[Pinkfriday]

I might be moving to the Las Vegas, NV fro area in August from the east coast. I'd like to rent a house with 2 bedrooms or more. Craigslist is decent since that's how I found my current house. However, I'd like to keep my options open. Zillow isn't very rent friendly. Are there are other sites I should know about? Also, what are some areas I should know or stay away from? I've only been to Vegas a couple of times for vacation so I didn't get past the strip. Thanks for your answers in advance.

[swagger]

In my experience, you get better results by finding the websites of individual property management companies and viewing their listings than you do at any of the aggregation sites. It takes a little more effort, but it yields better results.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by swagger

In my experience, you get better results by finding the websites of individual property management companies and viewing their listings than you do at any of the aggregation sites. It takes a little more effort, but it yields better results.

If you want a house get an RE Agent. Houses best come off the MLS. You get virutally all the entrees on CL and the aggregators without the nonsense. True of town houses and ncier condos. Apartments and low end condos CL or PM or whoever.

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by lvoc

If you want a house get an RE Agent. Houses best come off the MLS. You get virutally all the entrees on CL and the aggregators without the nonsense. True of town houses and ncier condos. Apartments and low end condos CL or PM or whoever.

^ THIS. Get on the mailing lists of realtors. Put in your criteria online, and you'll get emails daily of houses that fall within your exact criteria. Worked like a charm for us, who moved from the East Coast and got a house sight unseen. We were able to work with a very friendly realtor (who I may or may not have quoted in this post)

[BBMW]

You can search the MLS database directly. Also, the MLS scrapers (Redfin, Trulia, Zillow, etc.) will give you the same information, with better search capabilities.

Or you can just call a broker.

[lvre411]

Originally Posted by Raiderman

^ THIS. Get on the mailing lists of realtors. Put in your criteria online, and you'll get emails daily of houses that fall within your exact criteria. Worked like a charm for us, who moved from the East Coast and got a house sight unseen. We were able to work with a very friendly realtor (who I may or may not have quoted in this post)

Yep and Yep. I'd avoid Craigslist out here in Vegas especially if you are looking from out of state. No shortage of scammers that have taken photos of listings and put them on Craigslist for rent with ridiculously low prices.

Had one scammer go as far as creating an e-mail account with my name and was responding to inquiries with some message about being out of town / fill out this application (SSN#, etc.) and send money to some P.O. Box and they'll mail you the keys.

I was quite surprised to learn how many people were falling for it and then calling me off of the For Sale sign in the front yard from driving over to the property.

In addition, a Real Estate agent can help in verifying the property is not in foreclosure and that it's properly managed. Not so much a problem nowadays when it comes to homes in foreclosure but at one time it was.

With all of the investors that have purchased homes in the past couple of years and putting them up for lease, there is no shortage of rental homes available for lease across the Las Vegas valley at great prices right now. No idea why anybody would rent an apartment for more right now.

[robojester]

We found houses on trulia and then sent inquiries.
Mainly because we have 4 SMALL dogs.

We have been getting a stream of very nice houses for under 1000 a mo

[lvre411]

Originally Posted by BBMW

You can search the MLS database directly. Also, the MLS scrapers (Redfin, Trulia, Zillow, etc.) will give you the same information, with better search capabilities.

Or you can just call a broker.

MLS scrapers don't give you all of the intricate financial details since the MLS feeds are limited. I've been coming across homes for lease that are now adding some other non-traditional costs (for Vegas) such as paying the owners sewage/sanitation bill, etc, -- due to the lower rents and trying to make it up in other ways.

If you hit the scraper sites and contact the listing agents / management companies directly, I don't think the ones doing this are going to tell you that paying the owners sewage/sanitation bill is not a traditional expense for the tenants.

Smoking / Non-Smoking, Pets, Security deposits, cleaning deposits, key deposits, etc, etc.... RE Agents have several categories they can search and just send over the most detailed information via e-mail straight from the MLS so people don't have to waste their time contacting individual property listings just to find out that they can't have pets, etc, etc.

[Pinkfriday]

Thank you for all the great replies! We are non-smokers without pets or kids and are flexible. I'm seeking a 2+ bedroom house possible under 1,000. We are both self-employed and flexible on the area. If you are a real estate agent or know of any that are good with rentals, please direct message me or post here. Thank you again!

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by robojester

We found houses on trulia and then sent inquiries.
Mainly because we have 4 SMALL dogs.

We have been getting a stream of very nice houses for under 1000 a mo

Three and four small dogs are always a problem. Four dogs actually requires a pet fanciers permit. The only way I know is to dicker direct with the owner. A small percentage will take them with a suitable payment. IN many zip codes you will get zero acceptance. A pet limit is also common in many HOAs.

Best bet is some of the older large lot places in the county islands in the center, NW and SW.