Why is it so hard to find a roomate for a first time renter ? (no credit check, hotel)

[moved]

Originally Posted by yukon

Try Zillow and padmapper.

It doesn't matter where the rental comes from, the person/agency doing the renting is STILL going to run a credit check.

[RosieSD]

What happened with this place?


//www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...blvd-hood.html

[dg628]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

What happened with this place?


//www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...blvd-hood.html

Denied by the leasing agency. I also found a cheap room in normal heights in a rundown building and once again denied when I was talking to the property manager. The guy liked me for a roomate and felt kinda bad for my situation.

The bear republic said nope , that’s too easy and kicked me in the face.

[eastcoastbias]

Zillow is a good source too.

I’d go private owners as some do not check credit. Trust me. I was one of those folks who didn’t i know others that didn’t as well. If you have first and last and a deposit and decent income Id have a hard time turning you down. Some folks realize you have to start somewhere.

I’ve given this advice on here before...as soon as you find a place CALL don’t email call. Be on the sites every hour. Schedule a visit as soon as possible bring paystubs, work verification, referrals, have a standard application filled out. Show up on time be courteous have stuff ready to go. It’s like a job interview treat it as one. If you can take over a lease right away do it. If you are a month out some may take the renter that is ready to go sooner. Sell yourself. If you don’t have large animals or any animals at all bring that up - if it’s just you and roommate in a 2 bedroom include that as well.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by dg628

Okay. Like I said a lot of the privately owned properties still run credit and a lot of roomies on Craigslist keep telling me that after they think I’m an okay fit that I have to talk to the owner or leasing office.


Thank you for your kind words. Is there anyway to find rentals besides Craigslist ? Is it worth it to burn all the gas driving around downtown looking for for rent signs ?

Look on the university housing board? There must be an online venue for that. Check the local food co-op bulletin board.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by dg628

Denied by the leasing agency. I also found a cheap room in normal heights in a rundown building and once again denied when I was talking to the property manager. The guy liked me for a roomate and felt kinda bad for my situation.

The bear republic said nope , that’s too easy and kicked me in the face.

I'm sorry you're having this problem. As I said in your other thread, it must be scary as heck to be in a new city with nowhere to live.

Have you asked one of the credit reporting agencies for a copy of your credit report to see what the problem with your credit might be? It's free to request an annual copy (see: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...credit-reports) and it might help you identify what is turning landlords off. If you have a credit card, or have taken any sort of loan out in the past (such as a car loan), it's unlikely you have NO credit at all. Maybe there are steps you can take to either fix any problems OR to proactively explain to landlords why your credit history is no longer an issue.

In the meantime, where are you staying? Is it possible to sock away some savings from your job while you're looking for a place? When my daughter was looking for her first rental at your age, she had to apply to a lot of places before she found a landlord willing to take a chance on someone with very little credit history who had just started a new job. What finally helped my daughter land a place was being able to show she had a couple of month's rent in savings (and by then she'd been in her job for six months so she had a longer employment history as well).

A final thought: you might see if you could do a sublease for the summer, just to tide you over while you're looking for something permanent. A lot of college students in San Diego are looking for people to sublease during the summer months and *some* of those deals might not require a credit check. There's a UCSD student facebook group where people post about openings like this. The group is open to the public. Check it out. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2387457222/

Also, broaden your search area. Outside of the city center, it may be easier to find private homes with granny flats or rooms to rent where credit won't be as much of an issue.

Hang in there. I know it's discouraging, but you'll find something.

[RosieSD]

Not sure if this will help, but here is the county's list of apartment complexes that accept low income renters.

Some of these complexes may have less stringent requirements about credit and/or income to rent ratios.

https://www.sdhc.org/uploadedFiles/R...rces-Guide.pdf

You mentioned that your take home is $3000. I'm assuming that is per month, not per week. If so, that actually puts you into the "low income" category for housing here in San Diego County. (See: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/conte...imits-ami.html)

In any case, it might be worth calling some of these complexes to see what they have available and what their credit score and income-to-rent ratios are like.

