Table of Contents
How to find a house in houses for rent near my location
Table of Content
- How to find a house in houses for rent near my location
- The 7 best home rental websites of 2022
- How to find houses for rent near me, step by step
- Step 1: Choose your neighborhood
- Step 2: Go to the chosen website
- Step 3: Use filters
- Step 4: Read the listings
- Step 5. Hire a real estate agent
- Step 6. Check your local newspaper
- Step 7. Drive through the desired neighborhood
- Step 8. Use social networks
- Step 9. Check local bulletin boards
- Step 10. Negotiate with the owner of a vacation rental property
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to rent your next home, you may be wondering how to find houses for rent. There seem to be endless listing sites for flat rentals, but houses can be a bit more difficult to find.
Fortunately, there are several sites that aggregate listings, allowing you to search for your dream rental home. Here’s a roundup of the best home rental sites for 2022.
The 7 best home rental websites of 2022
The best home rental sites allow you to search in different ways, based on various criteria. For example, you may be interested in a particular ZIP code, or you may only want to view homes with at least two bedrooms. Some sites even let you search for specific amenities, like a washer and dryer or a balcony.
1.MLS
The MLS, or Multiple Listing Service, is possibly the best place to find rental housing. It originally began over a century ago as a networking tool for real estate agents, but today it is a comprehensive online searchable database of homes for both sale and rent.
Technically, the MLS is a connected network of 700 regional databases, so it’s best to search the one that covers the area you plan to live in. It can usually be accessed through the real estate section of a city’s website.
2.Zillow
Launched in 2006, Zillow is a massive map-based real estate marketplace that connects renters and homeowners, as well as home buyers and sellers. You can search by city or zip code, and narrow your results based on a wide range of criteria, including number of bathrooms, square footage, and year the home was built. You can also search directly on the map, zooming in to see exactly where each property is located and what’s around it.
3. Craigslist
Craigslist can be a good starting point, but be careful. This open marketplace for everything from jobs to services allows you to post free ads and doesn’t screen ads. Meet the prospective owner in public, bring someone with you to tour the property, and ask lots of questions. Make sure you get a written lease if you decide to rent the house.
4.PadMapper
PadMapper is another map-based listing tool that is quite intuitive and easy to use. It lists a bunch of apartments and rooms for rent, so you’ll have to go to the filters and click “home” on the type. By default, the tool also shows Airbnb properties, so in the additional section, click on “exclude Airbnb”.
5. Realtor.com
Realtor.com focuses primarily on homes for sale, but has a good number of rental listings as well. It shouldn’t be your only search site, as you’ll find more listings elsewhere, but it can be a great supplemental source, as the listings are very detailed with lots of information about the homes.
6. Hot Pads
HotPads focuses more on apartments than single-family homes, but you’ll also find a reasonable number of houses. A particularly interesting function is the possibility of entering the location of your work to see the duration of the journey by car, on foot, by bicycle or by public transport.
7. Rent.com
The biggest strength that Rent.com offers is its robust set of filters. Just click on the elements that are important to you, from wooden floors to built-in cabinets. There are not as many rental houses on the site as others, but it can be a great solution for those who know exactly what they want.
8. RentMLS.com
RentMLS.com is a website where you can search for houses for rent – sometimes you can find houses for rent to own if that is something you are considering. When you use this site, you can enter a variety of search criteria, including:
- State and city
- Type of lease (rental, lease, or rent/lease)
- Type of rental (senior housing, military housing, timeshare, student housing)
- Type of property (single-family home, condo, townhome, etc.)
- Number of rooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Rental price range (daily, weekly, monthly)
You can register on the site and create a House Hunter search agent. To do this, you will have to choose the state in which you want to find a rental and follow the instructions that appear on the screen. Once you have filled in your search criteria, your “agent” will automatically notify you if there are any matches.
How to find houses for rent near me, step by step
Step 1: Choose your neighborhood
All of the best home rental sites allow you to search by zip code, not just city. To weed out homes that aren’t where you want to be, research the city ahead of time and narrow your search to a select zip code or two.
