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waninggib t1_j3xrkv3 wrote

I would check Zillow, Apartments.com and Craigslist. A lot of them have the same listings. I found my apartment listing on Zillow and my apartment was rented through Samson Realty. They list the properties they’re renting in the city and elsewhere on their site.

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Status_Silver_5114 t1_j3ymlj4 wrote

brokers in RI are paid their fee by the landlord not the tenant so consulting a broker is worth doing. Craigslist works in our neighborhood and generally reflects more of what’s available at least on the east side (rather than zillow). There’s more stuff available in spring because folks like staying on the brown / med school cycle - this time of year there’s just not much turning over by comparison. Most brokers on Zillow also x post on craigslist anyway so either go to their brokerage websites directly or look on Craigslist. Zillow is a disaster under the hood and lots of folks around here (that aren’t corporate landlords) avoid it.

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purpleonionz OP t1_j3z7z44 wrote

I wondered about Zillow - I noticed a lot of corporate landlord situations in some of the listings. That seems like something we'd like to avoid. We're moving May/June, so good to know more will become available in that timeframe. Thanks!

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Status_Silver_5114 t1_j3zb78w wrote

Zillow sucks. I work in real estate. The interface (for both rentals and purchases) is clunky and terrible and not worth the energy to convert to a deal. If you’re coming to work at brown (grad school or med school) their off campus listing service is worth A look as well. But yes go right to brokers sites and Craigslist. Apartments.com also meh in terms of results and rarely has anything you can’t find on CL anyway because everyone crossposts.

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Colon t1_j3zgas8 wrote

and it's so easy to spot scams on CL. it's always a string of 5-10 listings at 40-50% market value. also easy to identify legit postings by the same few dozen people/phone numbers too (over time), which i have yet to feel like i can do on all those other apps and portals/whatever

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Status_Silver_5114 t1_j40sbv3 wrote

That too! But tenants can use a broker for free for rentals so use that! I know in nyc tenants pay a massive fee - not sure re bos but the landlord pays the fee in PVD so why not right? Also most small landlords (multi fams and owner occupied buildings) of which there are a ton on east side esp don’t want to pay the fee either and more often than not are on Craigslist. I’ve seen tenants apply with one name and email and then bait and switch on Zillow all the time. Never had that on Craigslist - at worst it’s people not reading closely (ie no dogs and they have a dog). Zillow turns into actually (and this is a quote) I live in Sweden and can I pay cash upfront for three months without signing a lease and clearly a fake email. So you can see why zillow (and all the other syndicated sites) seem dicier. They are! And most small landlords don’t want to fork over a fee equivalent to a months rent to an agent. I mean some do sure but most don’t unless it’s an agency’s listing anyway or a big corporation who doesn’t care to begin with.

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maearnheart t1_j4gcpb4 wrote

Sit quietly, try not to make any sudden moves, or you’ll scare them away.

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