Need rural house to rent in Beckley/Hinton area (Oak Hill: hardwood floors, for sale)

[MountainBound]

Hi -

I know it's a long shot to think someone here might actually have a solid lead, but I thought I'd try it anyway. We're about due for some good luck for a change!

My husband and I are relocating to West Virginia and are currently here exploring the area, using Beckley as a hub. We brought $1400 in cash...everything we could scrape together for initial rent and deposits. (We're both disabled and living strictly on Social Security Disability Income.) My husband was carrying the money in a ziploc bag in his high top work boot for security. Two nights ago when he took off his boots, the money wasn't there. He hadn't actually seen it since putting on his boots at our campsite that morning, and we'd stopped at so many places during the day we knew it would be unlikely we'd find it. We pulled apart our camping gear and everything in the car - no luck. I put together a list of everywhere we'd stopped, and that night and the next day we called and retraced our steps to look for it - unsuccessfully, of course. I'm sure someone else must have found it and who could blame them for keeping it; even if they'd wanted to return it, in many of the places they'd have had no idea how to find the person who lost it. But we left our contact information at each location and at all the police departments of the towns we'd been in, though we don't really expect to see it again. (We were camping at Babcock State Park, then made stops in Lookout, Fayetteville, Oak Hill, and Beckley.)

Anyway, that's why I'm hoping our luck might change and I'm giving this a try.

We love the mountains - we lived in the Ozarks of NW Arkansas and then the Alleghenies in north central Pennsylvania before moving back to the Philadelphia area to be with my aging parents. They are selling their house soon and looking for a more affordable area that's not too far from other family up north so we decided to explore West Virginia, hoping they'll join us here. (And we're totally in love with it here!)

For now, my husband and I need to find something that's available within the next 6 to 8 weeks and we can't afford to buy. An apartment won't work and we can only afford a house that rents for about $400 to $450 per month max (plus utilities). I've been active in animal rescue for the past 10 years and we have a dog and several cats (strictly indoor and very well behaved!), so the place has to be pet friendly. We really want to live in the country - the more remote the better! - but need to be within about an hour's travel time of Beckley, primarily for medical care, etc.

We've found that the Register-Herald has almost nothing as far as homes for rent. The weekly Mountain Trader had lots of possibilities and we looked at 4 or 5 of them, but none were rural enough. (Most were in the Oak Hill area, which is a bit too crowded.)

So far, we've been looking to the north of Beckley - up to the Fayetteville area - and circling around to the east. Today we took a gorgeous drive down Route 41 (and some of the really remote, unpaved mountain roads) from Babcock State Park, and we're staying in Beckley again tonight. Tomorrow we're heading south to explore Hinton and the towns along the way. We've been looking for "For Rent" signs everywhere we go but haven't seen anything yet. We've also been taking down Realtor information for a few houses that were for sale up on the mountain roads.

I saw someone's suggestion on this forum about emailing realtors in the area, and that's what I'm getting ready to do. I haven't posted here before but have read lots and gotten tons of helpful information!

Sorry to be so long winded...I promise to be more concise in future posts.

Thanks for any leads or suggestions!

Terry

P.S. - If you're in the area and happen to find 14 $100 bills in a plastic ziploc bag...we're offering a reward!

[FlipperX]

Im sure the government will keep taking care of ya. Maybe you should inform them as to what happened. How in the heck are you gonna find anything decent for only 400 a month? What exactly do you want to do? If you are disabled then how are you going to be able to live in such remote locations as you want to?

[citygrl707]

you need to check the newspapers, Theres alot in there for your price range i have been looking myslef. You need to get the trading journal or the bluefield daily telegraph. I found some for 275.00 a month and up.

[MountainBound]

Originally Posted by citygrl707

you need to check the newspapers, Theres alot in there for your price range i have been looking myslef. You need to get the trading journal or the bluefield daily telegraph. I found some for 275.00 a month and up.

Thanks CityGrl,

We've been checking the Mountain Trader and all the other small local papers where it's free to advertise. We have seen quite a lot of houses for $400 and under but most of them won't allow pets. (We have a dog and 3 cats that are part of the family, so allowing pets is a must.) We did find one that seems pretty nice from the outside and the landlord is fine with our pets, but the current tenant's lease isn't up tilll the end of this month. The landlord is going to call us when the house is empty so we can take a look again and see if we want it.

In the meantime, we'll keep looking. Thanks again for your support.

MountainBound

[LuLu108]

MountainBound,

I am sorry for your loss! I hope someone comes forward with your money! Start asking around at the stores and whatnot as you stop around in that area if they know of anyone renting a place. Sometimes people don't advertise it, they just put a for rent sign out in the yard. Some of the locals may have seen places like this. Do you have any family at all in WV that you can stay with for a little while so you can save more money before you rent a place?
God Bless you and best wishes!
~Lulu

[WestVirginiaGirl]

You may really want to try hard in Hinton. Rent there isn't high at all. There is also a lot of places for rent.. There is actually a couple of different people who do nothing but own rental companies.. Try Marylynn Rentals (304) 466-4036. Andrew Rentals (304) 466-6700 or Dr. Lilly (304) 466-3639. I hope that information will help

[WestVirginiaGirl]

Also Hinton has a weekly paper that comes out on Tuesdays that have a lot of rentals in there... Good Luck!!

[g_massie]

Marylynn, Andrew, and Dr. Lilly are great and they know how to find what you want. I defintely would and do recommend them

[WV_hillbilly]

I see it's been awhile since you posted on here, but I may have an answer to your problem if you havn't solved it yet. I have a small farm in the country with a decent house that I may rent to someone that would REALLY TAKE CARE of it. If by chance you are still looking, email me at lilstarkicker@aol.com.

[beverlysmithscott]

I lived in a house in Princeton WV for 5 years and the rent was 300.00 per month and that included water, sewer, trash, and a boy to mow my grass once a week as the house sat in the middle of four city lots. It was a nice place with hardwood floors and two bedrooms, so there are places to be had you just have to keep on looking. Get some local newspapers and maybe try a listing on Craigs list that way you can say what you want and they can contact you if they meet your needs.