Rental Househunting in Philadelphia

May 12, 2007 5:30 AM

Why is it so hard to get a rental in Philadelphia?

Here's the story. We're a group of three Temple Students (obviously, that's one strike against us...), all employed, with good credit. We've had nothing but trouble trying to find a rental, sadly. Searching through Craigslist, We've had Realtors and owners cancel appointments, not even bother to call back, and one even simply hung up on us. The places that we have seen rarely work out either:

The first house we managed to look at, a small, but nice rowhouse near LaSalle University, was snatched from under us before we even had a chance to fill out paperwork. We also saw a Duplex in North Philly, and were all set to sign a lease when my father found out the heating and electric systems hadn't been split yet, and wouldn't be finished before our desired move-in date. Most recently, working through a local property management agency, we had one owner simply pull his property completely off the market rather than rent to us (even after providing the co-signer he asked for).

We've tried working with Temple University's office of off-campus housing, but all they did was hand us a few printouts of listings from their website, almost all out of our price range (the one that wasn't was the first place mentioned above).^1. We've tried Craigslist, tried classified ads, and now this property management agency: in fact, I have an appointment to see a place at 12:30 today.

What the hell do I have to do? Can it really be that hard to find a place that's less than $1000, in a safe neighborhood? We're desperate, here, and running out of time. Help.

^1. The general price range for 3 and 4 bedroom houses was $1200-$1800 a month. There was even a listing for a 3 bedroom place in Old City for $3250/mo. What student can afford that!

posted by SansPoint to home & garden (10 comments total)

A three bedroom house for less than a $1000 dollars in a good neighborhood is possible but will take a lot of leg work to locate. Since your credit is good you can go with the property management companies for a wider selection but realize that their prices are generally going to be a little higher. Beyond that, it's all about pounding pavement.

You can try some of the streets on the edge of Mantua (I see college kids out around 33rd and Haverford pretty routinely, which would have been unheard of not too long ago), parts of Frankford, maybe something on the north end of Port Richmond, Overbrook if you're willing to travel a little bit, Germantown, Olney up past LaSalle, lower Brewerytown, Feltonville up past the Boulevard (around 5th down through C Street), etc.

FYI, I work with a program that houses homeless families in the private market and our average rent is $650/month for about that much space but in neighborhoods that I wouldn't necessarily recommend to college kids (i.e., Kensington, Fairhill, Belmont, Southwest Philly, etc.).
posted by The Straightener at 6:24 AM on May 12, 2007

Yeah, we're sticking with the property management company for now. If this last place falls through, though, we're all splitting for the four winds.
posted by SansPoint at 6:29 AM on May 12, 2007

One more thing, if you haven't picking up the Daily News you should. There's a lot of listings in there that you won't find on Craigslist, listings aimed at lower income people who don't necessarily use the internet very much. Most stuff on Craigslist is going to be management company owned and targeted towards college students, at least when it comes to North Philly listings.
posted by The Straightener at 7:06 AM on May 12, 2007 [1 favorite]

I just started working at Temple, and it seems like everyone is scrambling like you are at this point because the market for student-friendly housing is saturated (consider that Penn and Drexel and who knows which other colleges have students looking around right now just like you). Maybe that at least will help you feel like it's not just you getting dumped on (which would suck, but unless you come across as stereotypical party hounds, I would guess that's not entirely the case).

Craigslist is where everyone is looking right now, and it's a tougher place to rent from as such--you find a place that sounds excellent, you call, and it's already gone. You have to be super quick, but since that's not always possible, I am going to totally going to recommend trying The Straightener's advice about pounding the pavement. Consider the areas you want to live, and then walk around in them. You'll find a LOT of smaller companies and individuals who put signs out and don't do Craigslist. Make calls then while you're out and ask about the prices/making appointments to see them. We found tons of places to check out that way--lots more than we thought would've been available.

As for an area to look, I would consider checking South Philly. I know friends all over down there who rent entire houses for less than a thousand a month. They're all within a short walk of the Broad Street Line, and as such, a short ride from Temple.

