When to look for apartments (Seattle: for rent, neighborhood, to live in)

[zorph]

Hello,

I am moving to Seattle this June and I am looking for an apartment at or below 1200/month. It will only be me, so I can live in a studio(>450 sq ft) but i would prefer a 1 bedroom. I am looking to live in or near the downtown area (e.g. capitol hill, lower queen anne, denny area, etc.). I don't want my rent to go up that much in the next 2-3 years, so I want to rent from an small apartment owner or an individual.

My question to you: when should I fly up there to look for apartments? looking on Craigslist seems like the only apartments to rent are those that need to be moved into ASAP. Should I get a realtor?

I plan on flying to seattle for 2-4 days to apartment hunt with the intention of putting down a deposit and having an address. I am going to start my job on the 30th of June and I would like to be settled in the apartment prior to this date. I intend to fly up there a week before (the 23rd) and move/buy stuff.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

[es_em]

A long time ago I moved away from Seattle for a couple years and when I moved back I came up about a week ahead of time and secured an apartment. It worked well for me doing it that way. The big difference is that there were a lot of available places on the market.

As for renting from an individual or a small complex. Back when I was a renter, two of the small/family-owned places I lived were found by walking around the neighborhood. The third was listed on Craigslist. I'll also let you know that there were super reasonable with rent increases (think $25 in four years, and $50 in two years).

The time of month you want to move in might make things a bit more tricky. Or, who knows, maybe it'll help you find that one perfect place. Good luck.