Finding house to rent in florida

[mrskal]

I am starting to look at rental houses in Orlando,Florida, from Illinois. Can anyone direct me on the best place to look? I am just trying to get a feel for what is out there, and how much they are. Dont plan on renting till at least Sept, probably October. My husband is there now working, so he can look at places, I am just trying to do a little of the searching from here. I have tried craigslist, all scams, except maybe the apartment complexes and a few houses. I cant tell you how many I emailed only to find out they are in Nigeria for work and once they get my deposit they will get me the keys. Ha! Oh yah, and dont worry about that for sale sign in front of the house (yes, they give you address) we took it off the market, but the realtor did not take down the sign. Unfortunately they are probably getting some sucker to believe this. I have heard, it should not be a problem to find something, as many houses are for rent. Hopefully that is true.
Thanks in advance!

(ps, I have 4 dogs! hope I can find something!)

[ryan]

See if you can find a 'Rental Agency' in Orlando..there should be a number of them.

Try calling a few Realtors and see if they do rentals or who they refer people to if they don't. You really need to get in the heavy contact mode and start getting referred around until you hit a good rental agent. Craigslist can be useful, but I agree it has a lot of scams. Also check online classified sites of local newspapers.

As a former landlord, I can tell you 4 dogs will narrow your rental opportunities. ...and you'll probably need to pay a larger security.

[debtprison]

You still should be able to find a personal landlord (not a property management company) willing to rent you a home. Homes are more friendly fro people with debt problems than apartments because apartments tend to be ran by property management companies who insist on credit checks.

When you go to rent the place from a personal landlord keep in mind that appearances can mean a lot. Many will decide whether to rent to you orn not in great part due to "gut instinct" in addition to your perceived ability to pay and not cause trouble. Make sure to dress nice and try to act somewhat formal.

Poinciana (within kissimmee) is one area where you will find a lot of rental houses for cheaper amounts by private landlords. It will mean a little commute to Orlando however. Drive by. Check the papers.

[mrskal]

Thanks, very much. That Poinciana does have nice homes and they are cheap, but too far for us to travel. My husband got a contact from one of his friends down there, so that is where we will start.

[ryan]

Just to add, I would not completely avoid apt complexes if there are nice ones you think might be suitable.

I did some initial searching this past week and was getting interest from bigger apt complexes even after I explained the pending FC and poor credit...Being a former landlord I can tell you I might have been very willing to consider certain credit issues, BUT would not have been too keen to display that info in an AD online or in newspapers.

What I'm finding is many big complexes may be operating with the same reasoning. They don;t want to broadcast, "Everybody with Crappy Credit, come see us!!" BUT, privately discussing this with them may uncover opportunities not advertised.

I will say 2 out of three I called were optimistic I could meet their current criteria.
Just something to think about.

[mrskal]

Thanks Ryan, no apartments for me though, that would mean walking my dogs, plus we would probably get kicked out for barking. LOL I need a fenced in yard. LOL We have been in contact with a lady (realtor) that lists rental houses. It is just a start to see what is out there, she sent us three listings today. One looked like a dump, the other to were nice looking, but a little too far from work I think. I may be a little early on this, she said most list for rent 30-45 days out. I think we are looking for at least 2 months out, maybe 3. I plan on taking a trip down there next month to take some time and get a feel for different areas too. At least she can keep a look out of the MLS rental listings for us.

The lady also said, the credit may not be an issue, especially in Florida, there are lots of houses sitting empty, and they mostly want to see you have an income and have been employed consistantly.

[DaddyDavid]

Drive around and find a private landlord.

More often, a BK or foreclosure won't hamper your rental ability, as that becomes more common. Lots of people are struggling not to lose their properties so are more liberal with requirements. Also, that state I believe, allows collections of first, last and a month's deposit- that is a lot off bucks. But if you can offer to prepay even more, that will up your chances with a private landlord. Pitfall: he may be on the edge for foreclosing the rental property, so you have a lot of cash at risk if that happens.