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So how do you recommend getting a place to rent before you move, when you have no friends or family in that area and can't afford to go see it first yourself?
I see a bigger issue here.
There isn't a place in the US that you can't go on an overnight for $750, maybe $1500 max. Round trip for 1 person and a cheap hotel. You can uber to 1 or 2 apartment complexes. Small price to pay to ensure you're making the right decision.
Just out of curiosity - where are the two cities you're moving between? Not drivable?
So how do you recommend getting a place to rent before you move, when you have no friends or family in that area and can't afford to go see it first yourself?
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I did so when I moved to New Orleans. Everything worked out well then.
But I also did it when I moved to Sydney and got taken for $800, which was a poor law student at the time was a fortune. As a result, I was forced to live in a hostel until my student loans disbursed for the semester.
Do I recommend it? No, not even if you have family and friends who can scope out a place for you as their tastes may be different from yours. Still, sometimes circumstances require you to do so.
There are various ways to decrease the risk of being a victim of fraud (e.g. using a reputable agency/website/etc. to find a place), but folks who can't afford to travel down beforehand often may not be able to afford the services provided by reputable websites and agencies.
Since this topic has come up again, I suppose that shows it is still relevant.
As a tenant I would not take the risk. The cost of a quick cheap trip vs a full year of over-paying for a crummy apartment in a bad neighborhood? It shouldn't even be a question.
If money is tight, which it must be if the cost of a quick trip is a budget breaker, then the tenant has to be looking for cheap rent, and at the cheap rent level, one must be extra careful because a lot of cheap places are cheap for a reason that makes them an undesirable place to live. Not all of them, but you must go and look at the apartment and at the neighborhood before you can tell which is which.
I'm landlord and I won't rent to anyone sight unseen. I only want tenants who are happy with my rental and no one knows whether or not they will be happy if they have never seen it. I also want tenants who will stay, not tenants who move in just long enough to find something they like better. I know a lot of landlords who will not rent sight unseen.So getting a good place is much more difficult if you don't go in person.
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