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They own the place and don't know whether it floods? Scary.
Oh, and I'm not the OP. And just because a person has renter's insurance doesn't mean they want to have to use it.
Everybody buying knows--it's on Redfin (but not on Zillow!), and any mortgage broker would require flood insurance. Renter's insurance is not flood insurance and does not protect in any way against floods (neither structural, nor your belongings.)
There are rentals for people who demand high standards. May be you are looking at the wrong properties especially in the cities you have listed. You get what you pay for.
You're right. But if I raise my budget that widens the sample to bigger houses (which includes well-maintained ones). I just want a small house that's well-maintained, not a bigger one. Silly to pay so much for a huge house when a small one will do. But the pool of small, well-kept up houses is tiny, hence the challenges I'm facing.
I once had a guy inquire about a rental home i had. It was built new, 3 yrs prior. He asked if i would put new carpets in, before even seeing the place, because " well, carpets in a rental only last 5 yrs, so they are close to needing to be replaced.". I told him I didn't think we would be a good fit for a tenant/landlord relationship, but good luck in his search.
Asking about that stuff up front would concern me, unless the place seriously needs new paint. Chances are, you may be looking at lower end (priced, for the area)rentals that are not at the higher end of being " nice" rentals. If that's the case, then the ll's are not going to make the place look like a higher end property.
Increase your budget, and you will find more what you are expecting.
Seattle: First qualified applicant wins: First-In-Line that meets published criteria.
I'm not seeing how that solves his problem. He isn't getting denials just no response to his questions. Those laws do not require a landlord to answer the kinds of questions he is asking. And applications typically require fees so if you want to apply at places and then decline the acceptance, spend away.
LOL. And a landlord who considers me "lazy" if I don't google their property to learn everything there is to know about it, yet themselves won't answer a simple yes or no question, I do not want to rent from.
They own the place and don't know whether it floods? Scary.
Oh, and I'm not the OP. And just because a person has renter's insurance doesn't mean they want to have to use it.
They may know it has never flooded but are wary of making an implied promise that it won't flood in the future.
You're right. But if I raise my budget that widens the sample to bigger houses (which includes well-maintained ones). I just want a small house that's well-maintained, not a bigger one. Silly to pay so much for a huge house when a small one will do. But the pool of small, well-kept up houses is tiny, hence the challenges I'm facing.
You need to buy your own home because it's highly unlikely you'll be able to rent an apartment with all those questions you have. You might get lucky if you pay very high rent but, that doesn't always guarantee a nice apartment.
You're right. But if I raise my budget that widens the sample to bigger houses (which includes well-maintained ones). I just want a small house that's well-maintained, not a bigger one. Silly to pay so much for a huge house when a small one will do. But the pool of small, well-kept up houses is tiny, hence the challenges I'm facing.
With your great credit score and income why not just buy the place you want.
I don't think your questions are unreasonable and in a way it should signal to the owner that you're someone who cares about the upkeep of the property.
The problem comes in when you're in a competitive market (as you indicated) because when there are plenty of qualified applicants it just makes sense that the landlords are going to rent to someone who seems easier to please. Supply and demand and all that jazz ; )
I don't think your questions are unreasonable and in a way it should signal to the owner that you're someone who cares about the upkeep of the property.
I think the signal is that they expect the owner to do all the work. For minor things, I have always taken care of it myself when I was renting houses. At one place I wanted a garage door opener, asked the landlord if I could buy and install one and would leave it when I left. It was worth it to me to have for the 2 years I ended up being there.
^^^Sure, I can see both sides about how the questions can come across.The main point in my post is that in a competitive market where the owner is in the driver's seat, the renter has to be aware that asking these questions might be to their detriment.
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