Looking for realtor recommendations to help me find a rental (Portland: sublet, apartment complex)

[vaidpa]

I am considering a move to Eugene. I currently live in PA, so it is going to be difficult for me to scope out rentals. I thought I'd try to find a realtor who would be willing to help me navigate the rental market. I thought I might get some recommendations here that would serve me better than a random internet search. Any suggestions?

[bler144]

That sort of market doesn't exist out here like it does in the east. You could make a craigslist post or something to see if someone would bite, but that's just not a thing here.

This question comes up fairly frequently.

[vaidpa]

Darn. Well I guess if I can narrow down some neighborhoods I can come here and search/ask. Thanks for the reply.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Search for Property Management Companies. They won't show you everything, just their own listings. They work for the property owner and not you, but from a distance, you at least know that they are genuine and really do have the properties they list. Unless you are going to pick out a rental in person, using property management company, or renting from a large apartment complex are about the only way to avoid internet scams.

The big apartment complexes will have a phone directory listing and they will have their own management team onsite.

[alias4cat]

Depends on what you want in Eugene. Currently, the market has more people wanting rentals than rentals available. Wait until after June, when more rentals become available after school ends; we have a large number of properties rented by students. Unless you want the noise and higher price that comes with living close to the University of Oregon, you should avoid that area. The SE and SW hills are very liberal. Ferry Street Bridge area is flat and has lots of amenities close by. Santa Clara is nice and probably less expensive than those previously mentioned. Whiteaker used to be the druggie/alternative part of town...and some parts still are...but it's being gentrified with lots of beer pubs and cool eateries. I'd want to look at places in person for that area before I signed a rental contract, but there may be some good deals there. Do not rent in Bethel/Danebo area; it will be the cheapest in price and has some good areas, but is not a good area overall in which to live.

Take a look here for more area info:Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Your best bet is to search on Craigslist, both of get an idea of what's available, what the going rate is and what the areas look like. You can search by area simply by using keywords, "Ferry Street Bridge," Southwest Hills," Southeast," "Western," "Santa Clara" and so forth.

[vaidpa]

Thanks alias4cat. Good overview of the areas and thanks for the link.

[joe_obody999]

Nice thread, I too am coming to Eugene in June 2016 and need to look for a rental house or condo/townhouse, but single family home preferred for quiet.

[RomanEmpire]

Looking for similar advise, Are there specific rules in the rental process?. Specifically first come first serve approach?. My wife got a job with Lane Co. and first day starts in 3 weeks. I was not anticipating difficulty finding a rental as we can definitely can cover all the usual expenses of the move. But I am finding out that some rentals that even though you place an application, you don't get a call back. We are set and ready on our end, just can't seem to be able to lock a rental property and I am begging to panic. Is there any flexibility to a rental date of availability if the property is not currently occupied? Can I offer an agreement in which I could pay the difference on availability date in order to lock the rental property? I tried this approach and the listen agent, wouldn't discuss it with me. Is it against Oregon rental guidelines? We have own a property for the last 10 years, so the last time we actually filled out a rental application is some 15 years ago. Is this hurting our chances on a rental application?

Thanks for any advice.

[bler144]

Generally first-come, yes, though if there are a flurry of applicants in short order a landlord may choose to pick the best of the bunch.

Things are especially busy over the past few weeks as the students at the UO preparing to leave for the summer are all racing about trying to lock down spots [for fall, and then often sublet over summer or just eat the loss]. So in that sense you're searching at a somewhat competitive time. Things will slow down in a week or two over the summer in terms of how many people are out looking, though supply may be a bit lower as well.

I'm not aware of any rule such as you're describing, but while Eugene's rental market is not as tight as Portland (or Salem), especially with the current load of applicants many places are processing, it's unlikely someone is going to go out of their way for you. Moreso if you called one of the Prop. Mgmt places that are notorious or bad customer service.

You're not likely to see too much flex on moving an availability date forward for the simple reason that most places are already listing the earliest date they can. The place is either occupied and/or needs maintenance once it's vacant.

With the track and field championships, while I haven't heard of this happening, it's also at least possible some places are using openings as short-term AirBnB-type housing.

But yeah, it's not usually this bad, but June (and Sept. as new students arrive in town) are the two most hectic months to be rental-shopping in Eugene, typically.

What kind of property (apt/house, BR/bath, price range) are you hunting for?

[RomanEmpire]

What kind of property (apt/house, BR/bath, price range) are you hunting for?[/quote]


Thanks for all the info. We are pretty open, we truly wanted to rent a house as we have two dogs. But at the moment since everything is getting a bit tight, we are discussing a short term apartment that accepts dogs while we continue to pursue a house in the next two months and simply get something small. Keep the larger majority of our belongings in store, (which will hurt in the long run financially) but it will allow to relocate as her start date is so close. Would not want to lose the job due to a conflict in a rental schedule. So we have accepted that we'll have to be in a much smaller living space for a time, just trying to figure out what that time frame will be. As there are apartments at a higher cost for short term but it gets me in town and allows to continue to pursue a rental home for the next couple of months. But, is a risk that not only do I lose this deposit per say, I never expect to get a return on a deposit. It's just how the business is run. And I have to continue to pay for storage fees. And have to calculate a secondary deposit on a house rental.