Apartment hunting adventures - ?? about East areas. (Phoenix, Mesa: transplants, apartments)
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My PM quit because I insisted on raising rent on a pos sec 8 tenant from 569 to 659, because it was obvious the damages would be extensive, when they moved. 600 feet from the Northern Ave LR.. 702 sf, 1.5 baths.. No one above or below... Over 1000 now, for sure.. Maybe 1250. Did it occur to anyone that the constant calls to rent, rent, rent were likely coming from landlords/investors?
sadly, because of the explosive increase in people moving here, and the increased demand for rentals, its going to be a difficult time trying to get a short term rental remotely...even people who are here now are having a tough time getting something reasonably priced, and, since you only need a short term rental, it might be even more difficult, with landlords preferring long term rentals over short terms..
good luck either way..
Thanks! I'm actually NOT looking for a short term rental, I'm looking to lock down a year's lease (more if they'd let me) if a place looks acceptable.
My whole issue is that it would be NICE if I don't have to stay in a hotel to house hunt in person, because I've already got it squared away and ready to rock before we even arrive. That would save me some money. I'll be taking inflatable mattresses and folding tables/chairs and some basics to get us by for a little while in my car on the initial trip down, so we could live in an empty apt until the truck with our stuff arrives.
I'm finding some listings out there that do seem OK for what I'm looking for, and while they are pricey I'm willing (and definitely able!) to adjust my expectations and pay somewhat more than I'd really like, to get what we want... It's just wacky to me that I'm reaching out to see if places even want to work with someone who is not physically there yet, or I am inquiring about availability, and I'm getting a lot of *crickets* in response. Even after a couple of 'em came off initially hostile like I'm some kind of wandering bum, and I prove to them with paystubs and such that I'm actually quite well qualified...they go silent.
It is odd. I don't quite know what to make of it.
But I got some good news today. My employer is willing to let me be WFH indefinitely, so I don't have to try to be near the office really, just kinda near the relative who needs us down there, so I can check some areas that are further from the office but in a reasonable distance from FIL's house.
If you're wanting safe and cheap, look further out. Queen Creek is really nice and prices are rising but still probably cheaper than something comparable in Gilbert. Most of East Mesa is also ok but getting expensive. I'd stay away from Apache Junction - some of it is nice but some of it isn't and it would be hard for an outsider to know what areas to avoid.
I wonder if it's too soon for me to be looking for a place, or what...
I have reached out to lots of places. I'm trying email first. If that doesn't work, within a week or two, I'll start making phone calls, perhaps.
Most places have not responded. A couple have, and they have said, "We're gonna need you to prove that you can pay the rent" and then I'm like, "No problem!" and send them proof that I can pay the rent and then they stop responding. "Hello?"
It almost feels like they were HOPING that the high rent price and demand that I prove I can pay it would put me off or something? Like are they trying to find the point at which prospective tenants will give up, or what? Seems bad for business, but what do I know...
I'd suspect these of being some kind of scam listings just set up to persuade me to send pay stubs (lol is there a secondary market for pay stubs with the SSN redacted?) except that I'm not contacting any but pro companies I can verify as legit. Realty/PM and apartment complex leasing offices. I would prefer a private landlord but only if I were there in person to meet them and tour a place, because there's no other way to know if they are a scam...I'm wise to Craigslist shenanigans. Can't take the chance.
I'm not sure I'm following: You contact an owner or PM company and they insists you send copies of your pay stubs? Before you have filled out an application?
Or are you filling out an application which includes copies of your pay stubs?
What about a credit check? Are you aware of the minimum credit score requirements before you give $30-$40 to run the check?
I'm an owner and I don't like to waste anyone's time. I require a certain amount of verifiable income and at least a 620 credit score. If an applicant tells me their credit score is lower I find they usually have a lot of debt. I don't want to take their money and run a credit check if I know they won't qualify.
Renters want me to make sure everything is in good working order when they move in. They also want me to respond as soon as possible if there is a issue. I have no problem with this.
In turn I expect to be paid on the 1st of each month and the lease agreement followed.
I need to be sure the renters earn enough money. I find too many applicants simply do not make enough. They want Gilbert or Chandler but Mesa is their price range. They want a house but can only afford an apartment.
In any event I respond immediately. If the answer is no I thank them for their time and let them move on.
I'm not sure I'm following: You contact an owner or PM company and they insists you send copies of your pay stubs? Before you have filled out an application?
