Rental Homes - where to start? (Knoxville, Athens: real estate, apartments, houses) - Tennessee (TN) - City-Data Forum

educate42 · 04-07-2011, 06:59 PM

Hello all-
I'm betting that this question has been answered in the past, but all of the threads that I could find that were related are out-of-date.

I will be moving to Knoxville in August for grad school. I've lived in apartments for far too long and would like to rent a house. I know that it will be a stretch to afford a decent rental based off of my stipend, but I also know that it can be done (from seeing the Athens, GA choices and knowing a person or two in Knoxville).

Where could I start looking for rental homes? Any specific realtors/property management companies? I've perused Craigslist and found a few choice places, but Knoxville's page is also inundated with apartment ads.

calvinbama · 04-07-2011, 07:58 PM

There are really affordable home rentals in Parkridge. A small 2 BR with probably 1200 sq ft will go for 5 or 600 a month. The neighborhood is a mix of working class families, young professionals, and a sprinkling of grad students.

ssincity · 04-08-2011, 07:43 AM

We are in the same boat. The wife has a few possible job ops there in Knoxville and as soon as we get a official job offer letter we are leaving Las Vegas NV for TN! We are about %60 packed right now with anticipation of getting the hell out of Vegas!!!

I searched CL and I used google and even emailed a few property mgm companies with NO response. I guess they do not want to waste there time unless we are actually ready and that is understandable.

I have read a few post that state theres a "ton" of rental houses with signs on the lawn or in the window. Well that is just not going to happen for us. We will be renting sight un seen! And doing it from 2300 miles away! So coming to visit the area is not an option for us!

So if anyone on here knows of a decent rental agency, please let all of us know!

The problem with "searching" this forum is that a lot of the DATA is OUT DATED!

Quote:

Originally Posted by educate42

Hello all-
I'm betting that this question has been answered in the past, but all of the threads that I could find that were related are out-of-date.

I will be moving to Knoxville in August for grad school. I've lived in apartments for far too long and would like to rent a house. I know that it will be a stretch to afford a decent rental based off of my stipend, but I also know that it can be done (from seeing the Athens, GA choices and knowing a person or two in Knoxville).

Where could I start looking for rental homes? Any specific realtors/property management companies? I've perused Craigslist and found a few choice places, but Knoxville's page is also inundated with apartment ads.

Pam& Bill · 04-08-2011, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssincity

We are in the same boat. The wife has a few possible job ops there in Knoxville and as soon as we get a official job offer letter we are leaving Las Vegas NV for TN! We are about %60 packed right now with anticipation of getting the hell out of Vegas!!!

I searched CL and I used google and even emailed a few property mgm companies with NO response. I guess they do not want to waste there time unless we are actually ready and that is understandable.

I have read a few post that state theres a "ton" of rental houses with signs on the lawn or in the window. Well that is just not going to happen for us. We will be renting sight un seen! And doing it from 2300 miles away! So coming to visit the area is not an option for us!

So if anyone on here knows of a decent rental agency, please let all of us know!

The problem with "searching" this forum is that a lot of the DATA is OUT DATED!

City Data is a relocation site, a message board to ask questions of the locals. The regulars that post here are not paid to do so, we do it because we want to.
How can you google rentals in Knoxville and not come up with anything current?
The value to using this site is to read archived posts about areas or pockets in Tn. that may or may not suit someone. It's all part of the necessary tedious research one does when moving somewhere sight unseen.
When we moved here, we hadn't discovered City data, so our research was done on google and yes we rented a place off the internet, sight unseen. It worked out for us but I don't reccommend everyone do that. And furthermore there are tons of places for rent with just signs in the yard or windows. No one can tell you about those rentals unless they know about them.
Best of luck to you in your search.

hiknapster · 04-08-2011, 02:11 PM

Bingo.

So the messages that we post, day-in-and-day-out for years are not relevant?

