When should I look for apartments in Boise? (Mountain Home, Mountain Home AFB: sublet, apartment complex)

[Shumway]

My girlfriend and I will be moving to Boise at the beginning of August from Boston so she can attend grad school at Boise State.

Here in Boston there is a university approximately every 17 feet, so the rental scene's leases are in lock-step with the school year. Some ridiculous percentage of apartment leases turn over on September 1; finding a new lease at pretty much any other time of the year is a real pain, except for June 1 when you find a lot of students trying to sublet the last few months of their lease before they go home for the summer.

In State College, PA, Penn State students' leases typically end on June 1, but landlords require so much advance notice to renew or drop the lease that most housing for the summer has been claimed by Jan or Feb.


I'm wondering if the Boise rental market plays any such tricks, so we can schedule a trip where we can see as many places as possible (since we'll both have to take off work to fly out to apartment hunt) and hopefully sign a lease before we fly back.

I'd also be thankful for any info about what areas we're most likely to find houses (single or duplexes, preferably) in good condition in quiet neighborhoods so we can put together a good list of places to see before we get there.

[Crew Chief]

Shumway, I really don't think finding an apartment in Boise will be any problem. Boise State University has little, if any, effect on apartment availability. I found an apartment right away when I was posted to nearby Mountain Home AFB. We lived in a pretty decent apartment complex at 1800 N. Cole Road, the name of which escapes me at the moment. (Springs of Royal Oaks, maybe?) We liked the unit we were in and found the leasing & maintenance staff pretty decent, although they seemed to be plagued with the same personnel turnover issues as most rental properties. Don't see any problem finding a decent place in a day or two. Best of luck!

[kirbybo]

Shumway,
Just wondering how things went for you in Boise. My wife and I are trying to rent a house for the month of June, and we haven't had much luck so far. I'd appreciate any advice.
bk
[quote=Shumway;481187]My girlfriend and I will be moving to Boise at the beginning of August from Boston so she can attend grad school at Boise State.

[tannersbest]

I would post a want ad on Craigslist.com

[kirbybo]

My wife has been working on this for a couple of months now, and she finally succeeded. We have a townhouse for the month of June. And you are right tannersbest, we've had a Craig's list ad up for most of that time, but that ad is what finally did it for us. No one is going to advertise a rental for one month, I don't think -- why would you do that? We thought maybe a student rental would go vacant over the summer and someone would take one month just to offset the loss, but we didn't find that. I still think it will happen later, (as a matter of fact, one property management company suggested we check back closer to June) but we couldn't stand the suspense.