Moving and getting a place in IN...need advice. (Lafayette: extended stay, apartments)

[marya521]

I need some advice from those of you who have relocated to a different state.


As far as finding a place to live, did you wait until you got there to look for a place or did you look beforehand and have a place when you got there?


I prefer the latter but not sure how to go about it, if anyone has advice for me, I would so appreciate it.


We are moving from Florida to Indiana settling in or near Cumberland. We will be renting for the first year, then will be looking to buy a house.


I have an online business, my adult son who is going with us has a job that is transferable and my husband will start looking for a job just before we head there, hoping he has one shortly thereafter.

[ColdAilment]

Originally Posted by marya521

I need some advice from those of you who have relocated to a different state.


As far as finding a place to live, did you wait until you got there to look for a place or did you look beforehand and have a place when you got there?


I prefer the latter but not sure how to go about it, if anyone has advice for me, I would so appreciate it.


We are moving from Florida to Indiana settling in or near Cumberland. We will be renting for the first year, then will be looking to buy a house.


I have an online business, my adult son who is going with us has a job that is transferable and my husband will start looking for a job just before we head there, hoping he has one shortly thereafter.

Really depends on each person's unique situation. I moved to the northern suburbs of Chicago and lived in a hotel for 3 weeks while looking at houses to rent online. About a month later I rented one. I was by myself, I later brought some cats in, but for just me this was relatively easy to manage. I did like the idea of being able to drive around the area while living there out of a hotel, gave me a better feel for the area prior to renting.

When I moved back to Indiana I lived with my parents for two months before buying my own house, of course I already knew this city pretty well.

[masters1]

I'm the opposite of Cold and would be checking ahead of time on realtor.com and rent.com. Have you been up here and seen that area?

[hapaleeretired]

We were very lucky when we relocated to NC. I contacted a fellow motorcyclist thru our national directory and asked him questions about the area. He invited us to STAY with them for a few days! Total strangers with only the love of Honda Goldwing motorcycles in common. We took him up on his gracious offer and we remain good friends to this day. Do you belong to any such organizations?
I would consider: https://www.intownsuites.com/extende...xoCksQQAvD_BwE

It's ben a while since I read your reasoning for settling in Cumberland. 2301 Post Road is just north of Cumberland and should give you a good feel for the area.
Best of luck

[Chester Burnett]

Airbnb. I've relocated to a different state several times. There is no substitute for boots on the ground. It's very hard to get a sense of a neighborhood without being there. Photos of a property can be misleading, opinions vary and many things are subjective.

Approach it like a military operation. Gather some intel. You're doing that now Next is reconnaissance. No need for the whole family on this mission. Just send a lone scout to secure a base of operations. Only then do you consider deploying the troops. Onward to victory!

[popcorn247]

I moved from south Florida back to my hometown in Indiana....two years ago. I had two small dogs with me. I sold my Florida property first. I drove up to Lafayette where I stayed in a hotel for 7 weeks. It took me two weeks to find the right house in the right neighborhood...made an offer immediately (first day it was on the market) and then I had to wait for 5 weeks until the closing. I had used a professional moving company. The company placed my items in storage and then when I notified the date I could move in, the company delivered my items.

It was a stressful time but I wanted to pay cash for my Indiana home and did not want to buy a house unseen. I stayed in a hotel that doesn't charge extra for dogs. Everyone up here in Indiana was so nice! I had my mail sent to General Delivery until I could rent a P.O. box.

[ShellNic]

I moved from Dallas 4 years ago - we didn't have time or funds to make a "pre" trip to find an apartment. We looked extensively at apartments online and when I narrowed it down, I called the place and spoke to the leasing folks. I had the job for which I was moving and I knew I wanted to be within a 5 mile radius of work. I spoke to a couple of places and when we got here, we parked the moving truck at the Extended Stay and within a day, we were able to find an apartment. It was pretty easy considering how far we'd come. And, as it turns out, that was the best apartment we could've moved to - best place we ever lived. When we bought our house last year, I was actually sad to leave that place!

[lunalvr]

I did this last October. Moved from Destin to Indy for a job, sight unseen and rented an apartment online. I had lived in Indy before this, but as a child 15+ years ago, so I really couldn't base my decisions off of memory. Because of my specific situation, I couldn't make a trip up before hand. I relied on this forum and reviews of neighborhoods and apartment search websites significantly. I ended up at a less-than-desirable complex in a location that I've definitely decided to leave, but deposit and move in fees were low and they were understanding and handled everything via phone and email. It certainly is not an ideal way to do things by far, but it's manageable. Find an inexpensive place that offers shorter term leases, and just get here. You can figure out everything else later.

[ImmerLernen]

If you already know you're going to rent for the first year, it doesn't seem critical to me that you find a "perfect" place. I would make a list of "must haves" in your rental, including your budget, then do as much on-line vetting of places as possible as well as maybe some phone calls to potential places (to check on availability, hear how they sound, any other questions you may come up with). Don't forget to use Google maps to get a visual (street view) of the areas you're thinking about and to see what's nearby (grocery stores, anything else you need). Then, if you feel you must do an in-person check before you actually move, between you, your husband, and adult son, one or two of you could take a short reconnaissance trip. That's what I would do, anyway. Best of luck to you!