Best Way to Find a Rental

Howdy. You have a military family, and so do I. How 'bout that? :-)

I would talk to the housing office on post. They can usually recommend a local property management company, and know who to avoid(!!!).

Also, don't worry too much about the time requirements in the lease. Pay closer attention to fees related to cleaning and move-out (like a requirement that you pay THEM to clean your apartment, even if you leave it clean). But don't worry about signing a year long lease and only having 8 months left.

Federal law states that when a Soldier gets orders to move/PCS, the property management company (or property owner) is required to terminate the lease with no penalties to the Soldier. Federal law also releases him from any other contracts that would have to be terminated due to his PCS orders taking your family out of the area. Talk to housing about this too, I guarantee they'll have all the information you need.

I would use a realtor, the tenants only pay a background check fee which is usually about $35.00. The landlord pays the realtor’s fees, but you will need at least one month’s rent (sometimes two) and the security deposit.

A realtor will help you find a nice location and landlords that use realtors don’t rent out slums.

HA!!! I should have looked at this earlier!

BEST RESOURCE EVER.

AHRN.com

It's military only (although real estate agencies can get permission to list on there in some cases). It's where I found our current rental house. We NEVER get on-post housing (not the right ranks). You can input your rank and base info and can do a "BAH +/-" search that only brings up rentals within a certain percentage of your BAH. I don't remember what the percentage is. Also, since it's all military families, 99% have PCS clauses in their rental agreements allowing you to move out without penalty as long as you have a copy of your orders. It really is an amazing resource and I WISH it were more publicized by the bases.

The home owners pay the fee. There may still be an application fee or the like - but much like an apartment. Get a realtor to set everything up. Do some looking yourself to see what is out there and what you want to see, but let them do all the appointments and the like. Be picky and know what you want and look. Just realize that with only 8 - 10 months it may be more difficult or expensive as the home owner will have to pay to move someone in after you leave.

Totally depends. You can sign a contract with a realtor to find you an apartment. There is usually a fee. Usually one month. Yes the people renting will also have a contract with the realtor and will pay. What I would do is: go into a real estate office. Ask if they have a print out of their available rental properties. Tell them you're moving off base, don't waste the opportunity to mention that! They might have a program or a discount or something to help you out. If they are a member of your community they would be dumb a**es not to try and help out members of their own community who sacrifice and risk it all for them, ya' understand?

If you at any point feel they might be shady, leave. People still in real estate need you more than you need them! Don't sign anything that day!!! Make a rule you must sleep overnight on it or something like that. These real estate folks are going to show you their clients houses for rent first. They make money to find renters for their clients period. Keep your power.

Don't forget to check with the base. You never know what services might be there for you. Like a lawyer to read over any contracts you need to sign. I don't know for sure but that seems like something they could help with.

Make sure you do research on your own: what are the schools like? How close is the supermarket? How busy is it at the times you need to drive? Do you ever want a dog? Do you want a tree house? Does the block have a lot of vacancies/ why if yes? How much money goes to the schools? How's the local infrastructure (are the roads a mess/not enough stop lights/too many punishment lights(traffic light for what appears to be no reason and you sit and wait not for cars but for the light to change), what are the cops like? Do you want to live here for a year or years? Ect.

Since you are in the service what kind of length of contract could they make available. Most people are not a**hats and are willing to help you out. You just gotta ask! Good luck!