Best Sources to Find a House for Rent? (Santa Clarita, Pasadena: for sale, real estate)

[steve60]

Hi:

I'm in the process of looking for a new house to rent, and I was wondering what might be the best way - in this day and age - to go about it.

[For Reference: I'm looking for a small (2bed/1bath) single family house (or detached guesthouse) either in the western SFV (west of Encino) or the valleys farther north, i.e., Simi or Santa Clarita.]

I was hoping there would be one undisputed "best rental resource" online, but I'm finding this isn't the case.

Here's my present list of resources, in what I perceive to be decreasing order of utility:

1. Craigslist: Pretty useful, but not nearly comprehensive. And there are scams to avoid.

2. Local Newspapers: Such as SCV's "The Signal". Unfortunately, their online classifieds are inferior to their hard copy, which require a long commute to get a hold of.

3. Broader Newspapers: Such as "The Daily News" or even the "L.A. Times". Again, the online classifieds seem like stripped down versions (often unusable) of their hard copies. But at least these are available at local libraries.

4. Paid Rental Sites: Such as "Westside Rentals" or "4rentinla.com". Has anyone used any of these? Are they worth the investment? Particulary for the areas mentioned above?

5. Real Estate Offices: I sometimes see house rentals listed in the windows of real estate offices. Has anyone pursued a rental through a real estate office before?

I guess my basic bottom line question is, am I on the right track?

Or does anyone have any other suggestions for how to go about this (as efficiently and methodically as possible - hey, I used to be an engineer)?

Thanks for any input,

Steve

P.S. I forgot one: 6. Drive Around and Look For "For Rent" Signs. Not as appealing as when gas was half the price!

[drshang]

Check the MLS at realtor.com. Most people don't realize but the MLS has rental listings in addition to for sale listings. It's somewhat similar to #5 but if you see a listing you like just contact the listing agent and he/she will show it to you.

[1200RT]

I've used westside rentals. I think almost everyone I know has at some point in time. There are Westside rentals signs all over my neighborhood in Santa Monica. I ended up finding my current apartment via a friend, but "WSR" is a well setup website. Easy to save searches and look in differet areas.

I cannot comment on WSR's coverage in those areas.

[uptown_urbanist]

When we were looking to rent a house in the Pasadena area we joined Westside rentals, but ended up finding our place on Craigslist. It seems like more and more places are listing only on CL, or are doing CL combined with other options. I've also had success walking around in our target neighborhood, looking for the "for rent" signs, and calling. (and if your neighborhood is walkable, no gas required!)

Although we ended up not finding a place through WSR, it's not that expensive and I know others who have successfully rented through that site. A couple of years ago when the market was tighter I worked with someone who was looking on both CL and WSR; the CL listings moved too fast (as in things were gone by the time she called) and she found a place through WSR. If you do rent through WSR I think the cost includes the credit check (although might be wrong), so your end cost is about the same as what it would be anyway.

[steve60]

drshang: Thanks for the tip! This is exactly the kind of "new lead" I was hoping to learn about. I'll check out the MLS.

1200RT: Yeah, I knew somebody some years ago who once used WSR to look for an apartment around Santa Monica, but I wasn't sure whether it was as useful for "outlying" areas like I'm considering, or for houses rather than apartments.

uptown_urbanist: Thanks for your thoughtful response. I didn't know the listings on Craigslist moved that fast. And if WSR does include the cost of a credit check, that would probably be enough to sway me to give it a try. I'll check for that at their website.

Thanks, all, for your replies.

Steve

[drshang]

Steve,

We just rented a house in Pasadena and found our place through craigslist within the last 2-3 weeks. What we did was use realtor.com, craigslist, drove by and checked houses in the neighborhood. I didn't use west side rentals because I don't feel their presence is that large in Pasadena (I see WAY more WSR signs when I go to Hollywood or West LA). Make sure WSR has a real presence in the area you are renting in before dropping the cash for the service.

