Question about Apartment Rental Timeframes (Miami, Miami Beach: apartments, hotel, vacation home)

[LaughCruz]

Hello.

This forum has been pretty useful for me as I have been researching Miami. Great job everyone!

Just a quick summary of my situation: I will be moving to Miami in July, as I have just accepted a position with Teach for America. I am now in the process of researching neighborhoods and relocation costs, since I'll be transitioning from Philadelphia to Miami.

I do NOT know what school I'll be working at, but to my knowledge most TFA teachers find work at a school in North Miami-Dade (in neighborhoods that suffer from poverty/lack of resources).

Right now, I'm generally interested in Aventura, Miami Beach, North Bay Village, and Midtown as possible destinations.

My question, however, is this: How long is the process of securing an apartment in Miami? We're basically in April now, but I don't plan to start living in an apartment til early July and I plan to make a visit at the end of May to tour neighborhoods and possible apartments.

Am I on the right track? Do I need to start securing housing now? How long does it take to process paperwork/applications/etc? And is my "end of May" visit a good time to reasonably find an apartment for July?

Just wanted to throw the question out there, see what I can find out.

Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated.

[iShotFirst]

Similar situation, starting a job in August and just went down in March to check it out. I had emailed realtors about when I should start looking, etc, this was one of the responses:

"Yes, March is way too early to look for a rental here. Owners will not hold a unit past 30 days and many past two weeks. You need to be about 30 days out to start looking."

I am unable to get there during that time, so this was my solution: rent a vacation home for the month of august (low season in august I think, vacation owners willing to take a lot less money, found a property on vrbo.com - same property we rented for a week in march and same price for a month in august)

Renting the home makes it easy to just arrive and start looking rather than going down, paying for hotel, etc. while frantically searching for an apartment.

[LaughCruz]

ishot,

That's a great idea, and a good piece of advice. I did not think to rent temporary housing for a month, since I've been so concerned with having an apartment ready as soon as I get there in July.

I hope you're able to find a great spot for yourself!

[iShotFirst]

Thanks, good luck to you too!