Best places to find rentals? (Madison: real estate, sublet, apartment complexes)

[HondaCivet]

Hello again. I haven't posted here since the last time I needed to find an apartment in Madison, and now the time to move is approaching. My sublet ends August 15th or so and my boyfriend and I are looking for a 1-bedroom for under $700 just outside of campus, especially on the isthmus and around Willy St. We have been mostly using Craigslist but it has been a bit of a nightmare. We have been going to showings and filling out applications as quickly as we can but we keep being scooped by people who somehow manage to get a showing in and submit apps the same day the ad is posted. I know that we waited a bit long to start looking but we were extremely busy during the semester and didn't really even think about it until summer. Are we doing something wrong in the way we are searching? Are there ways of finding good apartments that don't require such a tiny time window? Thanks!

[subclavius]

Same thing happened to me when I was looking for a place back in January. It happened four times in three days...talk about frustrating. One apartment was rented the same exact time the real estate agent was showing it to me-we finished the tour and were walking out when her phone rang and as soon as she hung she said "We can forget about that place".

Given that the areas you are interested in normally has smaller apartment complexes or rental flats, and those guys aren't as likely to advertise in pay publications like the bigger complexes (hence, they use CL since it's free), I would spend a whole day driving or riding a bike in the desired location looking for rental signs in the yard, writing down phone numbers for the small complexes, and then cold-calling the heck out of them the next day.

[Megan1967]

Just when I was griping about all the work a house is.... Glad I don't have to deal with rental issues anymore.