Need advice for apartment search in Portland! (rent, to live)

[Marx818]

My wife and I are moving to Portland in October to live and work for a while. We don't know how long, but for the foreseeable future. We live in Pennsylvania and we would like to have a place established when we drive out so I'm flying out myself the last week of September for a few days to find an apartment. I'm going to be hoofing around town with the mission of getting a place that will accept 2 cats and will rent to two people who might not have jobs yet when we get out there, but I am able to put down a substantial amount of cash for a number of months rent. I'm looking to spend around $750 to $1000.

I'm planning on looking around NE and SE kind of close in. We are alright with a smaller place, but we need parking for one car and one decent window to grow some potted plants. Other than that, we'll be making some compromises being this is our first place and I understand there's a low vacancy rate there.

My concern now is that I don't know what to expect in the hunt. I will be looking at CL and other advertisements, but I'll be doing lots of browsing around too. I intend to put some references down on some paper if someone wants them and maybe a bank statement showing I'm not broke? I'm prepared to write a check on the spot if iI have to or maybe they might want a cashier's check instead? I want to make the best of my time out there. Any advice or personal experience would be awesome!

[sayulita]

No offense, but this forum is filled to the rafters with guestions and answers on these subjects. May I kindly suggest that you read through a few pages of it. I think you will find all the info you need and plenty of caveats. If after that, you still don't have the answers you need, then maybe come back and ask a few specifics.