That said, as others have mentioned, your best bet is probably going to be a room or granny flat type set up in a private home.

Finally, don't ignore locations outside of the city center. If you work in National City, look for room shares in areas like Chula Vista, Imperial Beach, Otay Mesa, La Mesa, Rancho San Diego, El Cajon, Santee, Spring Valley, Bonita, Lakeside, etc. You may have more luck in those areas, and east county will put you closer to the mountains .

Good luck!

[dg628]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

Not sure if this will help, but here is the county's list of apartment complexes that accept low income renters.

Some of these complexes may have less stringent requirements about credit and/or income to rent ratios.

https://www.sdhc.org/uploadedFiles/R...rces-Guide.pdf

You mentioned that your take home is $3000. I'm assuming that is per month, not per week. If so, that actually puts you into the "low income" category for housing here in San Diego County. (See: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/conte...imits-ami.html)

In any case, it might be worth calling some of these complexes to see what they have available and what their credit score and income-to-rent ratios are like.

Don't ignore cities and unincorporated areas outside of the city of San Diego. You may have to cast a wide geographic net to find something.

Good luck!

It really depends on how much OT or out of town work I get that month but thank you. I will check that out.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

I'm sorry you're having this problem. As I said in your other thread, it must be scary as heck to be in a new city with nowhere to live.

Have you asked one of the credit reporting agencies for a copy of your credit report to see what the problem with your credit might be? It's free to request an annual copy (see: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/article...credit-reports) and it might help you identify what is turning landlords off. If you have a credit card, or have taken any sort of loan out in the past (such as a car loan), it's unlikely you have NO credit at all. Maybe there are steps you can take to either fix any problems OR to proactively explain to landlords why your credit history is no longer an issue.

In the meantime, where are you staying? Is it possible to sock away some savings from your job while you're looking for a place? When my daughter was looking for her first rental at your age, she had to apply to a lot of places before she found a landlord willing to take a chance on someone with very little credit history who had just started a new job. What finally helped my daughter land a place was being able to show she had a couple of month's rent in savings (and by then she'd been in her job for six months so she had a longer employment history as well).

A final thought: you might see if you could do a sublease for the summer, just to tide you over while you're looking for something permanent. A lot of college students in San Diego are looking for people to sublease during the summer months and *some* of those deals might not require a credit check. There's a UCSD student facebook group where people post about openings like this. The group is open to the public. Check it out. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2387457222/

Also, broaden your search area. Outside of the city center, it may be easier to find private homes with granny flats or rooms to rent where credit won't be as much of an issue.

Hang in there. I know it's discouraging, but you'll find something.

One thing I discovered, that can mess up credit reports, is something as minor as late payment for medical service co-pays. When I got a copy of my credit report once, I saw there were some delinquent bills, yet I'd paid before the deadline, so I called, to find out what the problem was. It was something like--my payment to the provider's office came in, just as they'd forwarded the billing to a collections agency prematurely, but when my payment came in to the provider, the agency never closed the file. Something like that. So I was able to straighten it out with the agency, and they got it taken off my credit report, so my rating bounced up. Problem solved!

Kind of a bureaucratic error. Something as minor as a $25 delinquent co-pay can bring down your credit score.

[dg628]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

One thing I discovered, that can mess up credit reports, is something as minor as late payment for medical service co-pays. When I got a copy of my credit report once, I saw there were some delinquent bills, yet I'd paid before the deadline, so I called, to find out what the problem was. It was something like--my payment to the provider's office came in, just as they'd forwarded the billing to a collections agency prematurely, but when my payment came in to the provider, the agency never closed the file. Something like that. So I was able to straighten it out with the agency, and they got it taken off my credit report, so my rating bounced up. Problem solved!

Kind of a bureaucratic error. Something as minor as a $25 delinquent co-pay can bring down your credit score.

I don’t have any collections on my report. Everytime the bank has done a credit pull on me or any other sintitution my credit score comes up as NA. It doesn’t even give them a score.