What you are going to find under "house rentals" in Knoxville is a whole lot of nothing. This isn't the classifieds, although there is a area for that, but it covers far too much territory and isn't much help.

What people really want is for one of us to say we have the perfect property for a cheap price. Well, that's not going to happen.

Ask us about the schools. Ask us about the people. Ask us about the weather.

But don't ask us if we have a job or a rental for you. Chances are not good that we do.

Use the local paper or search engines for that. It is not what we are about.

Oh, and I hope you ultimately give back. Unfortunately, we don't see a lot of passing it on. It's the same troopers that post here, giving their heart and soul and usually getting nothing but snarky comments in return.

And renting sight-unseen is never advised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pam& Bill

City Data is a relocation site, a message board to ask questions of the locals. The regulars that post here are not paid to do so, we do it because we want to.
How can you google rentals in Knoxville and not come up with anything current?
The value to using this site is to read archived posts about areas or pockets in Tn. that may or may not suit someone. It's all part of the necessary tedious research one does when moving somewhere sight unseen.
When we moved here, we hadn't discovered City data, so our research was done on google and yes we rented a place off the internet, sight unseen. It worked out for us but I don't reccommend everyone do that. And furthermore there are tons of places for rent with just signs in the yard or windows. No one can tell you about those rentals unless they know about them.
Best of luck to you in your search.

Pam& Bill · 04-08-2011, 03:15 PM

Hik,
What people really want is for someone to volunteer to do the footwork for them. Coming for a visit isn't an option you know.....I shake my head at a cross country move that is undertaken at a great expense both financially and mentally, and the cost of a visit isn't in the plans or budget? Seems like its best to stay put then.But hey what do I know?

hiknapster · 04-08-2011, 04:34 PM

And the house rental question is probably asked once a week. The truth is we have one landlord on here and I don't think she has that much property. There really isn't any rental agencies because there is not really money in it. Some of the biggest real estate agencies may have a rental department. But you can find those with Google. Your best bet is going to be the classified ads or driving around looking for rentals. It never hurts to ask for a job or a rental but I don't think you'll have too much success on here.

ssincity · 04-08-2011, 08:03 PM

I have looked at all the classifieds. Knoxnews,CL, all the rental sites for Knox. I by no means was trying to make it someone job to find me a house! Nor was I to make any implications that I was looking for the perfect property for cheap. We pay almost $2300.00 a month here and I am sure any thing we find will be just fine for price! I was NOT looking to rent from anyone on this board.

What I was hoping for was that if there was some type of advertisement that is more of a locals only type publication that might be of more help then what is on google.

Maybe some of that hospitality that everyone speaks so much of! NOT, hey find me a house. But a helpfull kindly point in a hopefully helpfull direction.

Pam& Bill · 04-08-2011, 08:54 PM

Southern hospitality is alive and well here I assure you. No one could point you in a helpful direction because no one can claim to be a mind reader.
We react and post to what is written. No need to get annoyed at an entire region because you weren't given the exact information you wanted. A small tid bit of advice if you do move here, that type of reaction you showed here will get you nowhere with the locals. In fact it will get you the opposite of what you want. Southerners are some of the most sincerest people and helpful and friendly and they have manners. They won't tell you to go fly a kite even if its what they are thinking. And I can guarantee you may get an earful if you pull the "wheres the hspitality" line you've heard so much about.You'll learn.
Bless your heart,
Pam

J&Em · 04-09-2011, 09:36 PM

A few years back it was easier looking for a house to buy than it was to find house rentals -on line at least. In the area I live, which is outside of Knoxville, there hasn't been much advertised anywhere that I can tell, but I pass 'for rent' signs all the time. Either the local papers are just not good for advertising or traditions have grown around just having a sign up in the yard being enough to rent a place out. Most of the signs seem to stay up less than a couple of months so it must work. As far as management companies not returning your calls, I'm totally mystified as that is supposed to be a big part of their job. Wish I could help you more. Good luck with your move.