Where to look for rentals owned by locals, not corporations based elsewhere? (Huntsville: apartments)

[FreewayVariety]

Does anyone know of a good way to find listings from independent/local landlords? My sister is looking for a 2BR or 3BR in or around Huntsville, but having no luck finding options that aren't owned by Conrex or other corporations.

Complicating matters, she makes a living as a novelist (a pretty darn successful, New York Times bestselling novelist! yes I am proud of her ), which means she doesn't get W-2s. An independent landlord who met her might be willing to look at her bank balance / 1099-MISC (and maybe a stack of her published books, ha!) to be certain she was a good bet.

Where I live, there are bulletin boards in the local food co-op and university library where you can find listings from independent landlords. There are also Facebook groups for people looking for tenants. I suggested she go look at the coffee shops near the university but she said she hadn't seen anything like that. Does anyone know of any places she might look, or is she stuck sending a thousand emails via Zillow and Craigslist?

(Also, although she dismissed my concerns, I'm still gonna play the older sister and ask: any areas she should definitely avoid when considering apartments or houses?)

[johnsonkk]

Originally Posted by FreewayVariety

Does anyone know of a good way to find listings from independent/local landlords? My sister is looking for a 2BR or 3BR in or around Huntsville, but having no luck finding options that aren't owned by Conrex or other corporations.

Complicating matters, she makes a living as a novelist (a pretty darn successful, New York Times bestselling novelist! yes I am proud of her ), which means she doesn't get W-2s. An independent landlord who met her might be willing to look at her bank balance / 1099-MISC (and maybe a stack of her published books, ha!) to be certain she was a good bet.

Where I live, there are bulletin boards in the local food co-op and university library where you can find listings from independent landlords. There are also Facebook groups for people looking for tenants. I suggested she go look at the coffee shops near the university but she said she hadn't seen anything like that. Does anyone know of any places she might look, or is she stuck sending a thousand emails via Zillow and Craigslist?

(Also, although she dismissed my concerns, I'm still gonna play the older sister and ask: any areas she should definitely avoid when considering apartments or houses?)

There are local “Facebook marketplace” groups that have categories for searching apartments or houses to rent, most of which are not corporations. There are three or four public groups (for Huntsville area) that anyone can request to get into (the group) on Facebook. From there, there are categories for housing rentals.

Of the groups, one focuses on Athens and Huntsville. Another northern Alabama. Another is Fayetteville area (southern Tennessee directly north of Huntsville). There might be another group focused on Scottsboro or SE of Huntsville over “the mountains “.

These groups are for selling all things, with housing being one section.

[FreewayVariety]

Thanks, Johnsonkk! I'll let her know about the FB groups.