Or are you filling out an application which includes copies of your pay stubs?
What about a credit check? Are you aware of the minimum credit score requirements before you give $30-$40 to run the check?
I'm an owner and I don't like to waste anyone's time. I require a certain amount of verifiable income and at least a 620 credit score. If an applicant tells me their credit score is lower I find they usually have a lot of debt. I don't want to take their money and run a credit check if I know they won't qualify.
Renters want me to make sure everything is in good working order when they move in. They also want me to respond as soon as possible if there is a issue. I have no problem with this.
In turn I expect to be paid on the 1st of each month and the lease agreement followed.
I need to be sure the renters earn enough money. I find too many applicants simply do not make enough. They want Gilbert or Chandler but Mesa is their price range. They want a house but can only afford an apartment.
In any event I respond immediately. If the answer is no I thank them for their time and let them move on.
I noticed people who rely on tips tend to overstate their income, and don't factor in low seasons and off seasons. I recall a difficult time telling a hooters girl, no dice, who was working close to the Suns Arena, before the Dbacks started playing. Glad I went with my gut, and not elsewhere, because there was an NBA strike that season, and the restaurant workers around there were hurt as bad as anyone.
I'm not sure I'm following: You contact an owner or PM company and they insists you send copies of your pay stubs? Before you have filled out an application?
Or are you filling out an application which includes copies of your pay stubs?
What about a credit check? Are you aware of the minimum credit score requirements before you give $30-$40 to run the check?
I'm an owner and I don't like to waste anyone's time. I require a certain amount of verifiable income and at least a 620 credit score. If an applicant tells me their credit score is lower I find they usually have a lot of debt. I don't want to take their money and run a credit check if I know they won't qualify.
Renters want me to make sure everything is in good working order when they move in. They also want me to respond as soon as possible if there is a issue. I have no problem with this.
In turn I expect to be paid on the 1st of each month and the lease agreement followed.
I need to be sure the renters earn enough money. I find too many applicants simply do not make enough. They want Gilbert or Chandler but Mesa is their price range. They want a house but can only afford an apartment.
In any event I respond immediately. If the answer is no I thank them for their time and let them move on.
I had reached out to explain that we would not physically be in the state until September, and ask if they would be amenable to having me apply, sign a lease, pay deposits, etc even though I am not in the state yet. Some PM companies are not interested if you aren't there to see the property in person (that's fair!) so I'm asking. They say, "Well if you're coming from out of state, you need to prove you will continue to have income to pay the rent, like a job offer letter." They are ASSUMING (which is weird to me) that I am arriving unemployed? No, and it's not even just a matter of my working from home, there IS an office there in that area that I'll be attached to anyways.
So I'm like, "yes, I can prove to you, that I have the ability to pay the rent, I'm not losing my job, here is proof of income as requested." And then for some reason they go silent. Even though I make over 3x the rent I'm interested in applying for, and far more than that if we considered the overtime I consistently get, the bonuses I've always received, and my husband's social security to say nothing of investment income and other side factors. I don't bring in all of those other things but my income SHOULD be enough. But then they quit responding, and I don't know why. There has not yet been an application, nor a credit check. I am just trying to ask "should I bother applying?" and I guess it's no but they are not saying no, they're just "ghosting" me and I find it very odd.
We've got good credit, too. In the 700s.
But see....I feel like you, and this other poster here talking about Hooters waitresses... There is some kind of "well it's got to be because you're unqualified scum of some sort"....is it because I don't want to pay over $2K a month for a 2 bedroom apartment? Because I am actually not dirt poor over here, I just have financial goals I'd like to accomplish and I cannot do that if I'm throwing more than I have budgeted into rent. I am willing to accept a neighborhood that isn't trendy or posh, I just don't want to be in "you will be drive by shot and the building is full of roaches" territory.
That's why I was asking people just how "bad" is the supposedly high crime situation in Mesa and Tempe?
Just throwing this out there, but, have you considered offering to pay 3/6/9/12 months IN ADVANCE for rent?
I think that might entice some of the non responders to take you more seriously..
Obviously, you want to get a good luck at what you would be renting, if you are paying in advance, but, there is probably some way to get a good look, and also show your longer term intentions
And, there really is no "high crime" situations in Mesa or Tempe..but, just like any other city with 300-600k people there will be crime in some places, but I wouldn't be afraid to live in either town, or consider them "high crime" towns.... with some obvious "advance scouting"..
