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Are there any websites that rate or give feedback for rental companies?
We are in an apartment, and have decided to rent a house instead of our original plan to buy one. (waiting for the last kid to graduate, so we don't have to buy in her school district)
We want to rent a house, but I'm less comfortable with it than I am the apartment. With the apartment I'm pretty safe that the agent owns the place, hehe, and it's pretty easy to look for reviews on the property and what not.
It's a little harder to vet individual house rentals. I swear half the listings on craigslist are bogus.
I know to be cautious, but I'm not really sure how to vet these rentals both for legitimacy, and for the reliability of the rental company/agent.
And how does one verify, as suggested on other threads, that someone is a licensed agent/broker?
Look for a local property manager.
They handle plenty of houses, and have to be licensed brokers to do that work.
They do not have to be Realtors, just have to have an NC real estate broker's license.
IMO it's pretty easy to tell what's legit and what isn't on Craigslist. If you can't tell just by looking at the ad, then you'll know after sending an email.
You could ask the landlord for tenant references. IMO it's pretty easy to tell what's legit and what isn't on Craigslist. If you can't tell just by looking at the ad, then you'll know after sending an email.
It's less about weeding out the legit ones, and more being concerned what kind of service we'll get if we rent the unit.
I know what you're going through-just dealt with a similar situation. We were in a rent-to-own through a private person (rent to own part was all verbal) and she decided once she found a new beau we had to move. Not too thrilled with the neighborhood anyhow but not wanting to uproot 3 kids from 3 schools (elementary, middle, high) and still not cleared to buy due to our previous short sale, we had a short time to find somewhere to go.
Craigslist had a few, but funny, so many are so fake-one said "close to local mall, Barnes & Noble, etc" and we're in Clayton where there is NO such thing-big red flag.
We started looking on Trulia and found a house nearby that we think we can live with for the next few years-at least DH says we can. The problem is, we called a local agent, were shown the house by said agent with a large real estate company so we thought we were good. Application was online.
The first one: took our 100.00 and denied our rental application based on what they said was a previous eviction! WHAT? We owned for 20 years before moving here and were owning/living in WI during this said eviction. We tried telling them they had the wrong person-same name but different person, they refused to answer our calls, and kept the 100.00. The agent was local, but the company is actually from out of state. No one returned calls or emails and I just didnt think it was worth the hassle for the 100.00 but I would NOT trust that company.
The next one: we DID rent-again, local agent BUT when it came time to fill out paperwork, the OWNER/company is in CA! So, when we moved in and the shower wasn't working, it was over a month before they fixed it-and sent 3 incompetent "handymen" to do the job on 3 separate occasions because they were not knowledgeable about plumbing. The house is newer but has not been "kept up" and needs a lot of little fixes, which I was told they do not do because they are cosmetic. Another neighbor rented from the same company and had nothing but trouble. Luckily, when her time was up from a previous short sale, she was able to buy and has nothing good to say about said company either.
I would suggest finding an independent owner or LOCAL company. Do not use American Residential. I cant remember the name of the other company that took our money,but the name was similar.
A good professional apartment complex will serve you much better.
A big hit is the inability of the landlord to return your deposit when you vacate. They just may not have it.
LOL! Head on over to the rental board in Real Estate. One half of the posts are asking for advice on what to do about noisy neighbors, especially those with children and/or dogs.
Potentially losing a security deposit on a SFR rental is far better than losing my mind over shared walls.
Forget houses. Too many risks. A good professional apartment complex will serve you much better. A big hit is the inability of the landlord to return your deposit when you vacate. They just may not have it.
I agree with you in spirit. Our current apartment is actually very nice - but we need something larger. We are a family of four, and our kids are not little. Plus pets. The apartment is just a temporary thing, we didn't want to buy until our daughter decided where she wanted to go for high school.
Best case scenario is to find house managed by a larger, local rental company. I won't lease from individuals, too risky.
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