How tight is the Boulder apartment rental market? UPDATE?? (Denver: condos, credit)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by davidonlinecity

Thanks to everyone for your input.
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What do people think about Fort Collins as a second choice to Boulder?

Not if you're going to be working in Boulder.

[POhdNcrzy]

Originally Posted by davidonlinecity

Thanks to everyone for your input.
-
What do people think about Fort Collins as a second choice to Boulder?

Well, if I may continue with Scott5280's analogy, if Boulder is Santa Barbara then Fort Collins is Pomona!

BTW, David are you serious about moving here or just playing forum tiddlywinks?
What are your interests? What is your budget? Why Boulder? Why Fort Collins? Why Colorado?

[CCCVDUR]

Make sure to have LOTS of money if you DO move to this town for EXPENSIVE motel bills (or campgrounds). It takes WEEKS to find a place, especially if you are low budget. I started a separate thread due to the Rental Shortage here in town, and related issues. The hotels are VERY expensive. Private campgrounds near town are not cheap compared to state parks.

[Scott5280]

[quote=Tom Lane;9202957]Several issues I've had with Boulder Property Managers and Landlords, and I'm just generalizing here.

Has anyone else experienced this?

1. Most lease terms are non-negotiale 12-15 month terms. Well, if you're new to the Denver-Boulder metro area, and want to START in Boulder due to its great outdoors atmosphere, you want a 1-3 month lease. Why? You might end up working 40 miles away in Denver and wanting move there.

The housing supply is in short supply and Boulder is among the top tier desirable places to live for the well heeled in the West..

2. Property managers say that they'll *ONLY* rent to people with jobs! That's ridiculous. Many of us came from parts of Arizona and California w/ double digit unemployment. Boulder has 6% unemployment, Durango 5%, etc. etc.

Scott5280 ... I have never ever heard property managers stating that renters must have employment, this town has an abundance of trust funders that will never have work a day in their lives and easily pay the bills..Many of the people I know here don't work and simply rent a place to come to while in town.it's much of the same thing in Denver's Cherry Creek North neighborhood..Many balance the rest of their time in various residences else where. I have rented my properties here in town based on credit scores and references alone..





3. Places that sublease through the summer don't work, since they try to "pre-lease" your place for the next academic school year. That means they can walk through your place while you're renting it over summer. There's no such thing as "pre-leasing" in someone's else's place in Flagstaff apartments for NAU. I would guess that having prospective tenants walk through the property is probably against the Arizona Landlord and Tenant Act. In Flagstaff, they solve the problem of vacant summer rentals by just renting month to month over the summer.

Scott5280... Boulder is nothing like Flagstaff really

4. Also, people on the Boulder Craigs List generally fail to return Telephone Calls and Emails. That's not nice.

Many people renting their places out are super selective with who they rent to.

5. Smart Growth and the urban growth boundary has escalated the cost of everything, including rentals.


Scott5280..... It's expensive for many other reasons outside the smart growth factor, I doubt people would be pounding the doors down with check books in hand to live in Aurora if they suddenly restricted housing and permits there. Just curious, but why are you trying to find a place to live here? You seem to take issue with too many things here in Boulder..

[CCCVDUR]

quote=Scott5280;9203243

"I have never ever heard property managers stating that renters must have employment, this town has an abundance of trust funders that will never have work a day in their lives and easily pay the bills..Many of the people I know here don't work and simply rent a place to come to while in town.it's much of the same thing in Denver's Cherry Creek North neighborhood..Many balance the rest of their time in various residences else where. I have rented my properties here in town based on credit scores and references alone.."

Incredible. I'm constantly asked for a full credit report, security screen, and employment verification. Do these landlords even know that running the credit report each and every time lowers your credit score?

Many people renting their places out are super selective with who they rent to.

That's excellent, but at least people need to either 1) write their phone number on Craigs List or 2) place a call to me if I email them in response to their craigs list reply-to address

"Just curious, but why are you trying to find a place to live here? You seem to take issue with too many things here in Boulder..."

I'm not much of a fan of Boulder. If not for other circumstances I would be living elsewhere in the Southwest. I might end up in the neighborhoods in Denver that you suggested in earlier posts if this nonsense w/ Boulder landlords continues.

Boulder doesn't conform to basic business methodology that the rest of the country follows, such as providing short term leases. And, these smart growth regulations are ridiculous. The market is oversaturated with trust funders as you suggest. Right now I'm relocating to GET a job, and START my business, and am VERY frustrated with how difficult it is to rent a place. Flagstaff, AZ wasn't business friendly, but this place isn't TENANT friendly

[POhdNcrzy]

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

Do these landlords even know that running the credit report each and every time lowers your credit score?

Tom, as someone who has worked in the business (residential mortgage broker), let me assure you that this kind of credit inquiry is in a different category from the inquiries a prospective lender or bank would order. IT DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR CREDIT SCORE ONE IOTA!

[WhereTheSidewalkEnds]

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

Many people renting their places out are super selective with who they rent to.[/i]

That's excellent, but at least people need to either 1) write their phone number on Craigs List or 2) place a call to me if I email them in response to their craigs list reply-to address

As someone who uses cragislist a lot (posting things for sale), I would NEVER (especially as a woman) post my phone number in an ad. I like to get a feel for someone in emails first before before giving them a phone number that they can reverse on whitepages.....

And if I get a lot of responses I never feel obligated to email, let alone call, each person to give a status update. I always go in and delete ads once I've found a buyer, but for the tons of responses I may get before that, no. If you don't get a response quickly figure that it's either rented or they got a vibe from you they didn't like.

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by jkcoop

And if I get a lot of responses I never feel obligated to email, let alone call, each person to give a status update. I always go in and delete ads once I've found a buyer, but for the tons of responses I may get before that, no. If you don't get a response quickly figure that it's either rented or they got a vibe from you they didn't like.

This email thing is interesting. In Seattle, it was either Boeing or the University of Washington who once had a policy at one time (when email first came out) that one must respond to all emails. In AZ / NM / CO, people frequently do not respond to emails. Just regional differences in how people do business

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by POhdNcrzy

Tom, as someone who has worked in the business (residential mortgage broker), let me assure you that this kind of credit inquiry is in a different category from the inquiries a prospective lender or bank would order. IT DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR CREDIT SCORE ONE IOTA!

Sadly, it does drop the score - by 3 to 5 points per screening, even the ones used to screen tenants. That's why I pay for my own credit reporting service. Then I print out my 20 page report and present it to realtors and others who require credit reports. I have watched my score drop slowly but surely yet I pay everything on time...Very sad that we can't just trust each other...Back in Seattle, Oregon, people trust each other much more than CO / AZ / NM.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by davidonlinecity

Hi,
I am relocating to the Boulder area and was trying to figure out how tight the rental market is. Has the economy slowed things down?
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thanks
for your help,
David

Here's a tip from an ex-Boulder renter: Don't take a lease that ends on August 31st. (And the absolute best case scenario is to have a lease that ends on May 31st.) There is a world of difference in trying to find a rental for the month of September vs. anytime else in the year. The two worst places I lived in Boulder were the result of the previous leases ending on Aug. 31st. I have to say that the proportion of slumlords is much higher in Boulder then in most places I've lived. It's the one negative memory I have of the place.