<p>Has anyone ever rented an apartment without seeing it? </p>
<p>I’m going to be moving across country and what it would cost me to rent a hotel (plus pet rental) for a few days is like half a months rent. It would be more cost effective to just rent something ahead of time. There is an apartment reviews website that I was looking at and found an apartment in my price range with okay reviews that is close to my school. I’m thinking about contacting the property management and asking if they will rent to me ahead of time. Is that a bad idea?</p>
<p>My D and her husband rented their place sight unseen, sort of. When she was visiting all the schools where she had been accepted for graduate school, some of the graduate students drove the accepted students around and showed them where they lived in town. She did not see the inside of the place, but did see the location and outside. When she decided on that school, she called the manager of the townhouse “neighborhood” and rented a unit sight unseen. They were very happy with it when they moved in last week! </p>
<p>If you have no one to look at it for you ahead of time, could you could ask for a cause on your contract that says if you find it not to be what was advertised, you can move out after one month?</p>
<p>My D rented sight unseen a couple of times for apartments on the other side of the country. She (and I) researched the apartments on the net and it’s fairly easy to do reasonably well with that research. We used Google streetview and Bing Maps Bird’s Eye view to get a very good idea of the apartment complex and the surrounding area. You can check for the complex on the review sites but you need to take that info with a grain of salt since dissatisfied people are much more likely to post on those sites than satisfied ones.</p>
<p>In both cases my D arranged it so the apartment was available the day she arrived so she didn’t need to stay in a hotel.</p>
<p>Both times the complexes were very nice and were as they were expected to be.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for something near a school there’s a chance that someone on CC might be familiar with the complex or other ones and might be able to provide insight.</p>
<p>I would not rent sight unseen in a city with which I am not familiar. We recently helped S rent an apartment in a different city. We looked at many many ads, all of them with pictures. But when we got there, the most promising turned out not to be appropriate. The location was iffy, the layout was awkward, some even showed signs of mold, etc… S did choose an apartment from among the list we’d identified, taking into account such things as safety, closeness to campus but also to supermarket, public transport, etc…</p>
<p>^^ It really depends on the area. The location my D rented was a location we had never been to but it was in more of a suburb area than right in a big city and the whole area was somewhat upscale. Before committing we knew where the grocery was, the bus stops, the location of her internship facility relative to the apartment, etc. Renting it sight unseen was fine for that location but I agree that it would have been more difficult if it was, say, in urban Chicago or someplace where there are more unknown variables. </p>
<p>It’s also easier to do for a larger apartment complex versus a small one where there might not be much info available.</p>
<p>The internet has so much info available on it. My D was able to see a photo of the inside of her apartment in Sydney before she got there for a semester abroad. She googled images of the address and a previous tenant had posted photos. I imagine you can get at least some info by using every search engine imaginable if you are lucky.</p>
<p>colleges have off campus housing offices, or at least aperson in some office who keeps lists,posts openings,etc. If you can get ahold of that person perhaps they would have info for you on that particular housing complex.
If you are going to be a graduate student rather than an undergrad, the Graduate School(the overall administrative unit) should have good housing info for you, as well as the students who are already in your dep’t.
D was helped when she was looking for an apt by people already in her dep’t, and in turn has helped others with the “drive around tour”.</p>
<p>I have rented an apt. for my S sight unseen.Second time. UC___dad is correct, you can search the area using Google and also there is a sight called apartmentratings.com. There were several that looked good, but then I asked them to send me pictures of interior and found things that marite mentioned. I also went bit higher in rent. We will find out this Tuesday if the decision was right or not.</p>
<p>"taking into account such things as safety, closeness to campus but also to supermarket, public transport, etc… "</p>
<p>I also took those things under consideration. He won’t have car (good for me).</p>
<p>We also looked at apartmentratings.com The apartment that we eventually decided on was in a building that was only two years old, so it was not on the ratings; but because it was only two years old, it was in very good condition. I believe there was only one renter of the apartment. Some newly converted apartments had very odd configurations.
