Moving back to Bmore from overseas (Baltimore: extended stay, sublet, apartment complexes)

[sittilove]

And looking to re-settle in the Baltimore area. I am contemplating having some scrupulous family members check out the places I find online for me--basically being the person who makes sure everything's legit and the pictures are true to the place, so that once I return I won't have to stay in a hotel for as long as it takes to sign a lease, get my stuff out of storage, and move in. I would rather avoid the hassle of finding a sublet to rent short-term, then moving all over again after finding a permanent place and whatnot. Or spending a gazillion dollars in an extended-stay hotel.

Has anyone ever pulled something like this off before?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by sittilove

I would rather avoid the hassle of finding a sublet to rent short-term...

c'est la vie

...contemplating having some scrupulous family members check out the places...
Or spending a gazillion dollars in an extended-stay hotel.

Extended stay is the back up plan.

Next up is to do a house share situation for the first six months (or longer).
This allows you to look at your leisure and negotiate without pressure.

Asking family or friends to do the looking and deciding?
I can't see that ever going as smoothly as contemplated.

[sittilove]

I was hoping to hear "Its a great idea! I've done so myself 3 times." But I understand.

I wouldn't sign a lease until arrival and I should also say that I am returning with my spouse and an infant, hence the hesitation in searching for a temporary house share. We wouldn't have a problem with it, but from the listings I've seen in our price range, most people want 1 person or a couple at best, but hypothetical crying babies to hear in the middle of the night are out of the question. If it was just me that'd be my first choice.

Anyway, the plan was to stay in a hotel for a week tops while surveying our top three places that have already been pre-screened by our family, before we sign a lease for any. We would have already applied (and hopefully be approved) based on the family's recommendations. We know this entire area well, we just have to make sure each individual place is legit.

But I do sense that this won't go as smoothly as it sounds in my head...

[Michael21214]

When I moved here I hoteled near BWI for a week and spent the time looking at apartment complexes. Found something suitable within a week, signed a year lease and moved in. Even my wife liked it when she finally moved here herself after finishing up work out of state. Maybe I'm just lucky.

The worst part though was the movers...just make sure they don't jerk you around, and make sure you get your stuff where and when you need it.

[are you kidinme?]

Originally Posted by sittilove

And looking to re-settle in the Baltimore area. I am contemplating having some scrupulous family members check out the places I find online for me--basically being the person who makes sure everything's legit and the pictures are true to the place, so that once I return I won't have to stay in a hotel for as long as it takes to sign a lease, get my stuff out of storage, and move in. I would rather avoid the hassle of finding a sublet to rent short-term, then moving all over again after finding a permanent place and whatnot. Or spending a gazillion dollars in an extended-stay hotel.

Has anyone ever pulled something like this off before?

Pulled it off? Am I missing something here?. You go online (or have relatives do it), find a place where you want to live, have them fax you the lease (or mail) fax it back and send a deposit. Most places will do your deposit over the phone with a debit or credit card. I moved from MD to South GA and it was no big deal. You shouldn't have to stay in a hotel at all unless you come back before you said you were.

[LRG]

Originally Posted by are you kidinme?

Pulled it off? Am I missing something here?. You go online (or have relatives do it), find a place where you want to live, have them fax you the lease (or mail) fax it back and send a deposit. Most places will do your deposit over the phone with a debit or credit card. I moved from MD to South GA and it was no big deal. You shouldn't have to stay in a hotel at all unless you come back before you said you were.

I was trying to understand what the OP meant as well.

Do you mean renting an apartment sight unseen? If so, yes, I've done that twice, once in a move to New England and once from New England to Montgomery County, MD. And like the above poster said, you do the whole thing over the phone/via email. For apartment complexes, it's not anything new to have someone rent a place that's unable to come see it, especially if you tell them you live out of state or out of the country. In both of my moves, the property owner and the leasing agent, respectively, emailed me tons of photos of the unit. In the move to Montgomery County, the agent went as far as making certain to get shots of what my view would be so I would know what the place was like. In both cases, the photos were accurate and I got exactly what I thought I was getting.

I tend to prefer apartment complexes versus private owners when moving to a new city because they usually want less money for a security deposit, it's easier to find people who've lived there before (apartmentratings.com, sites like this, etc.) and can give recommendations and because you don't know if you're renting from the local slumlord.