Need help to find a rental in Minneapolis! (St. Paul, Lakeville: real estate, apartments)

[m.maas]

My husband and I are planning on moving to Minneapolis in a couple months but I have no idea where to start looking for a rental. It's hard to trust Craigslist, classifieds, websites, etc. when we are so far away (in New Mexico!) and I know very little about the city anyway. Any suggestions of rental agents or other resources that could help us find something based on our criteria?

We are only interested in living in the city proper (close to mass transit, though I am not familiar with neighborhood and area names), and it must be a home or duplex with a garage, no apartments.

[ellysbelly]

I'm moving there, too, so I can't help you with any specifics, but many on this board can. Share your must have list (i.e. number of bedrooms, whether or not you have pets), your preferences (walkable and/or much have parking, close to transit, the type of housing and neighborhood that you're looking for), as where you and your husband are working (to ensure easy transit), and your max budget and I'm sure people will be able to point you in the right direction.

Once you locate specific properties, you can also post them here as well as check out the crime map (I know Trulia has one, but I'm sure there are others, too) and spend some time in the neighborhood if you can before deciding. Go out for dinner, go to the grocery store, hang out in the park, etc--- and get a feel for what the area is like. Best of luck to you on both your upcoming move as well as in the house hunt.

[m.maas]

Thanks! I hope someone can point me to a rental agent or a better local resource.

For more specifics, we do not know where our jobs will be located but are willing to commute around the city, prefer downtown/urban neighborhoods, have one toddler (so no school concerns yet but a fenced yard would be ideal) and one indoor/outdoor cat. We like older homes but aren't too picky. We could live with two bedrooms and one bath but it would be great to find better. Must have a garage. We are limited by a price point of $1000 or less per month. We will be present in the city for a week at the end of May and hope to nail something down then, moving in by mid to late June.

[uptown_urbanist]

Realistically you're most likely to find what you're looking for via Craigslist. I wouldn't rent anything sight-unseen, but most of what you find on Craigslist is legit. Your budget may be unreasonably low for a duplex with a garage in the city. -- it may be doable, but it's going to be tough. I DEFINITELY would not rent without seeing it first when looking at something in that budget, as that price point for a house or duplex is going to potentially put you in some rougher neighborhoods. I know there are people out there who do help with relocation, but the ones I'm familiar with handle more corporate relocations. You'll get a lot of help on here if you have questions about specific neighborhoods, though.

Padmapper.com is a great way to check out rentals; the listings are often from CL, but you can look at them plotted on the map. I find that far more accurate and helpful than depending on the geographic descriptions in the ads -- which are often rather misleading if you don't know the area and can't tell that, say, the ad that says "Uptown area" really means three miles away.

You'll have a much easier time finding a place if you either increase your budget, consider the suburbs, and/or consider apartments. You may be able find a duplex near bus lines in an inner-ring suburb like Richfield for your price point. Northeast Minneapolis had a few listings on Craigslist in your price point that looked promising.

I don't know the more affordable St. Paul neighborhoods well enough to make a recommendation, but that may well be another good bet. St. Paul tends to be a bit cheaper than Minneapolis, and with the new light rail line opening in June you could explore options along the Green Line/University Avenue for really easy mass transit access.

[Justabitoff]

I hate to break it to you, but you might have a really hard time to find something under $1000. I couldn't find anything in the city on a budget of $1400. Everything was tiny and dumpy and only street parking... You might need to open yourself up to outside the city or an apartment. Minneapolis is affordable, but not that affordable.

[Pisces69]

3 or more bedroom house tends to rent for $1600 to $3500; a 2 bedroom house or duplex around $1200. Hope that helps.

[m.maas]

Well maybe I'm giving a false impression of where we're willing to live, we're fairly flexible, but even so I know our budget is going to make it tight. I'm not coming up with much on craigslist. I've had zillow recommended to me but I was skeptical of what the success rate really is there.

[xandrex]

I just have to reiterate that you're looking at a very tight budget for most areas of the city. I live in a 2-bedroom apartment in a city neighborhood that comes in at about $1000 and has one outdoor, off-street parking spot. I'd consider it pretty middle of the road: It's a "white box" sort of place with newer appliances and newer (though fairly cheap) cabinetry. It is in a better-than-average neighborhood, but I think I'm actually paying less than I would in many other neighborhoods for a similar quality.

Obviously, you say you aren't looking for an apartment. But when I've looked in the past, I just haven't seen that many houses available for that price (maybe because there aren't a lot of 2-bedroom houses to rent?). One option that might work is to see about people renting their upper floor, which gets you the yard and inner-city location, but I'd be doubtful about a garage spot.

You could also opt to look into the suburbs, which might get you a few more amenities for your price range and be near an express bus (should your work end up downtown)

Is $1000 the hard limit? The Twin Cities market is tight and expensive. When I did a search, I found next to zero available rentals that weren't apartments. If your budget can move up--even a little--it could help.

[m.maas]

Okay, I know our budget is low. We are willing to live in some pretty crappy places nearly anywhere in the city. I will deal with those concerns once we have places to look at. All I was looking for in this forum was the name of a realtor or rental agent, or some other local resource for renting.

[golfgal]

Apartments for Rent - PadMapper Apartment Search for Oodle, Rent.com, Kijiji, and Craigslist Apartments

Lakeville MN Residential Real Estate Property Management Services

I'll reiterate what other's have said, for what you want, you aren't going to get the neighborhoods you want. It's expensive to live here.