Just throwing this out there, but, have you considered offering to pay 3/6/9/12 months IN ADVANCE for rent?
I think that might entice some of the non responders to take you more seriously..
Obviously, you want to get a good luck at what you would be renting, if you are paying in advance, but, there is probably some way to get a good look, and also show your longer term intentions
And, there really is no "high crime" situations in Mesa or Tempe..but, just like any other city with 300-600k people there will be crime in some places, but I wouldn't be afraid to live in either town, or consider them "high crime" towns.... with some obvious "advance scouting"..
I may consider that. I usually prefer to use the time value of money to my own advantage, but if that's what it takes...
Yeah it is a big relief to hear that about Mesa and Tempe. Thank you.
I know how relative it is, with regard to people's perceptions of crime. I used to hear people in Des Moines or even here in Colorado Springs talk about "the hood" and I laugh at them. There is not a "hood" in either city such that anyone from the DC area, or late 1990s Cincinnati, or Seattle or Portland, or a number of other places...heck, even Richmond, VA...would understand the word.
Right now, one way that I am forming an opinion from afar of different little pockets in those two cities, is to evaluate what I can see on Google Maps, like if there is a highly rated community park, a bunch of residential single family homes, and a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in the vicinity, then I will consider an apartment complex that is near all of that. If I see lots of mobile home parks, pawn shops, liquor stores...I'm like ok maybe not this block. I will also do street view to look around a little.
I may consider that. I usually prefer to use the time value of money to my own advantage, but if that's what it takes...
Yeah it is a big relief to hear that about Mesa and Tempe. Thank you.
I know how relative it is, with regard to people's perceptions of crime. I used to hear people in Des Moines or even here in Colorado Springs talk about "the hood" and I laugh at them. There is not a "hood" in either city such that anyone from the DC area, or late 1990s Cincinnati, or Seattle or Portland, or a number of other places...heck, even Richmond, VA...would understand the word.
Right now, one way that I am forming an opinion from afar of different little pockets in those two cities, is to evaluate what I can see on Google Maps, like if there is a highly rated community park, a bunch of residential single family homes, and a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in the vicinity, then I will consider an apartment complex that is near all of that. If I see lots of mobile home parks, pawn shops, liquor stores...I'm like ok maybe not this block. I will also do street view to look around a little.
I have searched and bought homes based on radius searches around TJ's... pretty effective, especially if it is a given that the schools are sub par. I ended up with a condo in Summerlin, NV.. complete with snob appeal and a constant supply of entities looking to buy/rent. The Vons was so good I rarely went to TJ's though... and FreshnEasy was practically paying people to shop there... The TJ at 20th and Campbell was a gold mine mid century neighborhood to invest... quite pricey now.
I may consider that. I usually prefer to use the time value of money to my own advantage, but if that's what it takes...
Yeah it is a big relief to hear that about Mesa and Tempe. Thank you.
I know how relative it is, with regard to people's perceptions of crime. I used to hear people in Des Moines or even here in Colorado Springs talk about "the hood" and I laugh at them. There is not a "hood" in either city such that anyone from the DC area, or late 1990s Cincinnati, or Seattle or Portland, or a number of other places...heck, even Richmond, VA...would understand the word.
Right now, one way that I am forming an opinion from afar of different little pockets in those two cities, is to evaluate what I can see on Google Maps, like if there is a highly rated community park, a bunch of residential single family homes, and a Whole Foods and Trader Joe's in the vicinity, then I will consider an apartment complex that is near all of that. If I see lots of mobile home parks, pawn shops, liquor stores...I'm like ok maybe not this block. I will also do street view to look around a little.
thats all good, and you are obviously really thinking this through..
just one little thing to keep in mind about this area of Arizona; its smart to avoid trailer park areas, and pawn shops/liquor stores heavy areas, but, one unusual thing out here is you can have a block or 2 of areas like that, and, then , a block or 2 away are super fancy nice houses..
Find an area that you think would work for you, then come out here for a few days, and scope that area out, to make sure its not just a "nice block or 2" in an otherwise questionable area..
Here again, having spent decades in some of the most dangerous parts of the USA, I dont fear going ANYWHERE in the Valley at this point, and, there isnt much of a "hardcore ghetto" area in most of the valley; sure, there are some areas, I wouldnt want my wife or daughter to walk around alone at night in, but you can say that for almost EVERY metro area in the USA..
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