I recommend that you hit up the MLS, Zillow (http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/) and Trulia (http://www.trulia.com/for_rent/Somerville,MA/map_v). HotPads (http://hotpads.com/) was good during my recent search. PadMapper (http://www.padmapper.com) still exists and does pull listings off of Craigslist. (There are plenty of free MLS lookup services — I used MLS Property Information Network (http://mlslistingsmassachusetts.com).)
One of the problems with Craigslist, and, for that matter, most real estate agents' sites, is that they will tell you "5 minutes to Davis Square" when it's more likely that honesty would say, "On Somerville side of the line at Porter Square". Also, because of the MLS being what it is, everyone tends to list the same apartment, and that's before Craigslist spammers. Using Zillow, Trulia, HotPads, PadMapper — all of those work off of a map. You can figure out where a listing is in relation to where you actually want to be.
My process was usually this order: HotPads / PadMapper → MLS → contact original listing agent as listed on the MLS.
I found that based on cross-referencing listings that looked good, I could often find out the exact address. As a result, I would compile information on each likely apartment and get a good vibe of what was going on. I learnt about who owned the buildings from the tax assessor's database, and with some rudimentary Googling, i could find out how many properties they owned in the area. It gave me an idea of the scope of the landlord I was dealing with. The guy who owned 20 properties was much more flexible than the company that held 300 or the owner-occupier who was renting out one. (The guy with a moderate number wasn't interviewing for his own neighbour, as the owner-occupier did, and the larger management companies had an unending supply of rules and regulations.)
Most owners and landlords were contacting one real estate agent, who published it on the MLS subsequently. But only that one real estate agent that was in the original listing had been brought through the apartment and likely taken most of the photographs. Often, that real estate agent had dealt with that owner's properties several times before and could give me a good analysis of what sort of landlord they were, what sort of tenants they were looking for, what the strengths of the property were, & c. A few listings were exclusive, but not very many.
If you get a local friend to help, you may wish to ask them to visit the places with a real estate agent, and to give you their notes, as well as taking some photos that weren't screened by a real estate agent. If there's a finalist, beg that friend to go to the place at 10 p.m. one night and figure out if, for example, that kitschy restaurant across the street turns into a really loud bar, or that the parking lot is used for drug deals, & c. Or if they can swing by one morning before work, is there an industrial garage across the street? (I realise this is above and beyond for many people, but if you have a friend who's willing, it's the sort of errand-running that you would do, if you were in town.)
The assessor's office usually has sketches of the layouts, which can help you figure out what the actual size and layout of an apartment is. Real estate agents are better than glamour photographers in terms of figuring out favorable angles to make something small look a lot bigger. (If you aren't very spatial — I'm not — you might want to plot out how much space you have on graph paper and grab the dimensions of furniture off IKEA's website — for instance, a Klippan loveseat is 71 inches wide by 35 inches deep, and try to figure out what will actually fit in each room. IKEA lists all their furniture dimensions, many other furnishing companies don't. I don't usually go in for much IKEA, but being able to figure out "a typical couch is about so big" or "a queen-sized bed is like so" can help you figure out if you can even fit yourself in those rooms.)
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RE: Renting from abroad is a special challenge.
Date: 2014-06-24 05:09 am (UTC)I recommend that you hit up the MLS, Zillow (http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/) and Trulia (http://www.trulia.com/for_rent/Somerville,MA/map_v). HotPads (http://hotpads.com/) was good during my recent search. PadMapper (http://www.padmapper.com) still exists and does pull listings off of Craigslist. (There are plenty of free MLS lookup services — I used MLS Property Information Network (http://mlslistingsmassachusetts.com).)
One of the problems with Craigslist, and, for that matter, most real estate agents' sites, is that they will tell you "5 minutes to Davis Square" when it's more likely that honesty would say, "On Somerville side of the line at Porter Square". Also, because of the MLS being what it is, everyone tends to list the same apartment, and that's before Craigslist spammers. Using Zillow, Trulia, HotPads, PadMapper — all of those work off of a map. You can figure out where a listing is in relation to where you actually want to be.
My process was usually this order: HotPads / PadMapper → MLS → contact original listing agent as listed on the MLS.
I found that based on cross-referencing listings that looked good, I could often find out the exact address. As a result, I would compile information on each likely apartment and get a good vibe of what was going on. I learnt about who owned the buildings from the tax assessor's database, and with some rudimentary Googling, i could find out how many properties they owned in the area. It gave me an idea of the scope of the landlord I was dealing with. The guy who owned 20 properties was much more flexible than the company that held 300 or the owner-occupier who was renting out one. (The guy with a moderate number wasn't interviewing for his own neighbour, as the owner-occupier did, and the larger management companies had an unending supply of rules and regulations.)
Most owners and landlords were contacting one real estate agent, who published it on the MLS subsequently. But only that one real estate agent that was in the original listing had been brought through the apartment and likely taken most of the photographs. Often, that real estate agent had dealt with that owner's properties several times before and could give me a good analysis of what sort of landlord they were, what sort of tenants they were looking for, what the strengths of the property were, & c. A few listings were exclusive, but not very many.
If you get a local friend to help, you may wish to ask them to visit the places with a real estate agent, and to give you their notes, as well as taking some photos that weren't screened by a real estate agent. If there's a finalist, beg that friend to go to the place at 10 p.m. one night and figure out if, for example, that kitschy restaurant across the street turns into a really loud bar, or that the parking lot is used for drug deals, & c. Or if they can swing by one morning before work, is there an industrial garage across the street? (I realise this is above and beyond for many people, but if you have a friend who's willing, it's the sort of errand-running that you would do, if you were in town.)
The assessor's office usually has sketches of the layouts, which can help you figure out what the actual size and layout of an apartment is. Real estate agents are better than glamour photographers in terms of figuring out favorable angles to make something small look a lot bigger. (If you aren't very spatial — I'm not — you might want to plot out how much space you have on graph paper and grab the dimensions of furniture off IKEA's website — for instance, a Klippan loveseat is 71 inches wide by 35 inches deep, and try to figure out what will actually fit in each room. IKEA lists all their furniture dimensions, many other furnishing companies don't. I don't usually go in for much IKEA, but being able to figure out "a typical couch is about so big" or "a queen-sized bed is like so" can help you figure out if you can even fit yourself in those rooms.)