Also, I would consider the date you're expecting the property to be ready. Are you looking for something available right now or something available in August? If there's any way you can move in over the summer, you might have better luck because I would think that most students are looking to move around the same time. Somewhere else might be available outside of that crunch time, you know? Just a thought. Anyway, good luck!
posted by monochromaticgirl at 7:08 AM on May 12, 2007

monochromaticgirl we hoped to have moved in somewhere by.... yesterday. One of our group is from San Diego, and him and I are both taking summer courses starting the 21st.
posted by SansPoint at 7:14 AM on May 12, 2007

Yeah, I spent five days pounding the pavement before I found my apartment (West Philly, nice one bedroom on 46th and Spruce). Places did disappear really quickly, particularly if they were decent and not too expensive. For my apartment, there were three other people viewing it on the first morning it was open. I had to race down to the rental office to fill out the paperwork. And even then, I actually came in second, but the first guy had crappy credit. Oh, and paying the deposit in cash seemed to be the best way to seal the deal.

I'm pretty sure I found my place by word of mouth from another rental place, actually. So even if you don't find what you want or get closed out, be friendly and talk to the rental people.

Also, since there are so many other schools in Philly, it's worth calling their off-campus housing department and asking there too.

I wouldn't take your experiences personally, though I might refrain from outright saying you were college students. Given how badly students treat properties, it's not something you want to flaunt.
posted by Mercaptan at 7:47 AM on May 12, 2007

Yeah, it sucks. It took me a few tries to land the apartment I'm in now, and I'm a bit in the same position you are -- looking for the absolute cheapest place I can in a decent neighborhood.

Being aggressive as all hell worked for me; show up with your checkbook, offer to pay in cash, anything that will get the apartment locked into your name then and there. Show up 15 minutes early for every appointment; this may garner you a first look at a place.

(For neighborhoods, try getting out of the college-y places. South Philly is cheap cheap cheap, and right on a ton of bus lines. Germantown and Mt Airy are a little pricier, but you might find something that works and, again, there's lot of bus and train lines.)
posted by kalimac at 7:54 AM on May 12, 2007

Wow. I just went through pretty much the same thing just before christmas. Two points here really stand out: legwork is key (straightener) and look outside the college blocks (kalimac). Safety in Philly is a block-by-block affair - don't just rule out entire neighborhoods because you've been told they're bad. I picked up a 2 story 2 bedroom house for < $1000 because people are afraid of south philly. the key is putting in the time and effort to find a nice block . . .br>
Look for old people, stoop sitters, flower boxes and supervised kids:

Old people are usually long time residents and don't want to see the recent spike in crime invade thier old-people turf. They call the PoPo at the drop of a hat (a good thing in many cases) and take an interest in what goes down on their street.

Stoop sitters, even if they're out there looking shady, are invaluable in that they're potential witnesses to any crime. People won't sell drugs or break a car window in front of a stoop sitter.

Home Owners care about the value of their property and consequently the crime rate. How do you find owned (not rented) homes? Flower boxes. Flower boxes are not usually put in place by renters. They involve drilling into brick and/or marble and aren't worth the security deposit. There's lots of other little owner/renter signs that I'm sure you'll pick up on.

Young (supervised) kids mean that the street is safe enough to play in and there will be responsible adults outside and concerned about the block's welfare for long periods of the day. This is actually the strongest indicator of a neighborhoods safety I've found down here. Nothing deters crime like a pissed-off blue-collar mother.

Good Luck!
posted by datacenter refugee at 9:56 AM on May 12, 2007

Being aggressive as all hell worked for me; show up with your checkbook, offer to pay in cash, anything that will get the apartment locked into your name then and there. Show up 15 minutes early for every appointment; this may garner you a first look at a place.

I was going to say exactly that. Be 100% ready to jump on a listing. Have copies of your credit report in hand (and be willing to pay for the landlords own credit check as well). Take a quick look through the house and let them know you are ready to put a deposit down.

I scored a great deal in San Francisco based on the above. Several people were being shown my loft at the same time, I won out due to my preparedness (and willingness to deal with a kooky landlord).

Good luck.
posted by vaportrail at 12:38 PM on May 12, 2007

Philly Weekly's rental listings. Folks who own a property or two as an investment (who are often less likely to charge exhorbitant rent) are not necessarily craigslist-savvy.

A three-bedroom for $1000 is going to be tough, though. If you can manage to afford $1200-$1400, you'll be in a much better position to find something.
posted by desuetude at 6:54 AM on May 14, 2007