Moving to Austin (area, apts, etc) (West, Howe: apartments, lease, lofts)

[Goride]

Hi, I'm moving to Austin.

Before I start, I have searched through this forum and several other sites and have found quite a bit of information. However, my situation is a little different, and was hoping to gain some info a little more tailored to my needs.

I am 25, single, and male. I recently graduated and found a pretty good job (60k/yr) and will need to relocate to the Austin (I am from Michigan). 60% of my job can be done from home over the internet, the rest I will have to travel (drive/fly) all over TX to the various sites. So there is no place I will need to communte daily in Austin, but I can't be too far away from the airport (but, obviously I don't need to be right next to it)

Constraint: I HAVE to be able to move in by the 28th of this month, which is like two weeks. I also have poor credit, due to being extremely poor while going through college.

However, now that I have this job spending $1000 (give or take) shouldn't be a problem.

I would like to be in a more urban area as I've always lived in a more rural area, I'd like the city. I'd like the ability to walk to a couple different bars and coffee shops. Since I can do a lot of work from "home" i figured i could walk down to a coffee shop with wifi and do it there. Plus, any other shops or things I could walk to would be great. I heard about a wednesday farmer's market and whole foods store, I suppose I could just drive to these places, but walking would be nice too.

I'd like to try and find a place where it would be easy to meet new people, since I'm coming down here alone. I'm just past the college age, but still where I like to go out and have fun.

Any suggestions of places I should look into? Any further clarifications on things? Is it possible to even find a place with this short of notice and not the best credit history?

[Goride]

I found a place called Gables West Ave.

That seemed to be in the right location with some other perks, for not too much.

But, I also read a few bad reviews of them. Not to mention that they are full.

[AustinTraveler]

I don't know anything about the apartments themselves but that would be a great location for you. Why don't you enlist the help of a free apartment finder and tell them exactly what you're looking for. One that has been recommended here before is Austin Pictures, Info & Maps + No Registration, Austin Lofts & Austin Apartments.

[austinonline1]

This is probably too late to be very helpful but I would say a couple of things:
- I second the recommendation on Austin Cool (Jessica there is great); also Igloo Hunters (512-637-5208 ext 1 for Grover) - they were very helpful in my search
- I found a place in less than a week when I came down to search
- if there are any problems with your credit you'll probably just have to put down a bigger deposit
- if you have to sign a lease in a hurry because you're rushed, if you can get a six month lease that will give you time to find a place you really like and that time will go by quickly if you're not happy with the place

Good luck!

[dawnrae]

I second the recommendation of Austin Cool. Jessica was very helpful. We found an apartment in our price range within an hour of meeting her.

[tsterling]

How about Craig's List? http://www.craigslist.com

[ramones85]

When I was apartment searching, it was difficult because I have credit of the less-than-good. Our realtor suggested we could offer the landlord three months rent up front or something and he'd probably go for it. We went a different route, but he seemed confident in offering rent up front getting us past the bad credit point. Good luck!