Relocating to Austin soon. How to get an apt without a job?

[mark311]

All of this talk of pre-paying an entire lease up front sounds very risky to me.

I actually did the opposite of what most people are stating when I moved here (granted this was in 2006). Both my wife and I were leaving our current jobs in CA to come to Austin without jobs. We did have excellent credit, so that is one difference compared to "looking2tex". Also, I could see this as being a problem if you were renting a home from an individual landlord and not a corporation.

We just went to one of the larger corporate apartment complexes and they didn't have a problem renting to us without jobs. We just put "looking for work" in the employment section. They did ask for copies of our income from our previous year tax return, and did a credit check, but other than that it seemed like a pretty normal process. This was with one of the mega "Gables" complexes in North Austin.

I would call one of those mega complexes, be honest about your situation, and see what they say. You'll be talking to a salesperson for the apartment complex who gets commission for filling their empty units. And contrary to the talk about rental occupancy being at an all time high, you can easily bring up multiple mega apartment complexes in the Austin area that have 15 or more vacant units. When a complex has hundreds of units, they always have vacancies.

The bottom line here is to pick up the phone and call a reputable mega complex and talk to a salesperson there. They will be able to tell you what they're not allowed to post on-line.

[clarksvillemom]

I agree with sbjanda but just a word of caution - if you do go with a small place that will rent to anyone without checking credit, job, etc. just be careful to read any fine print and know your rights. Make sure you aren't renting from a slumlord. I have a friend who does poverty law/landlord tenant law and she said you wouldn't beleive all the people who lose a LOT because of mistakes made when renting - like getting behind in rent, having some infraction that allows the LL to kick you out, not understanding when you can withhold rent because of repairs, etc. Maybe she's biased, but she said the law is stacked in favor of landlords and owners.

[Linda25]

I moved here with no job, 10k in the bank. The apt rented to us with the bank statement. Plus I had crappy credit.

[chuck_steak]

Occupancy rates in Austin have increased dramatically in the past year or so. Renting a place here is much harder than it used to be and rents are continuing to skyrocket. The only suggestion I have is that you pre-pay some months. However, my brother is having a hard time finding a place to rent to him without a job and even pre-paying.

Good luck, you'll need it.

[RomeandJill]

Take it from some one who just went through this in the last 90 days, it difficult to do ....BUT...not impossible by any means.
My wife and I moved here for school and did not have jobs but really had no big hassle finding a place.
Try the Camden properties.....
They are located in varius locations through out Austin and range from average to high ($670- 1400) in rent.

[MaryLuu]

RomeandJill, thank you so much.