Rental questions-2 parts

[suesinfl]

1.    Landlords, how do you feel about someone that is relocating and looking to rent? What about references when the person that is relocating and has been a homeowner for 25 years, but sold their house and is only looking to rent long term?

What are the good things or bad things, that may raise questions? How do I explain that I'm tired of being a home owner and since I will be moving to a different location I don't want to deal with the headaches of being responsible for all the upkeep of owning a home....at least for now.

What do I need to look for in a good PM and apartment complexes? Questions that I should ask, things that I need to look out for, etc. It will just be me and my 14 yr son.

My family that lives there are steering me towards places that will not work with my budget and I can only search through the internet, which we know does not paint the whole picture, even with online comments/or ratings.

2.    DD has decided to stay here, but is looking for an apt. that she can afford. She will be attending the local CC for another year and then transferring to a university. She is working about 25-30 hrs a week, but, how does she provide references to potential landlords?

[resolution]

Can you rent a place at the new location through Airbnb for a week and look for apartments in person? It seems like a red flag that your family members have been steering you away from the places you find affordable. Most landlords will be looking for enough income to comfortably pay the rent (3x rent amount monthly), good credit report and clean criminal background history.

Your daughter can probably provide her teachers as references since she doesn't have any rental history, but she may need you to cosign if she doesn't have enough income to cover the rent. If she is getting an apartment near the university they will probably be used to students and let her know what information they need.

[alabamagal]

My kids have all rented recently for the first time. They had no rental history. Never an issue.

They needed to show income and clean background check. Income had to be enough that rent was 30% or less of income. The income was in the form of job offer letter.

Do not rent anyplace just based on Internet. You can use that to narrow down options but definitely have to visit in person to get a better idea of area and complexes.

[suesinfl]

Apr 2, 2016 7:27:22 GMT -5 resolution said:

Can you rent a place at the new location through Airbnb for a week and look for apartments in person? It seems like a red flag that your family members have been steering you away from the places you find affordable. Most landlords will be looking for enough income to comfortably pay the rent (3x rent amount monthly), good credit report and clean criminal background history.

Your daughter can probably provide her teachers as references since she doesn't have any rental history, but she may need you to cosign if she doesn't have enough income to cover the rent. If she is getting an apartment near the university they will probably be used to students and let her know what information they need.

Thanks, I didn't think of Airbnb for a week, will look into that. No red flags, just family doesn't realized that I don't make the kind of money that they do. They just want me closer and I'm good with being 15 miles or so away  which also has more reasonable prices.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

What do I need to look for in a good PM and apartment complexes? Questions that I should ask, things that I need to look out for, etc. It will just be me and my 14 yr son.

When I found my apartment in KY, I had a short list that I made from the internet and worked from that.  I had a realtor with me, and she steered me towards more expensive places - which I looked at, but was not happy with some of the policies.  I went prepared, so even though I was only in KY for a 5 day weekend, I was able to accomplish a lot in that time.

At the top of my short list was one complex that was about 2 miles from where my job was.  They accepted pets and had w/d hook ups.  It was an older complex, but because it was older it had more mature trees and the apartments were larger.  It was fairly well cared for, but I made sure to talk to some of the tenants while I was there to see how management handled problems.  They generally did well, but the complex was sold about 6 years after I moved in, and the management company changed several times after that.  New management companies was a royal pain in the ass.  For instance, over my tenure there we went from the complex covering water and trash to a water company coming in and putting a meter on the hot water heater and we were billed for water as a factor of the hot water used.  Then the complex changed from that (which was more fair) to a set fee for the size of the apartment.  As I lived in one of the larger apartments, I paid more for water even though I was only a single person and was gone nearly one week out of the month.  Then they started charging for trash removal.  This happened over a period of about 12 years.  When I was in WA but was still carrying my apartment in KY, they continued to charge me water and trash even though I had not lived in the apartment for 18 months.  I called and tried to get them to at least give me a break, but nope.  They were hardasses about it.

[suesinfl]

Geez, mitch, that sucks. Those are issues I had not thought about before, thank you. I would like to find something close to where I will be working, but first I have to find a job in the area  and hope my house sells fast before my son start high school in the fall.