lines I don't think anyone has, or is willing, to give a straight answer for a given address.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by craig11152

At least we have an address checker.....something I couldn't find a year ago.
But as far as time lines I don't think anyone has, or is willing, to give a straight answer for a given address.

And yet guys in AT&T shirts were walking door-to-door soliciting people for fiber even two years ago. No idea what that was meant to accomplish.

[craig11152]

A year and a half ago I was making the switch because a person on an ATT Internet chat said my address was fiber optic ready. When the technician showed up he told me it was BS. He said all he could measure at my address was 18mbps based on my distance from one of those magic green box's that transfer signals.