I
do not usually do rentals but I have some helpful hints for you.
Rentals are
hard to find since the vacancy rate is about 2%. You will need
to make this a full time search. I
can check the
MLS but those rental listings are usually limited. Call me with your
criteria.
The local newspapers are an obvious source but check their website each
night to get a jump on the competition. http://sdhomessearch.signonsandiego.com/Rentals/SearchIndex.asp
and http://www.nctimes.net/
and www.sdreader.com.
Also check the local newspapers and throwaways like the Beach News,
Pennysaver www.pennysaverusa.com and the supermarket freebies.
On the internet, you can search www.craigslist.org. Start by clicking
on the city (San Diego)
Two sites for apartment rentals are www.rentals.com and www.apartmentguide.com.
When
you go through the newspapers, make a list of all the rental and property
management companies and their phone numbers, even those who do not
have the exact rental you
want. If they are advertising in the general area you want, call
them. They might have something they are not advertising or that they
just got in. Call them back every 2-4
days. There are so many renters and not enough rentals, you have
to go after them. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Post notices and check on all bulletin boards: work, school,
all the churches in the area, grocery stores etc.
Drive around the areas
you would like. The signs that
go up don't last so that is a lot of work. That is why you should ask everyone you talk
to. Get your network going for you.
A good site for local apartment rentals is Relocation Central. Ask for
Anna at 760-757-7368 or 800-938-7368 and tell them that Dennis
Smith sent you. They will give you special service and there is
no cost to the renter.
Contact Santa Fe Ranch in La Costa
at 760-943-1146 for nice 1 & 2 bedroom
rentals. They also take some types of pets. Please tell them that I referred
you because I get a referral fee if you rent there.
When you find
an address you like, check it out on www.earth.google.com.
You can tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. It
is a free download.
Check my site
at http://sandiegohomes4u.com/links.htm for
some good general info on renting along with several online rental sites.
It is near the end of the Real Estate section.
I hope this helps in your
search.
Of course
you may be able to buy a home and get a great tax advantage. Uncle
Sam is willing to pay up to 30% of your mortgage and property taxes.
With the market rents being high and interest rates so reasonable, many people
can buy for the same amount as they pay in rent. There are some great
financing programs available so that almost anyone can buy a home: even up
to 103% of the home price!!! Yes,
you can even borrow your
closing costs!
Call me
to discuss your options at 760-436-0087.
Article: Searching for Shelter
How Landlords Screen Tenants
By Leta Herman
It’s not just the credit report anymore
Anyone who’s tried to buy something on credit has heard the horror stories
about credit report errors. Smart consumers make sure their credit reports are accurate by
ordering from at least one or more of the major credit reporting systems, Experian
(formerly TRW), Equifax, or Trans Union. But if you’re shopping for an apartment
instead of a car, you need to understand that there’s more to tenant screening than
just the standard credit report, which folks in the consumer-reporting industry call the
"retail" report. Recently a reader asked the following question, which gets to
the heart of the matter.
"I am unable to rent an apartment mainly due to an eviction on my record. I was
evicted due to a family illness and major surgery. I recently received copies of my credit
report from all three credit bureaus. I was surprised to not find any record of an
eviction. One landlord also told me that I owed my former landlord money. But I
didn’t see this on my credit report either. Where do landlords see this information,
and how can I get an apartment with the eviction on my record?"
Whether you like it or not, when you fill out your next rental application, your landlord
is probably going to run a credit check on you. In the old days, your landlord might have
been satisfied with your retail credit report, which usually contains information about
your credit cards and car loans but nothing about your rental history.
But times have changed. Nowadays, landlords work with consumer-reporting agencies that
specialize in "resident screening," which is a much more in-depth probing of a
tenant’s personal history. It might include prior evictions or even negative landlord
references.
"Our reports contain your history as a tenant, just like a credit report shows your
history as a borrower," says Edward Byczynski, president and general counsel for the
National Tenant Network, Inc., a nationwide tenant-screening agency based in Oregon
(http://ntnnet.com). "They contain public record data on evictions as well as lease
violation information." Your prospective landlord can even pay an agency to search
for any possible criminal history in your background, though few landlords do this because
it is costly and more difficult from a legal standpoint.
Little White Lies
Why are landlords paying more money for all this information? "There’s a lot of
creative writing on applications," says Gene Gayda, landlord and president of the New
Hampshire Property Owners Association, which maintains a helpful landlord/tenant law web
site (www.nhpoa.org). "In the past tenants could float a good story and most
landlords weren’t sophisticated enough to check up on it. Now, as more and more
landlords are getting on the bandwagon and using these services, it’s changing the
rules."
Tenant-screening services give landlords access to information that they couldn’t
practically obtain themselves. "A lot of times tenants provide false information to
landlords," says William Stergios, a landlord and co-owner of The Landlord
Connection, Inc. (www.landlordconnection.com), which provides tenant screening for
landlords in New Hampshire. "Now if a tenant puts down his mother’s phone
number, the landlord can verify that phone number."
All this information can be faxed over to your landlord within an hour after the order is
placed. And most landlords pass on the cost of the reports to tenants by charging
application fees. "Landlords are doing a lot more screening," says Jennifer
Strawn, staff vice president of member services, California Apartment Association.
"We recommend that landlords get a combined report that includes a search for
evictions and not just a retail credit report."
But what does this mean for renters? If you’re the type who always pays your rent on
time and has never had a dispute with your landlord, you’re probably going to pass
your credit check. But what if there’s a mistake on your report? We, as tenants,
can’t be satisfied with a review of our retail credit reports anymore. With local
agencies in every part of the country, it’s nearly impossible to review our records
in every database in the nation. Even locally we may have five or more of these agencies
keeping different sets of data - a credit-reporting nightmare if a mistake turns up
somewhere.
A recent trend in the industry is making it even harder for tenants. Reporting agencies
that provide resident screening are consolidating across the nation, says Norm Magnuson,
vice president of public affairs for the Associated Credit Bureaus, Inc., the
credit-reporting industry group in Washington, DC. "It’s similar to where retail
credit reporting was in the late 60s," says Magnuson. "The industry was
dominated by regional bureaus. But they needed a more comprehensive nationwide system.
That’s the movement in the tenant-screening area. If a tenant has worked his way
across the country by skipping out on landlords and not paying rent, landlords want to
know that."
Companies like the National Tenant Network have always worked on a national scope. Others,
like First American Registry based in San Diego, are in the process of buying regional
companies throughout the country to provide nationwide service.
As more companies like First American Registry expand their databases nationwide, tenants
will find it increasingly more difficult to cover up a bad rental history by moving to a
new region of the country. Luckily for renters though, the Fair Credit Reporting
Act requires landlords to tell you which consumer-reporting agency they used if they
rejected you due to something on the report. You then have the right to get a
free copy of the report, if you request one within 60 days of the rejection. Getting a
free copy probably won’t help you get back the apartment you just lost. But at least
you’ll be better informed the next time you apply for an apartment. And if there are
any mistakes on the report, you can make sure they get corrected so you won’t have
the same problem in the future.
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