Alternatives to Craig's List for finding housing (Austin: real estate, apartment complexes)

[passionatearts]

I currently rent a 1-bedroom garage apartment in Central Austin and am looking to upgrade to renting a 2-bedroom house or duplex in Central Austin.

I don't know if any of you have tried looking for housing on the Austin Craig's List board, but it's overloaded with junk listings from apartment complexes and relocating services. I don't want to live in an apartment complex, and unfortunately, Craig's List doesn't have an easy way to filter search results so that I can just see listings for houses and duplexes.

So, I'm looking for an alternative to using Craig's List to find my housing. Does anyone have any web site suggestions? I would prefer to start by looking on a web site and only start driving around my target neighborhoods once I've exhausted the possibilities on the Internet.

[CATXTransplant]

why don't you just use a Realtor? They can search the mLS for you. It doesn't cost you anything.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by CATXTransplant

why don't you just use a Realtor? They can search the mLS for you. It doesn't cost you anything.

While I used a realtor to find our rental house here and was glad I did because we were only here for a couple of days to find a place, there is a cost. While the landlord pays a fee the listing agent who then splits that fee with the renter's agent, the landlord will charge a higher rent as a result so we end up paying indirectly. Additionally, not all landlords hire listing agents so one would end up missing out on some opportunities because they are not in the MLS.

[QuietRiot]

Be your own agent... drive around the area where you know you can afford the rent, look for the "for lease" signs, for small house or one with a nice garage apartment behind it... drive up and down each street, like a grid... have a notebook with you and write down the address, what it looks like and the phone number to call... then you call and ask about the available unit and go see it. and drive the area every day, because one day a sign is up for a duplex or garage apartment and the next day, it's gone.

[mudbug]

Austin Real Estate | AustinHomeSearch | Austin Realtors | Austin TX Real Estate
Has rentals

[mudbug]

austinhomesearch.com

[justanothercalifornian]

I second austinhomesearch.com. That's where I found my duplex and it was great. Lots of rentals popping up right now. Best of luck

[TheCardinal]

Isn't austinhomesearch.com just for MLS listings? Or can anyone put a listing on it? How much does it cost for a listing?

I rent out a garage apartment and I've listed it on craigslist in the past. But like the original poster pointed out, craigslist has been overrun with brokers and apartment listings and is mostly useless now. I've cherry-picked a few tenants from the "housing wanted" section and that's worked out okay, but it would seem to be a pretty hit-or-miss strategy long-term. Now I mostly go with referrals and word-of-mouth, but that limits my candidate pool sometimes.

I prefer to be pretty discreet so I rarely use a sign in the front yard, so a web listing is my preferred source. Is austinhomesearch.com the way to go?

[passionatearts]

Originally Posted by TheCardinal

But like the original poster pointed out, craigslist has been overrun with brokers and apartment listings and is mostly useless now.

I really wish Craig's List would do something to crack down on the rampant abuse going on in the housing board. I see the same junky listings posted on Craig's List several times in a week (sometimes even several times in a day!). Craig's List supposedly limits the number of times you can post a single ad, but it's really easy to find a way around the restriction.

AustinHomeSearch.com looks like a good site. I'll check it out. Thanks. Any more suggestions?

[CATXTransplant]

Yes, AustinHomeSearch is a direct feed from the MLS. You don't pay more for a rental that is listed, the owner just gets less. DO you think if an owner can get $1200 for his home if it's listed, and he opts to do it himself, he's going to lower the price? NO, he's going to decide to do it that way because he wants to save that money, not pass it on to the tenants.