We're a little at a loss when it comes to asking people, because we know NO ONE in the area. DH can't even ask his employees because they haven't been hired yet. lol. I'm happy to see there is a local forum thingy. I was wondering if such a thing existed.
Last time we moved into a rental we had a long weekend to visit and locate a place. I went on the local newspaper's website and checked the classifieds for rentals. I called and set up appointments with each listing over a two day period. Then we went on a whirlwind tour of many different houses, apartments, and townhouses. We found one we really liked and lived there for 7 years!
Wow. We've done it twice. Once out to AZ (I did it sight unseen), and then back to PA. We packed our sentimental stuff and then had a huge yard sale to try to sell everything that wasn't nailed down - both times. In fact, my husband sold our bed right out from under me when we moved back! LOL Served him right. He had to sleep on an air mattress for 3 weeks, I only had to do it 3 days (I flew out early with the kids - he drove out with the stuff). When we moved out, we had a friend we stayed with for 2 months. When we came back, I stayed with my folks for 2 weeks and looked for a place - so we were lucky that way. I would find a place to live - like an apartment - and rent for a year. Get to know the area and done rush into buying a house. (if you buy....I don't know what your status is). Both times we rushed into buying....not that I'm unhappy with our choices, I just think my desires would have changed had I stayed put for a whole year. I know in Phoenix I would have moved to a different area after I got to know them better. Also, when we moved back - even though we came back to PA, we moved to an area an hour north of where we'd been previously. I would pick a much different house, and a much different town had I to do it over again. We tried to move with as little as possible. Each person clothing was brought down to a large rubbermaid tub - basically 10 outfits and a few extras. For the kids, their toys were also whittled down to each allowed one large rubbermaid tub. Except for my son's brio train set - that came box and all. I gotta say, I miss the simplicity of that and wish we would move! LOL just so we can whittle down again!!!!
Amie is this your move to Ark? If so I found that when we moved to Ark it was old fashion in a way of how things are run. A lot of people still run most of the rentals in the paper, hang signs on the grocery store boards, or by word of mouth. Every place I found down there was in those ways. Also I found the homes to be way more affordable that way versus going through a rental agency. So, grab a paper and start calling and looking. Some of them are online to view also.
Thanks JoAnn! I think I did actually manage to find a rental agency that's legit. The home owners are the ones who pay to have the properties brokered, so there's no cost to the prospective renters. I've got to dig a little more, but it seems like this will be the way we go. The problem is that we have to have as many appointments set up before we go as we can, yet we can't grab a paper until we get there. It's sort of a catch 22. lol
You can always get an extra day on your uhaul or a storage unit until you are sure on where you are going to live. Then take a day or two to go to houses and talk to people. You will find something. I am sure of it and everything will work out perfectly.
Home rental listings try Zillow.com and Craigslist.com We got our present rental on Craigslist. Good idea about asking hotel people about good and not so good areas of town. Zillow.com allows you to search by zip code.
They have the same syndicated classified website that we have here. It's just a haven for ad listings since it's free to make one. They don't upload their actual newspaper classifieds; it's separate and not super useful. I'm wading through the lists, don't get me wrong, but it's tedious amid the million ads for various schemers.
Maybe one of the hotel staff can point you to one of those free papers with "for sale" and "want" ads. Our local one puts their actual print ads online and it is the go-to place for rent ads.
One of the things that I did on the last move was inventory all the boxes. I know that seems like a lot of work, but when I went to find something, I looked on an index card and knew exactly what box it was in. I numbered the boxes and numbered the index card. Even if it is just for the things that you would use on a regular basis. Kitchen items would be the most beneficial and probably bathroom. Just my 2 cents Will be praying this is a smoooooth move for you.
We Just moved this summer from FL to OH. We found our house online. We just kept searching the local newspapers and realtor websites. I even joined a homeschool group the next county over to get advise in that area as well as finding housing. We used upack.com for a truck to drive our stuff so huby and I can each drive our own vehicle. That worked out great. It is a you pack and load they drive type thing. It cost just as much as uhaul (when you figure gas too). Well worth it. By joining the HS group I was able to get the kids excited looking at potential upcoming activities. This gave them a hope for meeting people. Good Luck in you new endeavor.
with out reading your replys, I hope you are not moving to Arizona....... I hate it here..... Good Luck though.
I only glimpsed through the thread and I saw the index card tip it reminded me of what I did when we moved. Buy a BIG pack of sharpies (at least one color for every room in the new house) and a box of pay pal printing labels. (they are 2 large stickers-each is 1/2 of an 8.5x11 sheet) Assign each room a color sharpie-Red = Kitchen, Dark Blue = boys bedroom, light green = hall bathroom, brown = living room, etc As you pack each box, slap a paypal label on it, then use the designated color sharpie to write a list of what the box contains. Then, I had a poster board by the door at the new house-it had a list of the rooms and the color that it was (kitchen = red, etc) Then, because my young kids were helping and couldn't read....I taped a sheet of paper to the door of each room with the name of the room in the matching sharpie color (like the hall bathroom had a sheet of paper on it that said "Hall bathroom" in light green) (I made sure to pack some small, light boxes for them to help with-I think it made them feel more part of the process and less like it was something just happening to them) This method was so effective-I still remember what color each room was 3 years later! LOL
Hey Amie, I believe that Barnes and Noble carries the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and your current residence is just up Glenstone from B&N. I think Kum N Go has these to, but maybe it's just the Kansas City and St. Louis papers. This way you'll be able to look at the classifieds before the visit down there finding a renal.
Rock on! I had no idea B&N would have the Democrat Gazette!!! KG carries the KC Star and USA Today (plus the News-leader, of course). Since I have to go look for a map there tomorrow, I'll double check that they have the paper. DH is going down Monday to find a place. But it would be nice if we had Sunday to schedule appointments. If B&N has the paper, then I can get Sunday's after church.
