Apartment hunting

[Frodo]

There is truth to the saying that if it's too good to be true, it probably is.  I have been trying to look for an apartment in the DC area for under $800 per month (figuring this year would be the best time to look, given we are in the depths of a recession -and I still have a job in a unionized workplace), and have tried out the magazines you find on street-stands, as well as Craigs List, all of which have been found wanting.  I thought I found a jewel when surfing Craigs List, when I came across a mid-1990s condo-for-rent ($690) right behind the FBI bldg, until I tried to verify its address with the U.S. Postal Service.  It seems it never existed. Luckily I never gave out sensitive information.

If I may ask, how did you all find your apartments? 

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I know Craiglist is really good for looking for roommates. Maybe not full apartments, though.

As far as full apartments go, you'll find a lot of sleazy realtors and companies on CL showing places that don't exist or have already rented just to reel in new clients.  Generally, these are the "too good to be true" listings.  It's cheaper to look on your own, but if you don't have much success there, you may have to resort to a rental company.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

When I moved here, I looked up a sublease on Craigslist, and moved into that for 5 monhs. Near the end of that I started looking for my current apartment. It consisted somewhat of looking in ads, but mostly honestly just hanging out in neighborhoods I liked, and looking for "For Rent" signs and phone numbers. The one I eventually moved into wasn't one I saw advertised, but was owned by the same collective that owned one I inquired about, and it fit me better.

And honestly that's be the best way. Mr. Moderate is right about Craigslist. Try looking directly.

[Frodo]

Well, I came across an apartment near the Courthouse Metro station (only a few minutes away), and is within walking distance to all the places I deem critical -grocery store (Whole Foods), CVS Pharmacy, movie theater, bars, restaraunts.  I know because I have personally seen the apartment building and walked the surrounding areas.  According to the ad, it is a two-bedroom for $900/month in a relatively new apartment complex.  That's not bad at all, considering most studios in relatively nice apartments in the DC area within walking distance to Metrorail cost at least $1,000.  I am not about to complain about an extra bedroom...

Now, here are the hangups -the owner is currently living in Liverpool, England, and wants to use Rent.com (a subsidiary of eBay) to handle our financial transactions once we do our walkthrough (my mother is coming for that), and -assuming that goes well and nothing is out of order- sign the contract. 

Craigs List says to beware of absentee owners who want to use third parties, but my sister (with extensive experience in renting apartments) says that Rent.com should be fine since it is a major company (especially with eBay as its owner) which would likely not be associated with anything shady. 

So, what do you think?

[Joe Biden 2020]

I used Rent.com and Apartments.com to look for my apartment.  I didn't go through either of them other than to get the address and get in contact with the complex.  Once I had their local number, I dropped the third party.

I did find my Dallas apartment with rent.com and even got a $100 Visa gift card for signing my lease.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The internet sucks in general for this. Like I said, get on the ground, find your stuff there. Or at least the paper's classifieds, they tend to be more legit.

That sounds sort of...I don't know, too good to be true likely. So in such an expensive area it'd be $450 a month with a roommate? Great if true but...

[Alcon]

apartmentratings.com is a helpful web site if the place is big enough to have reviews.  Also worth checking if there's a management company and looking up their other properties.

Edit: Just one thing to add you might already know, that I found out when searching for my place.  Apartments may be the most complained-about thing on the Internet.  If you find a place with "OK" reviews, it's probably perfectly good.  If some place is getting trashed like hell online, I'd worry then, but the average place is pretty badly rated.

[opebo]

I haven't rented an apartment in years in the US.. if I remember it was always incredibly difficult.

Here I pay about $85/month for my studio apartment.. friend of mine just rented a decent but not fantastic house for $150.. think he was ripped off a little.  But prices around here are getting high.