Recently ran a poll on my site. I already knew what the outcome would be but wanted to make it official.
Of the people who took my pool asking how long they had been looking slightly over 46% have been looking longer than my clients take to find a home which is usually 4-7 hours.
Nearly 1/3 of those polled have been and are still looking after 2 months!!!!!! What??
Almost 20% that are still looking for a single rental property have searched online for over 3 Months!!!!!!!
This is absolutely crazy!
So again, this year 2012. If you think looking online is the answer to finding a rental you are wrong wrong wrong UNLESS you have alot of time and patience.
You're also going to need to know about lease laws, lease agreement, lead based paint requirements, pet deposits, human deposits, when you get your money back interest rate on deposits, transfer clauses, owner transfer clauses, damage fees, walk throughs and the list goes on and on yet people still think they can do this on there own without a hitch.
If you think for one moment that the owner of the home you are about rent is on your side you can take that happy thought and throw it away. It is a FACT that most For Rent by Owners will overprice there homes. It is also a fact that they may use an illegal lease that they pulled off the Internet. Oh, and you have to hope that person who is showing you the house who says is the owner IS actually the owner. Perhaps you are dealing directly with a real owner who is going through foreclosure. Do you really think they are going tell you? NO WAY! People getting scammed every day on that one.
Let me give you a little advice OK?
Use a professional who does rentals like us. One afternoon is all it takes, you know the price will be right, you know that the owner is the owner, you know that the lease you sign is an acceptable fair and legal document.
What's wrong with that....Comon tell me.