headspin

We've finally had the confirmation that we're relocating from Sydney to San Francisco (with 3 kids - after the last move nearly 3 yrs ago to Oz I think I need my head read).

There seems to be a huge disparity between rental prices between Craigs List and Trulia/Zillow. Is this as simple as fees? Should we be looking at Craigs List - or is it a proceed with caution, tale.

Has anyone rented through Craigs List?

Pulaski

There's no fees for craigslist, zillow, or trulia, neither for landlords nor tenants, so "fees" is not the explanation for the difference. Nor are there fees for postlets, RentJungle, Rentenna, Zumper, MapLiv, RentMatch, AOL Real Estate, LiveLovely, Enormo, nor a bunch of other rental web sites.

If there is a marked difference between the prices I would suggest that there is a difference in the quality of the houses/ units and/ or the neighborhoods. ..... Or craigslist has some bargains. I would also guess that perhaps, given the reputation that craigslist has acquired, landlords of "nicer" homes are staying clear of craigslist.

GeoffM

CL can be dodgy - out of town landlords, fees before you even see the place, etc, etc. That said, our first property in the US was found on CL, and apparently was the only place that the landlords listed their dozen or so properties on. Nice house, well maintained, good landlord.

headspin

Thank you!

So hard getting a handle on things from so far away. If you rent - any idea of the time frame houses turn around in? Here in Sydney you're looking at a week or two from first looking, to moving in. Much faster than our experience in the UK (including London).

From what I've read, I'm getting a tad jumpy about how hard it is to get a rental property without a US rental record. It was similar when we moved from the UK to Aus, but a letter from the company etc sorted it out. Hoping that will be the case in the US too.

And then there's schools.

Urgh.

*headondesk*

Pulaski

Rentals can move very quickly, just a day or two for credit and background checks. Some, but not all turn over on calendar months, so a private landlord might take a month between rentals for cleaning and repairs.

I suspect that most private landlords renting directly are less concerned about credit history than corporate lets and management agencies.

FinnDiego

That's generally been my experience too, plus being able to talk to an actual human being vs. a corporation with a process helps. I wouldn't anticipate too much trouble when renting a family home and having a good verifiable job, but that will of course depend on how competitive the local market is. I'd expect San Francisco area landlords are used to newcomers...

My San Diego landlord (or their agent) did actually check on my references from Canada. Didn't expect that!

Here in San Diego rentals is all about Craigslist, never even bothered looking elsewhere. As usual you'll really want to be in town first.

headspin

Yeah. Just trying to figure things out before the off. Caught in a schools/catchment/rentals catch 22.

Joy.

Been here before. Gah.

Thanks for the advice - really helpful.

md95065

Rentals by private landlords typically don't show up until they are ready to rent (or, at most, a week or two prior to that if there is a tenant scheduled to move out).

Rentals in the Bay Area that are reasonably priced for the location and the condition of the property tend to move pretty quickly. If something has been on the market for more than a few weeks without being rented there is probably a reason for it.

Pulaski

That's kinda what I meant, that a privately rented home will go vacant, have repairs and maintenance done, then be advertised when it is (very close to) ready to rent.

GeoffM

Ours was put up on CL on the Tuesday, I phoned and we met on the Wednesday, and we had the keys by Friday. Private landlord, no credit check when she saw my 999 UK Experian score and report. She said her properties in the area tend to move fairly fast. This is not SF though!

One rental down the road from us has been vacant for 9 months and is now being sold instead. Nothing obviously wrong with it.

Our second rental did do a credit check, private landlord again but this time through a realtor.

sherbert

I found my place in SoCal through Craigslist. I was very wary at first due to all the horror stories about CL but you just have to be careful as others have said: in high turnover areas if something is on CL for weeks, there's something wrong with it, if the price is significantly lower than average for something AMAZING there's something dodgy going on, never give money to 'prove you're really interested' before being able to see the property (credit check fee of around $20-40 AFTER you've seen the property and expressed interested is normal). CA housing agencies, as far as I know, are obliged by anti-discrimination laws to accept the first person who expresses interest and passes the credit check so be at open houses early or get the first appointment of the day if you can and move fast if you want something.

Without credit history you're much better off going for a private landlord as they will be more lenient on the credit check (ours didn't do one, we offered double deposit - he refused that - and showed him the balance of our bank accounts to prove that we had significant funds and explained that we are not used to living on credit etc.)

Properties turnover fast and you'll see most properties 'available now' rather than in a few month's time. I highly suggest that you come over and spend the first month or even two in an airbnb/vacation rental while working out where to live and the system as you will need to see several properties before you get one.

N1cky

We found all 3 of our rentals through Craigslist, and all 3 were represented by an agency.

The first rental we had when we moved to the US (LA), we printed off our UK Experian credit report, and brought 6 months bank statements and husbands job offer letter with us. We explained to the agent that we had just moved so had no credit score in the US, the agent was fine with that.

We're now in the Bay Area, (Mountain View) and things are much more competitive, with houses often being leased within hours of them being advertised. I presume the situation around Pacifica will be similar. My advise is to go to every rental viewing prepared, take a copy of your Oz Credit Report, your job offer letter, references, bank statements. If you like the house, speak to the agent/owner and explain your situation, while you are there, and if you want the house make it clear right then and there and offer the pack to them.

A word of warning, summer in Pacifica is often under a blanket of fog. I know a couple of people who lived there and moved because they said it was just too depressing getting in their car everyday to drive south to go to the park... in the sunshine.

Good luck!

Bob

I've found our last places all on Craigslist and it's been good....but I've also compared going rates and quality of places against those listed on other sites.

Padmapper the last time around was handy as you are able to track what places you've seen, how long places have been listed and filter out by what you're looking for.

Do need to be careful about scams on craigs, especially about providing info on applications before seeing the place, in case who you give it to is just some random person who now has your SSN and background history or taking money for the application but has already found a tenant...but also be careful about handing over cash for the deposit.

Thing with fee's, depends on local market, but if landlord is using a realtor, who lists it, you might be on the hook for paying the fee if it's a landlords market, if it isn't then you shouldn't have to pay it.

Credit check could run $20-60 either for everyone on the lease or just for one person. If you get one done, you should be allowed to use that same report for any other rental applications done within a few days before being asked to do another check. They'll be pretty meaningless though, so you should be prepared to offer a larger deposit.

jackattack

Check the school district. There are some good and some mildly mediocre schools in Pacifica. That could explain the difference in rental price.

headspin

Brilliant Advice. Thank you. Really practical help.

We have a couple of reasons for looking at Pacifica - one is that my Sister-in-Law used to live there and she liked it. Mildly lame reason - but the only connection we have.

Other places we were looking were around San Mateo/Redwood/Oakland but the neighbourhoods seem to vary enormously as do the schools. The districts seem to cover a smaller geographical area and therefore when looking at both elementary and middle school (with an eye on high school) I worry that they could be split three ways and fall the wrong side of the district divide and end up in a poor school.

Schools are our driver (that and cost). Please, if you have any recommendations for area and school - please say. We have looked at areas further out (Walnut Creek, Lafayette) for better value houses and less of a roll of the dice for schools - but the commute is epic to get into SF.

We are flying partially blind (with only Google as our guide). So, please, suggest away.