Short term rentals? (Penn: fit in, sublets, apartments)

[NatasNJ]

My wife and I are thinking of moving into center city. We own in NJ. Our thinking is to try and find a short term rental to try it for a month or so to make sure the city fits our lifestyle.

Couple of requirements are location (want easy access to patch station).
Must take small dog. Must be semi furnished.


Any suggestions on where to find best deal on something like this?

So far corporate housing seems very expensive. A few options on Craigslist that we will look into.
Flexible with timing so leaning towards starting this in April.


Any tips or thoughts?

[HappyRider]

I asked a similar question a short while back. Worth reading while you wait for fresher perspectives.

//www.city-data.com/forum/phila...ty-living.html

[NatasNJ]

Thanks Happy Rider.

So did you decide if you are going to try it? Maybe we can get a 4-5 month place and take turns living there. I stay for half then you. (Seriously may be a genius idea. )

We are 100% going to do this. The Corporate hotels are just to expensive. I found a few on Craigslist that offer Rittenhouse area and 3-5 month leases. Smaller homes for around $2k. Ideally I would like to do 2 months as my test run.


Later this month I will be reaching out to listing agents, CL ads, etc... See if I can find something.

[HappyRider]

Looks like you are way ahead of me. Every time we go to the Center City I get the urge to do this. Alas, the rigors of life quickly overpowers this urge...until next time. From what I have seen there I really like in around Rittenhouse Square. Looks like you are better positioned to go for it. We still have kids in college and home.

[NatasNJ]

Yeah. No kids on this front. Only thing really holding us back at this point is finding a place & weather.

[RightonWalnut]

Reach out to listing agents, see what they can come up with. If you can find something for 4-5 months why not? Maybe try finding something furnished and just using your place in the city as a "vacation" home.

[Mimidae]

I'm in the same boat as you (except with a smaller budget, and we're looking at University City). We own in Delaware, I'm eager to move to Philly and don't want to wait until we're ready to sell, but we want to try out U. City before we sign a year-long lease. Plus I'll be traveling in the summer, and that would be a good time for us to come home and work on getting the house ready to be rented out. So I'm trying to find a 3-5 month lease, through late spring / early summer.

It's tough! I have written to several realtors asking if they would consider a shorter lease on specific apartments, and have even offered to pay for all 4 months up front. I haven't gotten a response from any of them. But, as you say, sublets do appear on Craigslist every few days. The trick seems to be responding in time. I was finding that when I found an ideal place, it was off the market within a day. I'd be asking for pictures or for more info, and in the meantime other people were making appointments to see it. People who already live in the city have the advantage, there. But a friend recommended to me that if I see a place that seems pretty promising, write and say "When can I see the place? I'm available x, x or x", instead of trying to get every last question answered. Even better if there's a number you can call. As you know, this is frustrating because it's a haul to get into the city, and I'm reluctant to make the 50+ minute drive for a place that doesn't have sufficient pictures, etc.

Of course, your experience may differ because you have a bigger budget. I gather that there is a lot of competition for apartments within my budget, but there may be less of a demand for the places you're looking at. Still, if you see something you like that is subletting within your time frame, respond quickly and try to see the place right away.

Besides checking Craigslist, I go to www.padmapper.com , which has an interactive map. It mainly features ads pulled from Craigslist, but sometimes I find one on Padmapper that I completely missed when it was posted on Craigslist. So it's a good cross-reference site. Sometimes ads on Craigslist don't show up there, so you still should look at Craigslist daily. I was trying www.hotpads.com for a while - same interactive map idea - but I stopped because a lot of the ads there are dated. Still, it might work a little better for you. I tried www.sublet.com , but most of the featured ads seemed to be for bedrooms within shared houses. Again, it might be worth it for the occasional 1BR. www.mapliv.com is another site.

Another idea is that if you can wait until summer, a lot of students sublet their apartments for the summertime. But these places will mostly be over the Schuylkill in University City, or "too far north" of Center City. Some may be in or close to CC, however. A lot of these places are also bedrooms within shared houses, but not all. It's a matter of wading through a lot of ads, I'm afraid. Here is a site where Penn students advertise their places for sublet: University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Sublets | Uloop . Of course, most of those will be in U. City. But you might find one very close to CC, and the benefit in the summertime would be 1) less students, 2) safer, further away from areas where local kids hang out on street corners all summer*.

Good luck to you!

*This is not a dig on West Philly or local kids. I'm tailoring this advice based on the fact that OP wants to be in or close to Center City.

[Mimidae]

Also, don't give up because I have definitely seen furnished 1-2 month sublets in Center City, in my ongoing research. Just - like I said - if it seems pretty promising, act quickly.