Renting in Smyrna, or close to Dover (Camden: real estate market, rentals)

[lucita52]

Hello,

I'm in Germany and moving to DE for work reasons (work in Dover). I have read some of the other posts in the forum but don't see anything about renting. Since I like to get to know the area well before deciding on buying, I want to rent first for 6 months or so. I will get to DE November 9 and have about a week to find a rental. Do any of you know of a good agent that could help me with this? My preference would be to live in Smyrna, but since I'll be working in Dover, anything withing easy commute would work. Also, if anyone knows of a good rental, I would appreciate a tip (live alone, need 2 or 3 bedrooms. Want car garage).

Thanks!

lucita

[lash5107]

My husband and I just moved to Dover from Nebraska in August. We wanted to rent also. There is a thread that I posted called "Dover Neighborhoods?" that we discussed rentals a lot. The thread is probably on page 2 or 3 by now.

In a nutshell, doverpost.com was where we found our rental house, with a private landlord. We had trouble with agents, as they didn't seem very helpful with rentals. Since we were moving from Nebraska, we weren't able to come to the area to look and had to do everything by emails. Some agents refused to send pictures, saying it was against company policy. Another said that we had to visit in person for them to rent to us. So we had better luck and got more information from the private landlords that listed on doverpost.com and also newszap.com

Again, read the "Dover Neighborhoods?" thread through. Good luck!

LA

[lucita52]

Thanks LA. I'll keep that in mind. I'm also cnsidering lease to own options.

lucita

[rdlr]

Lucita,
Rentals are in short supply around the Dover area, due to Wesley College, Delaware State University and Dover Air Force Base personnel. I saw a rental the other day for $900, and it was a tiny little 2 bedroom bungalow. I don't know how much you're willing to pay, but if you do find one, expect to pay big. Some decent townhouses are renting for $1,300 -$1,500/month up, and I saw a larger home renting for close to $2,200/month. Lease/purchases may be easier to find these days, due to the current real estate market, but they are not advertised often.

[maryCh]

We too recently moved here from out of state (NC), and were looking for a rental. We complicated our situation by targeting a specific school district because of our son with autism.

We were able to find a house through the Dover Post (online version), so I would have to second LASH's advise. Since you will be in the area tomorrow, you may want to get a hotel room in Dover for the weekend and search that way.

Do you have transportation? When we were looking over the summer, I drove in from NC with our boys, and we did the hotel thing for a few days at a time. It got expensive, but finally came to fruition!

What we found, before moving here and since, is you may find more driving around than catching listings in the newspaper. Not sure if you are "set" on Smyrna, but you will find most of Dover and south with be easily commutable to Dover. Keep Camden in mind... in fact, there are 2 properties I can think of right now with "for rent" signs in the front yard right in Camden. If you want phone numbers just send me a direct message.

If you are seriously considering rent to own (which would not be a bad idea, as Delly mentioned rent is as much and more than some mortgage payments, given the area), I can recommend a real estate agent to help you search. Our experience regarding strictly rentals and agents, was that most agencies did not have a "rental" department unless they did some major property management.

As luck has it, our current landlord is a manager for the Dover branch of a large mortgage company. So we have our "connection" for next year when we are in a better position to buy. Again, direct message me if you want more information. I am sure he would be happy to do business with you, and I would highly recommend him.

Good luck and safe traveling!

Mary