Apartment Search Questions (Boston, Brookline, Holden: real estate, renters, condo)

[nar09]

Hi. I am moving to Boston from Brooklyn and am very confused about how to rent in Boston. In Brooklyn there are hundreds of real estate agencies in a neighborhood and you either find them online first, or walk into them in the preferred neighborhood. Also the apartment search is very month to month. Boston is different but I can't figure out how. Waiting until a month before I move feels like a bad idea. Craigslist is useless because it is the same neighborhoods over and over and everything looks like a dorm room. Boston.com doesn't have too much variety but it is better. I would like to move in June or July. Am I looking to early even though everything I see is available for 9/1?
All the Boston real estate agencies online are huge companies that rent for the entire city versus for the neighborhoods. Also a lot of the rentals seem geared towards students, which is fine, but where do the Bostonians look for rentals?
Any advice for moving with a dog? It seems to be harder with a dog.
I will be attending Mass Art for grad school which is in one of three neighborhoods, Mission Hill, Back Bay or Longwood. I can't figure out which one it is is. Anyone?
My final confusion- I would like to live close enough that my commute is reasonable, a walk + a train/bus ride to school. Jamaica Plain seems like a good fit for me. Biking is also possible if it means cutting a 30 minute train ride for a 5-10 minute bike ride. What are some neighborhoods in Brookline that I might consider? I am looking for a quiet, pet friendly neighborhood. Do you have recommendations for rental agencies to visit?
I sound confused. Hope someone can help clear this up for me Thanks!

[holden125]

OK, first, the school is basically on the border where Mission Hill meets the Longwood Medical Area. It's near, but not in, the Back Bay.

I don't know about rental agencies, which was the main thrust of your post, but I've had perfectly fine luck with craigslist. Some of those citywide brokers have multiple offices. You can look up some brokers on craigslist and call the office nearest where you want to live.

I think you are probably right that Boston rentals tend to go a bit more ahead of time than NYC, where it's a bang-bang transaction shortly before moving in. You might well find June or July rentals now, but the reason so many say 9/1 now is that many rentals right in Boston, particularly in heavy student areas like Mission Hill, runs on a 9/1 lease.

Short of Mission Hill itself (which is heavy undergrad and gets noisy, but you may not mind) JP may be the best fit. You can take the 39 bus to the Green Line E, or (more likely) take the bus all the way. From the heart of JP it's 15 mins or so. You could ride a bike up Centre to S. Huntington (or along the J-way path) to Huntington, but the last part will be city biking (which you might be used to to) and you'd have to see if you can park the bike safely at school (and at home). It probably wouldn't be much faster than the bus.

In Brookline, there is no direct T access since your school is on the E line. You could check out Brookline Village and walk under the Jamaicaway overpass to the corner of Huntington and S. Huntington for the 39 bus. Or look for anything along the 66 bus on Harvard St, which goes near the school. Or take the Green Line D to Longwood and walk a bit from there. Brookline tends to be more expensive but any of those places would be fine (except the Brookline Hills stop on the D is a very nice, but more suburban, neighborhood).

It will definitely be harder with a dog. A friend moving a bit west of Boston had many, many good choices on craigslist but once he checked the box for dog, he had about 10 left.

[nar09]

Thanks so much Holden. Your response has made me feel so much more confident and ready to tackle this move. I will head up to Boston this week to take a look at some of these neighborhoods.

[kmzaxa]

I can help with one part - rentals on average are on a 30 to 60 day notice. June listings are competitive; July is limited inventory as it's not really a turnover month. As far as Jamaica Plain and Brookline, you'll want to find an office in those neighborhoods respectivitely. Offices that are in Boston ( ie Back bay/South end) may have some listings in these neighborhoods, but not a full inventory.. It's tought with a dog - a lot of condo associations blocks renters from having pets. As frustrating as Craigslist can be, it is a good source for initial searching.