We all hear about “the market” and the horrors of looking for a house right now. But what does the housing market have to do with the rental market? Well, they tend to mirror each other. With prices in home sales increasing, market rental rates increase, as well. Trying to find a rental to meet your needs can be just as difficult as trying to find a home to buy. Personally, I know we tend to post more “Coming Soon” ads than we do “For Rent”. Why? By the time the home is actually available, we have a stack of qualified applications to sort through that are willing to sign a lease sight unseen. It’s not ideal, but it’s a fierce game right now. As frustrating as that can make any potential rental move, it just leads to the need to be over prepared.
- Make sure you know your credit score. It will be essential in helping your application land further up in the pile.
- Have your personal and professional recommendations lined up and ready to answer a call! We understand not everyone has a perfect credit score. Stuff happens. Heck, I got roped into opening up a credit card at the ripe age of 18 for a store at the mall not understanding that there was a monthly minimum. Six months and a call from collections later, I learned to read the fine print. That reality shock took some time to work off of my credit history. Sometimes these recommendations can help us understand a person better than an application.
- Know the terms of your current lease, if you’re in one. Make sure you are giving proper notice and have the correct move out date.
- Set up alerts on housing websites! You can add specific filters and receive e-mails when a property meeting your criteria becomes available.
- Most important, start looking early. Do not wait until the absolute last minute to begin your search.
As long as you have your ducks in a row, finding a rental should be just a bit easier.