Finding a rental in Portland OR

September 8, 2009 9:36 AM

How crazy am I to rent a place in Portland, Oregon without seeing it first?

I'm moving to Portland next month, hurray! (Yes I have a job there, but this is anonymous because it's not quite official on both sides yet.)

I'll have my family (spouse, kids, dog) in tow and cannot get into town before we arrive without super complicated family logistics and huge expense.

I know Portland enough to know the neighborhoods I'd like to live in, really based on the schools I'd like my kids to attend. I can look around various neighborhoods on Google Maps, and I've been using Portland Maps to get information on various houses and neighborhoods.

I have a friend in Portland who will, I think, be glad to visit places we are serious about renting. I'm also wondering if I might be able to hire someone to do this for me so as not to burden my friend.

My goal is to minimize disruption for my kids especially, and to get them enrolled in school as soon as possible, and for that, we need an address. So ideally I'd have someplace for us to live before we arrive in town.

The alternative would be for all of us to live in a hotel for a week or longer, until I can find us someplace. I worry I'd be so pressured to get into any house that we'd have to compromise or else be stuck in a hotel.

But is it crazy to sign a lease without seeing the rental? If you have done this, did it work out okay? And do you have any suggestions for making it less crazy? (Like perhaps asking for an three month lease to start.)

Email is [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to home & garden (9 comments total)

I recently did a high-pressure, whirlwind weekend of apartment/house hunting with my husband before we moved out of state. It was exhausting. However, the place we ended up with was much, much better than the place that sounded best on paper. We basically decided that we'd look at as many places as we could in two days and, unless they were all completely awful, pick one. That way, we didn't end up in a hotel for weeks, but we also got to see the places we were choosing from (and meet the landlord!) before we signed a lease.

If I were you, I'd try to fly out for a couple days and have as many viewings scheduled as you can. It won't be fun, but it'll be worth it.
posted by Meg_Murry at 9:52 AM on September 8

I did this in Denver in 2000 with no problem, but it was just an apartment and I was single. If you're renting a house and you have a family it might be scarier.
posted by tamaraster at 9:56 AM on September 8

Well, you could hire me to look at places!

Other than that, I'd note that sometimes a landlord will want to meet you anyway before offering a lease so a visit may be inevitable. Also, I'm not sure right now what kind of market we have going. It's probably a landlord's market right now but it's possible that you could negotiate a six-month lease or a month-to-month agreement. You might also look on CraigsList for sublet or temporary housing rental.

It would help if you listed the neighborhoods you were looking at for your kids schooling. Some neighborhoods may have more crap rentals or special issues than others, you know?

Honestly, my gut says that you won't run into an issue with the rental -- for the most part, unless you're seriously looking at bargain basement rentals, the stock here is pretty good. Just keep in mind that it is temporary and enjoy the prospect of getting to know the city and the school before fully committing and buying a house.

Congrats on your new potential job!
posted by amanda at 10:00 AM on September 8

Well, I think it could go totally either way, largely depending on how much you can spend on monthly rent. When I first moved to pdx, I rented an apt sight unseen, and it turned out to be a huge folly. Just fucking miserable. But then again, it was a super cheapo basement studio in Nob Hill...so...

Assuming that's not the kind of thing you're in the market for, you'd probably be fine, especially if you are already sure you know what neighborhood you want to live in. And if you can, sign a shorter term lease just in case! And second on Amanda's idea to try to a short term sublet or CL temp housing.

Congrats on the new job - you're going to love Portland, it's impossible not too.
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:08 AM on September 8

I moved to Portland in just the way you're describing about 2 years ago. I had a friend look at places for me and I communicated with potential landlords via email and phone. We found a great house to rent in a lovely part of town. So, it can be done. Of course, I didn't have children and school districts to consider. You can look up crime data by location online at: CrimeStats and Neighborhoods

Feel free to memail me questions about specific neighboorhoods and if I'm free, I'd be happy to visit something for you, take pictures, and give you my impression.

Good luck and congratulations. Portland rocks.
posted by dchrssyr at 10:23 AM on September 8

Two things that made my out-of-state apartment search easier, #1 was using a locator service. They work off of referral bonuses offered by management companies, therefore no out of pocket for you. Get a recommendation for a good locator, and they will search in your neighborhoods and price ranges. With a locator, you're more likely to find big apartment complexes or managed by big property management companies, rather than smaller or independent places. This may or may not be what you're interested in.

#2 Try to get a 30 or 90 day no-fault break addendum added to your lease. Basically, if you show up, and the apartment is shitty, you can break the lease within 30 days with no fault, and no obligation to pay the remainder of the lease.
posted by fontophilic at 10:32 AM on September 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Be clear with your friend on what you want and don't want in a place to live; don't just say "I like open spaces and bright rooms", for instance. Things like number of bedrooms and SF are pretty easy to relate, things like "I don't like shag carpet, I want a big living room, I want a kitchen with newish appliances" should be communicated if they're important to you. The clearer you can communicate your desires to your friend, the easier the search will go and the happier you'll end up being.

Good luck!
posted by pdb at 10:50 AM on September 8

If you've got a friend in the area, it should be fine. There's been instances with total scams on Craigslist, but a friend should be able to parse the advertisement correctly (the last scam I saw sounded more or less true, except for two of the neighborhoods mentioned don't exist in this town), and swing by to visit.

If your friend sounds willing, have them swing by and take additional digital pictures to send you. Look up the address on google streetview and take a look at what's across the street, and what the neighborhood looks like.

Then, once you get to town, take your friend out for a nice meal at clarklewis or something.
posted by redsparkler at 12:29 PM on September 8

First, I have to say, you've made the right choice. Portland is awesome.

I rented a place when I move to Portland three years ago without seeing the actual unit I had rented. I felt it was going to be up to snuff because the rental agency that administered the complex was the same as the one I was already renting from in New York, and we were generally pleased with them. We ended up living there for around 10 months, then bought a house.

I'd say if you trust your friend to scope out places you find and be honest about which ones suck, you should go for it. Worst case scenario is that you arrive and then take some time to find a place you like better.
posted by saladpants at 1:46 PM on September 8