Step 2: Go to the chosen website
Go to the website you want to search for and enter the selected zip code. Depending on the site, you will have to specify what you want to search for, such as Rentals or Houses or both.
Step 3: Use the filters
Take a moment to play with the filters. At a minimum, you probably know how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, and how much you want to pay per month. But the best home rental websites also let you filter listings based on amenities, like a washer and dryer in the home, as well as whether the home is pet-friendly. The more specific your search, the better chance you have of finding the house of your dreams.
Step 4: Read the listings
Please read each ad carefully and take a good look at the photos. While most apartment complexes have floor plans that indicate the exact size of each room, most rental housing advertisements do not. However, if you pay attention to the ads, you can get a pretty good idea. It is also possible that you find personal elements that impede access, such as stairs or the absence of a backyard.
Step 5. Hire a real estate agent
A real estate agent doesn’t just know how to buy or sell houses: they can help you find a rental house in any area (sometimes they are the only way to find rentals in metropolitan areas). You might be able to find a real estate office that also offers property management services. An agent could search properties managing a vacancy or even ask other offices for leads.
Another good thing about hiring a real estate agent is that they have many contacts. So even if his office doesn’t have vacancies, he may have clients who are moving but don’t necessarily want to sell their house.
Step 6. Check your local newspaper
We may use the Internet 99% of the time for everything, but that doesn’t mean the newspaper isn’t completely obsolete. People still use the local newspaper to advertise homes for rent. The good thing about using the newspaper is that you are not limited to your local newspaper.
Let’s say you want to move across the country and are looking for rental properties. You’ll probably use online tools to find homes, but you can also turn to national newspapers like The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, NY Daily News and the Daily Press.
Step 7. Drive through the desired neighborhood
Sunday car rides aren’t just for sightseeing. The next time you go out for a drive, take a tour of the neighborhoods that interest you; you might find “House For Rent” signs.
This works well in college towns, near hospitals or shopping malls, public transportation hubs, and even tourist destinations (near the beach, the mountains, theme parks, and the like).
Step 8. Use social networks
Social media is an important part of our lives, and will likely continue to be. As of January 2021, there were approximately 190 million Facebook users in the United States alone.
Of all those members, there is someone in your area who wants to rent their house. You can find these rentals by joining a local rental group or local community group ( over 620 million groups ) and the marketplace.
When you’re in these groups, you can make a post asking for hints or browse the group using the search function. To find rentals on the marketplace, you can use the “Categories” tab and search for the “Rentals” category or use the search function.
Step 9. Check local bulletin boards
If you don’t want to sign up for a Facebook account and don’t want to try to scrutinize Craigslist ads, the next option is the bulletin boards. Almost every post office, library, community center or grocery store has a bulletin board where residents post ads for various things, even houses for rent!
However, we advise you to be cautious when viewing these advertisements, both for your safety and for your wallet.
Step 10. Negotiate with the owner of a vacation rental home
Vacation rental apps and sites like Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway are a great place to find rentals for that weekend getaway, but did you know you can search for long-term rentals?
You can find some hosts that offer monthly discounts, but if you’re trying to book a rental during a “low” season, you may be able to contact the owner directly to work out a deal. It won’t be a long-term solution, but it might give you a few more months to find something more permanent.
Conclusion
Finding a rental house can be a bit more complicated than finding an apartment, but there are several websites that will help you. Visit a few and play around with their filters to come up with a list of homes worth visiting in person.
Frequent questions
What is the best website to find houses for rent near me?
It depends on your priorities. The most comprehensive listings are often found on your local MLS, while sites like Rent.com and PadMapper have creative filtering options.
Is it expensive to rent a house?
Not necessarily. It depends on the neighborhood. In some cities, like New Orleans, there are many single-family homes for rent, and prices are competitive with apartment complexes. In other places, such as parts of New York City, independent rental houses are rare and very expensive.
Is it safe to rent a house on Craigslist?
It can be, but you need to take steps to protect yourself. Always meet in a public place and bring someone with you. Ask lots of questions and put everything in writing.
Are the rental houses pet friendly?
Many are, but not all. Use the filters on your chosen home rental website to find homes that accept the size and type of pet you have.