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Did any of y'all rent a home in Boise sight unseen when you relocated? We are moving up in June/July from the Austin area. We are pretty familiar with Boise and know the parts of town we are most interested in....we aren't really the cookie cutter house types. We would love to find a home in the city proper with 3 bedrooms plus some sort of room to use as an office (we are self-employed so at least no worries about the employment woes everyone talks about,) in an established, treed neighborhood. I have found tons on Craigslist that "look great" on the screen....but it scares me to commit to a home I haven't step foot in. We also have two daughters so safety of the neighborhood is important to us as well. Any suggestions?
As a landlord in Boise, I can tell you that the rental market for houses/plexes is VERY good right now for landlords, not as good for tenants. Rents are up this year, and you are likely not going to find anyone willing to "hold" a unit for you unless you are willing to pay rent during the hold time.
I'm doing 3 leases this week, which will take us back to 1 vacancy in nearly 100 units.
Also, we won't rent to someone who we haven't met (including pets). So if you haven't been up to see the property, we haven't met you, and we wouldn't rent to you. This is for two reasons. First, too much business conducted purely by email turns out to be scammers. And second, invariably, if we don't meet you first, you get here and reek of cigarrette smoke, or your "mix" dog turns out to be full blood rottweiler, or some other thing that we could have screened out.
So if you are looking to move in June or July, and you aren't intending to pay rent on a place you haven't moved into for the next 2 months, you are probably looking too early. I will say that we have a record number of rentals turning over in June/July this year, for some reason, so shoot me a PM about 30 days before you are heading up and I can tell you what we have available.
I moved here for work and rented a place sight unseen, in fact I never had stepped foot into SW Idaho until I moved here. I suggest you just find a safe neighborhood and try and get into a short lease so you can move if necessary. I'd definitely stay in Boise and avoid the suburbs if you want an established neighborhood without the cookie cutters. Check out the Ada County Sheriff website for crime mapping and sex offender listings.
Lacerta is right about it being a landlord's market so be prepared.
Thanks Lacerta, I will PM you when we get closer. Maybe we will just plan on staying in an extended stay hotel for a week or so when we arrive so we can look.
Cost about the same rate as one month rent in a house. This will give you time to look around and find someplace you really like rather then jump into some place and discover something you don't like or another area you prefer. Takes some of the stress/pressure off when you are moving and that is a stressful event already.
Either way you do it, that is a very good idea if you can make it work. The downside is you either have to move twice or keep your stuff in a truck for a few days.
Either that or make a trip up a week or two ahead of time and lock something up. The last week and first week of the month is when we do most of our showings and leases, as people move out and we get repairs done. The 2nd and 3rd weeks of the month are much slower, as there are few move outs those weeks. I would guess that would be true of any company that has quite a few (non-apartment) rentals.
Pink Carriage House looks amazing, that would be perfect! Thank you all so much, I appreciate the help, we are so looking forward to coming home to Idaho.
I would never recommend renting something, with a lease, sight unseen.. you don't want to get in a contract with something you haven't checked out first.
There are a lot of "extended stay" places in Boise that have kitchens and stuff that you can live in while searching for the right rental.
That's what I'm going to do when I relocate, I'm going to get a room somewhere while I check out rentals.
Again this is just a suggestion, it's a matter of preference.
I'd never buy a used car online, but I know people that have done it and been happy with it.
I concur with the previous post, doing it sight unseen is a bad idea all around. You definitely should check out an extended stay place while you find what you are looking for.
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