How does one find a rental house in Pittsburgh? (New Kensington: for sale, real estate market) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

RoughCollie · 04-17-2009, 06:28 PM

I know about Craigslist, how to read the classified section of the paper, and how to research this online.

What else can I do? Do rental agents handle this sort of thing? Do they charge a full months' rent for their services, like they do in Boston?

If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know! We are coming to Pittsburgh next week to look for a house and office space.

Thank you,
RC

Hopes · 04-17-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

What else can I do?

Drive around areas you like and look for "rent" signs in the yards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

Do rental agents handle this sort of thing?

Some do. They are neighborhood specific. An agent in one area will have listings in that specific area. Also, they tend to management rentals for owners who live out of town. Many owners who live in town manage properties on their own. That's why it's always a good thing to look for "rent" signs. Many landlords don't publish their properties.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

Do they charge a full months' rent for their services, like they do in Boston?

No, their fee is built into the monthly rental price.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know! We are coming to Pittsburgh next week to look for a house and office space.

I'll keep my eye out for 'rent' signs. I will mostly be in the northern suburbs over the next week though. Let me know if you'd like me to keep an eye out.

BrianTH · 04-17-2009, 08:14 PM

Speaking from personal experience (we rented a house we had originally planned on selling last year), there has been a recent explosion in Pittsburgh of real estate agencies handling whole house rentals, as lots of potential sellers and buyers are both looking to rent as they wait for hard information on where the Pittsburgh real estate market is heading. As an aside, logic dictates that one side or the other (sellers or buyers) must be betting the wrong way on this, but nobody knows who!

Anyway, the market standard seems to be to charge the landlords, not the tenants, a one-month fee for brokering a rental. Economic theory suggests in ordinary times at least a good chunk of this fee should end up being incorporated into your rent, but this is a renter's market, so I don't see much downside in at least contacting some of the main real estate agencies in the areas you are looking and asking for someone handling rentals. If you want a specific name, feel free to shoot me a message and I will let you know the agent we used to rent out our house (who since last fall has suddenly found herself doing lots of this).

Hopes · 04-17-2009, 08:19 PM

I wouldn't let a real estate agent know you're coming from Boston. They might think you'll pay more.

BrianTH · 04-17-2009, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hopes

I wouldn't let a real estate agent know you're coming from Boston. They might think you'll pay more.

At a minimum, it is important to understand that if they are being paid one month's commission by the landlord, then their marginal incentive is to get you signed up for more rent, not less.

That said, I think the dominant incentive these days is to get something done quick. Real estate agents are generally suffering deeply from the lack of sales, and brokering these rentals are a way to pay the bills as they try to wait it out. Accordingly, my suggestion would just be to do your own rental assessments to the extent you can (e.g., using craigslist), and be fully prepared to walk away if you think someone is asking for an unreasonable rent. I think once the real estate agent gets that sense, they will likely do what they can to get you into one of their listings fast, as opposed to squeezing the last dollar out of you.

lcatchpo · 04-18-2009, 12:01 PM

Does anyone know of any apartments or rentals within a 40 minutes drive to RIDC park? My credit is not so hot since I have a foreclosure. I used to have a 770 score before I rented out my old house to move to California, tenants didn't pay rent, I couldn't pay the mortgage without their money and they left 2 grand in unpaid utility bills along with severe damage to the property. It was already in negative equity. I was lucky enough to get my old job back but now have nowhere to live. I'd be more than happy to pay months in advance, extra deposit, whatever it takes. Hope someone can help. Thanks.

Hopes · 04-18-2009, 12:07 PM

You could definitely find something in Natrona Heights, New Kensington, or Lower Burrel. All of those areas are within 40 minutes of RIDC (near Fox Chapel, right?). There are tons of rental units in those areas. I guarantee you that a large portion of their tenants have bad credit too. Look into West Deer if you're interested in something more rural.

RoughCollie · 04-18-2009, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

At a minimum, it is important to understand that if they are being paid one month's commission by the landlord, then their marginal incentive is to get you signed up for more rent, not less.

That said, I think the dominant incentive these days is to get something done quick. Real estate agents are generally suffering deeply from the lack of sales, and brokering these rentals are a way to pay the bills as they try to wait it out. Accordingly, my suggestion would just be to do your own rental assessments to the extent you can (e.g., using craigslist), and be fully prepared to walk away if you think someone is asking for an unreasonable rent. I think once the real estate agent gets that sense, they will likely do what they can to get you into one of their listings fast, as opposed to squeezing the last dollar out of you.

Very good advice, thank you.

One thing I am doing is checking out all the rental houses on zillow. Today I found a house that rents for $1K -- but the property taxes on it are the same. The house's value range is $445K - $626K, and it was purchased in 1999 for $450K.

Next thing I expect to get is an email from Nigeria. This has already happened on one of my house inquiries. The purported owner now lives in Nigeria and he will mail me the keys after I send him a $700, refundable, deposit, so I can go look at the place.

Hopes · 04-18-2009, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

One thing I am doing is checking out all the rental houses on zillow. Today I found a house that rents for $1K -- but the property taxes on it are the same. The house's value range is $445K - $626K, and it was purchased in 1999 for $450K.

Next thing I expect to get is an email from Nigeria. This has already happened on one of my house inquiries. The purported owner now lives in Nigeria and he will mail me the keys after I send him a $700, refundable, deposit, so I can go look at the place.

Amazing! Nigerians must think Americans are stupid. They wouldn't be doing these scams if people weren't falling for their scams.

RoughCollie · 04-18-2009, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hopes

Amazing! Nigerians must think Americans are stupid. They wouldn't be doing these scams if people weren't falling for their scams.

Unfortunately, I was so mad that I instantly deleted the email. I did find the house for sale and contacted the listing agent about the matter, and I reported it to Craigslist.

That house was listed as being for rent in many places on the internet -- same street address each time, same pictures (lifted from the real estate agent's website), different towns.

A person would have to be really desperate and stupid to send $700 to Nigeria in exchange for house keys so they could look at a house.

I wish I hadn't been hasty in deleting the email. I could have strung the person along for quite awhile and had fun doing it, while reporting them to the FBI at the same time.