Some of issues we were concerned about are quite specific to the city. One or two blocks made a huge difference; it would not be the case in our city. This different vibe could not be seen in the mapquest, googlemap. So much may depend on which city or town the OP is thinking about.</p>
<p>apartmentratings.com is the website I was talking about. None of the apartments in my price range have great reviews, but that’s the nature of those kinds of websites. The complex I am looking at is only three miles from campus, in my price range, includes heat, cable, wifi, takes cats, and has the best reviews (sort of best of the worst situation). The google street view looks good and I have seen pictures of interiors on Craig’s list. The only thing I don’t like is that it has carpet.</p>
<p>^^ In addition to Google streetview, try looking at it and the area with Bing Maps Bird’s Eye view. It gives you a different perspective. I use both to get a decent idea of the area. Make sure you also look around the general area for at least several blocks and check out the path between it and your school.</p>
<p>3 miles from campus is not walkable. Both times we ranked proximity to campus or his internship location pretty high and hence the high rent. We thought let him go there once, get bit more familiar and decide next year.</p>
<p>Perhaps if you could be more specific about the school/city many parents might be able to give you more accurate info. Also it is kind of late for the fall semester isn’t it?</p>
<p>I’m going to RIT, so I am looking for something in the Rochester/Henrietta area. I’m moving in March for their Spring quarter. I’m just trying to plan ahead and get a lot of advice.</p>
<p>Walking distance isn’t really an issue since there are buses, and I am hoping to be able to buy a cheap car once I get there.</p>
<p>To the OP: Yes, it is a good idea for you to contact the property management company to find out whether or not it is willing to rent to you sight-unseen. If it is willing to do, then I advise you to pass that rental property by, because it’s probably owned by a slumlord. I have 33 years’ experience as a renter, and in my opinion, reputable landlords and their agents do not rent to prospective tenants sight-unseen.</p>
<p>If the property management company is willing to set up an apartment viewing appointment with you before taking your application, then you’re very likely dealing with a property owner who wants prospective tenants carefully screened, and who wants tenants to be in residence long-term. On the other hand, an owner who rents to tenants sight-unseen is probably desperate to fill revolving-door vacancies created by continuing “problem” tenant evictions and/or by “good” tenant departures (usually because the property is poorly maintained and/or because rent increases are frequent and hefty).</p>
<p>In the meantime, remember that Knowledge is Power. You can research this property (and its owner and agent) online. Google the Monroe County government website. Click on the Departments tab. On the sidebar menu, click on County Clerk. On the County Clerk page’s sidebar menu, click on Online Access to Public Records. Read that page’s instructions, and then scroll down to and click on Search Database Now. You will be redirected to a different website (you might have to click on Proceed to Website). That page has a sidebar graphic showing the kinds of public records you will be able search. Register with the website (click on Register in the upper right hand sidebar menu), and start searching the public records Index. (If you’ve never searched public records before, you’ll be shocked at how much you can find.)</p>
<p>The Rochester city government website is also a useful source of information (although there is currently no online public records Index search service). So, check it out.</p>
<p>Once you get settled in your new city (70 miles east of my oldest city), have a hot roast beef on kummelweck with horseradish (pickles on the side). Have a Friday Night Fish Fry, too. Mmmm…. </p>
<p>Are you planning only to move in March? In that case, I suggest looking some more. Have you tried the RIT board? Or you could start a thread with RIT in the title to get other posters to look.</p>
<p>I don’t know where originaloog taught. His son graduated from RPI. Troy is a city where I would not want to rent sight unseen.</p>
<p>Personally, I would not rent sight unseen; it doesn’t allow you to closely examine the apartment for flaws (things that the photographer “accidentally” avoided while taking the pictures, like the mold in the corner of the bathroom), you can’t assess the noise level (some apartments have walls like paper where you can here your neighbor’s every move), and, most importantly, it prevents you from scoping out the management. </p>
<p>If you can rent for just a few weeks or a month, then I would go for it, but not for six month or year long lease.</p>