Moving to NOVA - House hunting trip - 1st impressions

[onevthoki]

I would also recommend that you check out militarybyowner.com. Many military families rent out, and they tend to keep their homes in very good shape!

[kevinm]

Contact a Realtor. They will find you a rental that is not a dump. It will cost you nothing. The fee is paid by the owner of the rental.

[pyl]

The tips on this site are pretty helpful.
A few other questions:
1) Are tenants expected to pay HOA fees?
2) What are the customary arrangements for repairs? Where I live now (out of state), the owner pays for all repairs. On a recent trip to NoVA, a realtor I spoke with tried to interest me in a lease that stipulated all repairs have a $250 deductible. Seemed like a rip-off, so I dropped that realtor in a hurry.
3) Are there other sites with rental listings that you can recommend?

Also, impressions from my recent trip: town homes along route 1 in Woodbridge seemed pretty decrepit, but west of 95 in Montclair/ Dale City seemed to be in great shape, newer, and much more expensive. Many were begging for buyers and renters though. Wondering what the foreclosure situation is in that area.

So many places to look at and choose from, seems a bit overwhelming and am still getting oriented. Thanks for the tips in response to this and my earlier postings.

[DavidS827]

Originally Posted by pyl

The tips on this site are pretty helpful.
A few other questions:
1) Are tenants expected to pay HOA fees?
2) What are the customary arrangements for repairs? Where I live now (out of state), the owner pays for all repairs. On a recent trip to NoVA, a realtor I spoke with tried to interest me in a lease that stipulated all repairs have a $250 deductible. Seemed like a rip-off, so I dropped that realtor in a hurry.
3) Are there other sites with rental listings that you can recommend?

Also, impressions from my recent trip: town homes along route 1 in Woodbridge seemed pretty decrepit, but west of 95 in Montclair/ Dale City seemed to be in great shape, newer, and much more expensive. Many were begging for buyers and renters though. Wondering what the foreclosure situation is in that area.

So many places to look at and choose from, seems a bit overwhelming and am still getting oriented. Thanks for the tips in response to this and my earlier postings.

A few other questions:
1) Are tenants expected to pay HOA fees?
Depends on the landlord. Generally speaking though, it will be included in your rent.
2) What are the customary arrangements for repairs? Where I live now (out of state), the owner pays for all repairs. On a recent trip to NoVA, a realtor I spoke with tried to interest me in a lease that stipulated all repairs have a $250 deductible. Seemed like a rip-off, so I dropped that realtor in a hurry.
Unless you break it, your landlord should pay to have it repaired.
3) Are there other sites with rental listings that you can recommend?
www.homesdatabse.com It is tied to the same database that Realtors use and is updated nightly.

Also, impressions from my recent trip: town homes along route 1 in Woodbridge seemed pretty decrepit, but west of 95 in Montclair/ Dale City seemed to be in great shape, newer, and much more expensive. Many were begging for buyers and renters though. Wondering what the foreclosure situation is in that area.

The foreclosure problem on the east/south side of PW county is pretty bad.