Why is finding a place to live so hard?

Damn. I didn't think it was going to be this difficult. Moving to Charleston, SC after FSAE is over and starting work, so I'm trying to find a place to live.

Apparently having a project car and a big dog mean you have to live 30 minutes outside of town or pay $1700/month.

Any of you older/wiser guys have any advice or insider information? I've been canvassing Craigslist, Zillow, Realtor, etc for weeks now with nowhere near as much results as I'd hoped for.

Up here, there are a lot of rentals that are never listed, because its discrimination to not rent to the crackhead gangbanger and his hoes based upon their race or appearance. Therefore, there is a lot of word of mouth. Have you tried advertising in the "Seeking Accomodations" part of the world?

I have not. It's quite a ways away from my current location, so I've been somewhat hesitant to try something like that. Is it really that common?

I really want a garage, but I need to keep SWMBO somewhere nice when I'm dragging her across the country. Dammit.

Dood. Catch up with Toyman, he can point you in the right direction. Also S2 here on the board lives down there.

Warning: if you insist on living anywhere in peninsular Chucktown, bend over and spread your wallet. James and John's Islands are cheaper but traffic into town... West Ashley can have some bargains, mostly down Highway 61 but 61 is two lane, a lot of Summerville comes in that way and the AM traffic jam is amazing.

If there's an accident... 2 hours spent sitting on 61 is not unusual on a crash morning. Mount Pleasant is 'spensive, even more so since the new bridge went in and the commute got easier.

Summerville and Goose Creek are reasonable but we are getting into that long commute. It's not wall to wall like James or John's Island or Hwy 61, it's just a long ways.

Hm. Seems like James Island is my best bet so far, I'm going to be working outside Summerville, so I'll be going counter-traffic most of the time if that matters.

The woman loves Mt. Pleasant and wants to be within walking distance of stuff, which really constricts our options. We ruled out living on the peninsula a long time ago, not even going to bother. We thought we found a good house in Mt. Pleasant, but they don't take pets. I wouldn't mind taking a hit on space, but it seems asking for a place to keep a non-running car and a big dog is pretty steep.

Rentals in a small town like mine are ridiculous. We're renting a 2 bedroom Condo that has zero storage except for the closets. It also has an HOA that I deal with. The land lord bumped our rent up to $1395 a month and with my wife not currently employed it has gotten real tight.

Unfortunately, people want $1400 to $2000 for E36 M3ty 3 bedroom houses and we cant afford that. We also can't afford a deposit with money being tight.

Unfortunately, the residential rental market has become a seller's market even as the real estate market remains tough on sellers.

Eventually something will click in the C-suites of all the retail banks and they'll be back to giving anyone and everyone a loan they can't afford.

Once this happens home purchase prices will inflate back up to absurd levels and we won't be able to afford to buya house either.

Well...

"Its location, location, location"

My S.O and I applied for an 1000 square foot apartment in a nice neighborhood, so as far as I can tell, for 750 bucks a month, in... Kentucky...

I am sure some places will open up for you, they always do, keep your head down and carry on....

I know my employer hooks up employees with an assigned realtor agent to help you find places, at no cost to you. Couple of my coworkers will be working in a different town and need to get an apartment for the summer and someone is helping them with that. Have you asked if your company does that?

If you are working outside Summerville, then I'd say look in that same Hwy 61 corridor that sucks if you work downtown. 61 is jam packed going into town during AM rush hour but going out is clear, vice versa in the PM. That is a beautiful area; big old oak trees, etc. Don't know if the 'walk score' will keep SWMBO happy, though.

Jim Island (local term ) has the problem of basically only one way on/off and there's a drawbridge on it. It gets clogged bad both ways at times, too. The JI Connector goes straight to downtown so it's not a big help for you. There's a couple of back ways (like Maybank Highway) but they are a zoo as well.

I'd suggest take The Boss on a tour of Summerville. The Central Ave. area has a bunch of shops etc, it's pretty nice. Warning: those big 'historic' homes on Central are every bit as pricey as downtown Chuck. East of Central there's a bunch of houses but they tend to be small and don't have garages. West of Central is mostly 60's/70's vintage, lot of brick veneer, they have garages or at least carports.

If you get out in the country a little bit from SV, prices plunge dramatically. But the tradeoff is it's nearly impossible to walk anywhere.

I know how you feel... my place is VERY small (1 bedroom) and I pay 775/month for it. There are plenty of rentals around, but as this is a resort area, the rents start at DOUBLE that and go up. Some weekly rentals can hit 1000/week

Yeah, we're planning on heading out there in a few weeks to do some intense house-hunting, and we're going to look real hard at the Summerville and Goose Creek areas. I'm not convinced I'll find anything in James Island.

I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on an E30, so all the more reason to get a garage.

Good luck, doing the same thing in Taxachusettes and New Hampshire.

I'm buying, so I'll set my own rules, but I've been renting. I have one big dog and two cats with all their razor sharp claws.

Its risky if you don't know the landlord, but I have no contract or lease. I went three years without an occupancy permit. I'm very happy with my situation. The landlord has no problem with my pets. I pay 550 a month, but StL is a cheaper city to live in.

(2 bedroom, 1 bath, 3 car drive and big back yard. Busy street though.)

I know that feeling. We've been apartment and housing hunting for awhile now. A lot of places in Orlando cater are price controlled, even at rates that blew my mind. We were turned down for a 3/2 1000sq/ft that cost $1050 a month cause we made to much.

In reply to Drewsifer:

N Sperlo wrote: In reply to Drewsifer:

Yeah...I know. Apparently a good rule of thumb for Orlando (according to a Realtor who's helping us house hunt) anything under $1200 a month is price controlled and we won't qualify. Which really sucks, because we wanted to rent for awhile so we could look for a house at a more relaxed pace.

Supposedly the rent control is to attract teachers and theme park employees.

I may wanna settle in/ around/ between Stafford and Richmond Va sometime in the future. Any good areas to look in? Remote is a plus. I gots me some kin down there.

fasted58 wrote: I may wanna settle in/ around/ between Stafford and Richmond Va sometime in the future. Any good areas to look in? Remote is a plus. I gots me some kin down there.

I dont know about rental properties, but as far as buying properties....

Fredericksburg is not that expensive, but its more city like. Hell its dirt cheap compared to Northern Virginia. The Central Park shopping center area has damn near everything you may ever need to shop for. You dont have to drive very far outside of Fredericksburg to get more rural though.

I live 17 miles west on Rt 3 in Locust Grove. Our home that we bought, the price was comparable to many that we looked into in Fredericksburg, a larger property (~2 acres), but less amenities. Well water and in ground septic, only home related bill we have other than mortgage is electric. We currently can't get high speed internet unless we go satellite or something.

In reply to Drewsifer:

in that case your response should be, "By golly! I work for a theme park and my wife is a teacher!"

The other shocking thing us that I rented an apartment of the same size with all the amenities included for just over 700.00.

http://charleston.craigslist.org/apa/2994543500.html

15 miles from your work, fenced-in yard and no "no pets" in the ad, driveway, carport. $750/month, 3br.

N. Charleston isn't the best part of town.

Not that it matters anymore, I got a call and the offer fell through after Force Protection was acquired by General Dynamics Land Systems.

N Sperlo wrote: The other shocking thing us that I rented an apartment of the same size with all the amenities included for just over 700.00.

The shocking thing to me is having a mortgage payment just higher than $700 month with $0 down, 1/3 acre and 10 minutes from the downtown of a Metro area of 1 million people.

It's not so hard to find a place to live...

In reply to failboat:

thanks failboat, I'll keep that in mind

much appreciated