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To make a long story short: I ended my rental lease late last year after staying at the same apartment complex for nearly 15 years. The reason for not signing a new agreement was because the rent rate went way up and the management's service went way down (maintenance requests ignored, garbage all over the parking lot and countless disturbances from other neighbors that security patrol failed to address.)
In the course of the last twelve months, I've been through two live-in landlord roommates: the first was an alcoholic hoarder (first fact wasn't obvious upon move-in) and the current, second - and soon to be former - homeowner roommate decided that our work schedules weren't compatible (first shift vs. graveyard) and is giving me until Jan 1, 2020 to find a new abode.
I'm now in the process of finding another place, but CraigsList roommate posts are either very selective (e.g. "female only", "must adhere to a vegan lifestyle", "NO pets allowed", "must be 420 friendly", etc) or outright scam and spam.
What other venues can I utilize in my search besides Craigslist or the myriad of "ghost town" roommate apps? In the event nothing works out by January, what are my options as an interim arrangement? I'm employed and FAR from any financial bind, but don't want to find myself living out of my car.
Not sure I can mention this site (a competitor to City-Data, maybe???), but in my area I've noticed people asking for rental recommendations on Nextdoor. And sometimes landlords list available rentals (back house, whole house, etc.) on that website, too. Hope that helps!
Thanks. Visited the website and started a free profile, but it requires a mail-in "postcard" to prove residence. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I get verified in time.
I should probably point out that finding my own place is out of the question; available apartments and houses are sparse and require income levels beyond my pay threshold.
The irony is that I have MORE than enough saved to satisfy base rent for a 6 - even 12 - month lease. But so far, no leasing manager I've talked to will accept that.
I looked at a studio apartment last week for just under a thousand, not including pet insurance, vaccine records, etc (which is also ironic: my pet is an old, lifelong indoor cat who sleeps most of the day and unlikely to cause damage or danger.) The kitchen appliances in the unit looked older than I was, and while I was waiting to fill out an application, at least two other tenants complained to the office of unanswered repairs.
Hard to say what would be the lesser of two evils in my situation.
I know roommates.com is legit, not sure about the others. But of course with any of them, you need to do your own due diligence.
Aside from Nextdoor, you could look to see if there is a facebook group for any specific neighborhoods you are interested in. There are several where I live, and I often see posts of people offering or asking for rooms for rent.
I agree with the mobile home/RV park idea. You could invest in a small rv or 5th wheel and park it or outright buy a mobile home.
When I was investigating that idea, which I might still do after I've traveled a while, lot rent was under $400 in the outside Phoenix area. Through in utilities and you're still under $500.
It's something you could research and think about.
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