Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

:confused:Hi All,

I'm so excited to have found this site!! I am in the process of moving to CA following a year in Atlanta, GA. I am so homesick and feel the desperate urge to wrap myself in a Union Jack and eat beans on toast and hob nobs!

I'm having a really tough time finding a place in the East Bay area that will rent to me becuase I don't have solid credit here. I rather feel like pretty woman (minus the loose morals or great looks!). Can any of you offer any advice? I've applied to 7 houses thus far and all have been rejected despite me offering to pay 6 or 12 months upfront. I'm going a bit loopy!!

Thanks,
Lisa

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Have you tried going through a real estate agent to look for rentals.
What part of the east bay are you looking at, it's a pretty big area.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

I've tried working with an agent, who is also a friend. We've looked at both personal and commercial listings. Apparently there is some widely based scam involving people in UK trying to get money from people in CA..?
Yes, sorry, focussed on Pleasant Hill-I meant to say that!

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Weird I hadn't heard about it.
But if you are doing the renting and giving them the money how would they think you are the scammer, they would be if they got the money and had no house to rent :confused:

Maybe you'll have to do it in person, stay in a long stay place like Residence inn and rent after you have been in person to look at the homes, met the landlord etc and paid the deposit.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Thank you so much Mummy-I was beginning to think that I'm just loopy! I am an honest, hard working woman. I had my own business & home in UK but sold it all to move to GA for a man-well, not quite a man as it turns out!! So I'm moving to CA to be close to friends and family. I'm fortunate to have them all but can't bear the thought of living on someone's sofa. Can it really be this difficult to find a place to rent?! Thanks for your understanding.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Are you on good terms with your current landlord? Giving the new (prospective) landlord their phone number might help, particularly if you can also offer three months' rent up front, or something like that.

I think you'll have better luck when you get here and can look through Craigslist and actually visit the houses as soon as they become available. But I understand your dread of couchsurfing for a few weeks!

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

There's a good 'Oakwood' (corporate apartments) in Pleasant Hill, right by the bart station. I put my family up there one visit, years ago. You should have no trouble getting a 'monthly' deal there, until such time as you can find a real place. As others have said, once you are 'here', it will be so much easier to find a place.

http://www.oakwood.com/corporate-apa...k/prop322.html

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Is there any real estate advisor contact availible or any site
to locate them easily.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Thank you all for your replies. I am actually in East Bay now looking for places. I'm up to 12 declines now. Last reason was 'we're concerned that a woman living here alone would find it too difficult to maintain this property'. Oookk!! Let's see what other fun and exciting reasons I can add over the next few days!! Keep calm and carry on!!

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Why would you have to maintain a rented property?

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

If she's looking at a house, then there may be issues of garden maintenance, etc? I'm not sure how the rules work for that sort of thing but I can imagine that a landlord could require the tenant to maintain the garden ('yard').

As an aside, I was speaking with my friend's nephew last night, who rents an apartment in San Francisco. He said rents are going sky high in the bay area. He's a young kid, with a good job, and lots of $ saved up for a down payment, but no one will loan him money to buy a place - you now need 20% down to be considered for a loan ... so he, like many others, is forced to rent. This is putting upward pressure on rents and, one may presume, gives landlords the ability to be super fussy.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

SF is a strange market - on the sales side I have been looking and the last three properties I wanted to go and look at all sold within 3 days and at full price.

On the rental side, the landlords have a lot of their (rent controlled, don't forget) tenants on less than half the market rate - this distorts the rental market and makes it especially expensive for new entrants.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

In case garden maintenance is an issue, we pay $50 for someone who mows our lawns, weeds, trims the shrubs etc. every other week. $40-$50 a month is pretty standard for that here.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

I forgot about rent control and the effect it has on the market ... landlords are super-fussy about who they let in because it is next to impossible to get rid of them! Couple that with upward pricing pressure and I can imagine it's going to be impossible to get in the market without impeccable credentials.

Re: Looking to rent in East Bay, CA
 

Hi Lisa
I have just moved to the Walnut Creek area this week as my husband's company relocated us. We are in a temporary apartment at Archstone which is pretty good. We are searching for a long term rental so we may encounter similar issues. I am really looking to make some new friends. Let me know how youbare getting on and perhaps we could look out for places for each other? Michelle :)