Moving to San Diego - how to find apartments for rent by owner? (Oceanside: rentals, HOA)

[Jenaleig]

Me, my fiance, and brother are moving from Denver to San Diego at the end of this year without jobs lined up. Between the 3 of us, we will have about $25,000 saved up to move (first & security, uhaul, car tow, food & gas expenses) plus our $1500 security deposit from our current apartment. We moved from Miami Beach after 8 years to Denver in January of 2016, and realized now that we cannot stand the cold winters and no beach. We moved here with about $5000 which was rough, but luckily we found jobs rather quickly. This time we want to make sure we are secure, could pay 2 months bills and still have plenty of money saved to live off of if jobs aren't coming through right away. My question is, how am I able to find apartments for rent by owner in say Hillcrest, North Park, South Park, or really any area near or close to downtown? We are looking for a 2 bed 1-2 bath for 2k a month or under. I cannot stand dealing with Management companies and all of the rules, application fees, etc. We have rented through private landlords for over 5 years and would like to continue that. This time is different because we will not physically be there or have anyone we know living there to check out apartments for us. Does anyone know of or have any knowledge of property owners to contact, or how to find a decent place in a good area for rent by Owner? Any and all suggestions would be great!

[a333]

Property managers? Yes, very difficult in southern Cal. The areas you mention are expensive. You might try a lower cost location at first short term, find jobs, and then move to those areas. Check out Carlsbad, Oceanside, and apartments in and near the Talega HOA in San Clemente (south orange county) as such areas you might find in the 1500 to 1750 range, but everyone knows this so competition is fierce. Those areas are not controlled by the companies that run the areas that you mention. When I came here (OC, etc.) I DID NOT even consider those areas because of the cost. But since you'll have three incomes you'll eventually find something. It can be done.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

There are quite a few in Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach. Driving around looking for "for rent" signs is the easiest as they won't list them because they rent fasts.

[Jenaleig]

Thank you! Yes, I looked into those areas that you mentioned, but we would prefer to move somewhere we want to live long term in one of the areas I stated rather than moving more than once. I also have a 15 lb. Dog and when looking through Craigslist many say NO PETS. Also on Craigslist, there are several 2 bedroom apartments in downtown area renovated for under $2000 a month. It is just hard to decipher if a management company posted, or property manager. We came from South Beach which is 3x rent to move in and even more expensive rent prices, so we definitely already understand the cost of living here will be more than our current in Denver. Yes, I did read that driving around areas and calling for rent signs is the best option. We will probably go out there a month before our planned move out date for a week or so to focus on finding an apartment that way. I appreciate the responses!

[1AngryTaxPayer]

I suggest renting one of the month to month beach rentals until you find something long term. The winter rent rates are usually lower and you won't be stuck with a contract.

[aewan68]

We moved here from 3K miles away (South Florida) and found places using zillow.com and realtor.com, ended up finding out many were gone within a few days of being listed.

The place we have now was all done over e-mail and the phone, e-sign documents, site unseen only saw photos of the listing and they were not recent photos so condition wasn't the same but not terrible.

Just be careful to check-up on the listing agent/person as many are not legit.

I honestly dont' know if you will find a place without jobs lined up, I had a background check done and verification of income and my new job here that I had to list in the paperwork. By owner might be harder unless you offer to pay an extra security deposit or sweeten the deal.

I see you stated you once lived in Miami Beach and don't like the cold of Denver, keep in mind San Diego is not warm like South Florida, it was actually colder here last night that it was in the Northeast. The weather here is temperate, but not warm year round on average in comparison to South Florida.

[eastcoastbias]

Why would you move from Denver!!! Great city. About 10 years ago I almost moved to a little community outside of Denver (Stapleton?) How is that community today?


Zillow is great. You have to be on it throughout the day. Lots of private owners on it.


Craigslist surprisingly works well. I helped a friend list on craigslist six months ago- we had 5 inquiries in one afternoon. Rented the place a couple days later, the person moved in two weeks later.


My advice is CALL don't email- Call. Being out of town will make it harder to visit the places.


Come during a weekend- line up some walk throughs. Some people do the online thing without stopping by- lots of scammers in CA. I would find some cheap flight and Meet the LLs. Do your research on Wed./Thur. set up appointments. Be ready with an application and a potential deposit. The market moves quickly here you need to be ready to move quickly or at least pay quickly. I notice lots of folks in N. Park and S. Park do the traditional sign in the yard "For Rent".

[eastcoastbias]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

I suggest renting one of the month to month beach rentals until you find something long term. The winter rent rates are usually lower and you won't be stuck with a contract.

This is a good idea- fun idea too, but then you have to store items and potentially move twice.

[Jenaleig]

[quote=1AngryTaxPayer;47306578]I suggest renting one of the month to month beach rentals until you find something long term. The winter rent rates are usually lower and you won't be stuck with a contract.[/QUOTE


Yes I would prefer not to do a month to month rental as we will be moving 2 bedrooms and a living room. We then would have to pay for a storage unit and a uhaul again to move our things to our long term apartment which would be even more costly than just finding a long term unit straight away. I appreciate the suggestion though, as it would be an excellent idea IF we sold everything... But we just bought new beds, and living room furniture when we moved here 1 year ago that we would rather keep than start over again.

[Jenaleig]

Originally Posted by aewan68

We moved here from 3K miles away (South Florida) and found places using zillow.com and realtor.com, ended up finding out many were gone within a few days of being listed.

The place we have now was all done over e-mail and the phone, e-sign documents, site unseen only saw photos of the listing and they were not recent photos so condition wasn't the same but not terrible.

Just be careful to check-up on the listing agent/person as many are not legit.

I honestly dont' know if you will find a place without jobs lined up, I had a background check done and verification of income and my new job here that I had to list in the paperwork. By owner might be harder unless you offer to pay an extra security deposit or sweeten the deal.

I see you stated you once lived in Miami Beach and don't like the cold of Denver, keep in mind San Diego is not warm like South Florida, it was actually colder here last night that it was in the Northeast. The weather here is temperate, but not warm year round on average in comparison to South Florida.

I just did some searching on Zillow and Realtor.com! Thanks for the advice on that... Did not realize there were property listings stating whether it was a landlord or managemt company so that is very helpful. Yes! We would definitely prefer to come out for a long weekend to do walk throughs and secure a place rather than do everything over phone and email as I am definitely aware of scamming. I am hoping we can secure a place without jobs... We will definitely start applying a month from moving out there, though. We got pretty lucky with our place here in Denver 2 bed 1 bath for $1500 (my parents pay 1800 for an unrenovated 2 bedroom here smaller than our unit) and it is close to downtown. Our landlord is the owner of our building and only did a background check and references. South Florida for me was way too hot and humid year round... A happy medium between Denver and San Diego weather will be perfect for us