Ultimately, I thought craigslist and realtor.com were both good sources, but the places on the MLS tended to trend more toward being overpriced. I feel like places through agents are generally more overpriced because either the agent encourages the landlord to get more or the landlords that are unrealistic will farm places off to agents in hopes they can get more to justify their commissions. Places are not going quickly now at all so don't worry about that. This market is skewed toward tenants, not landlords, so you're in a position of power (esp at this time of the year). Many landlords are dropping prices, although the place we found we rented one day after it came on the market, but all the other properties we viewed had been on the market 2-4 weeks and the landlords were ready to negotiate and were obviously desperate.

No matter the source, make sure you do your due diligence, find out when the rental house was purchased, how much, make sure that the landlord is financially solvent and owns the house. Whether you use craigslist, realtor.com, WSR or driving by, none of your due diligence should really be any different. Personally I am really weary of the landlords who bought houses in 2005/2006 and are renting them out at a huge loss. Doesn't mean they will foreclose but at the very least make sure the property you are renting isn't in pre-foreclosure or has a NOD attached to it. The place we rented the landlord has owned for like 15 years and did a total gut job on the house like 6-7 years ago so I feel much better about never having a problem with the LL defaulting or having issues with the mortgage. Personally I would ask every landlord when they bought the house, why they are renting it, why they left, etc., then I would verify the information to make sure it's accurate. Ideally what we were looking for was a house the landlord lived in, renovated nicely (not investor grade type upgrades) then left to move into another house for some valid reason. We found exactly that.

[uptown_urbanist]

Rentals aren't moving quickly anymore, so you're probably in good shape. Still, once you start seriously looking and are ready to make a final decision, I'd be prepared to fill out all paperwork and right out a check on the spot. Rentals are plentiful right now, but I think the best deals in the most desirable neighborhoods still probably move fast. In general though, it's definitely a renter's market. drshang has great advice on the foreclosure risk; I don't know anyone who has personally experienced that, but I've read some horror stories.

[drshang]

Yeah, don't be lazy if you see a good place and let it hang around, since the odds are other people will think it's a good value too. We jumped on the place we rented and told the landlord we were interested and he ran our background check/credit/etc the same day we visited. Also don't expect to have negotiating room on a rental that just came on and is well priced. The market is bad for landlords, but it's mostly unfriendly to overpriced or sub par rentals. If you know a place has been on for 3-4 week and is vacant, then definitely negotiate, but understand when you can and when you can't. Personally I'm a bit weary of delusional landlords who have to discount the property 20% when it's been on the market for 4+ weeks. To me it's a sign of how they conduct business in a normal capacity. My advice is to start scanning adds 2-3 weeks before you start looking too, that way you can get an idea of who has been on the market for a while and you know immediately what kind of negotiating room you have. If they can't rent it after 2-3 weeks, that's generally because there's something wrong with it (price, condition, location, pre-foreclosure, unresponsive landlord, etc). Make sure you figure that out before you rent.

[steve60]

drshang: Thanks for your second volley of (impressively!) detailed advice. Your observation about Westside Rentals was prescient, as I spent some time on the site today using the Free Search option to check out listings in the areas I was interested in... and they were pretty sparse (compared to the actual "Westside" of L.A.). Thus, WSR no longer looks like a good investment.

As you suggested earlier, I also checked out the MLS but concluded, like you, that the (few) listings there for rental tend to be "higher end" properties.

Finally, your advice about "due diligence" is something I will definitely keep in mind when/if I get serious about a property. I'm fairly diligent by nature - witness these posts! - but it seems more necessary than ever nowadays.

uptown_urbanist (and drshang again): More good advice about not getting too cocky in a rental "buyer's" market. I think once I "load up" and start looking seriously, I won't hesitate to pull the trigger...

...as was the case in the house I'm currently renting. It was a great deal when I first came across it. Like your find in Pasadena, the landlord had lived here himself and remodeled the place. He wanted a 3-year lease and so had priced the house below market value to "buy" the longer-term peace of mind. There was no lack of interested parties, but I won out because I'm single, have no pets, and could clearly cover the rent for all 3 years.

Unfortunately, since that time, and particularly during the "bubble" years, the rent has steadily increased and is now 50% higher than where it started.

It's time to move.

Thanks again,

Steve

[Charles]

Originally Posted by steve60

I'm in the process of looking for a new house to rent, and I was wondering what might be the best way - in this day and age - to go about it.

HousingMaps is Craigslist rentals on a google map interface with filters.