🔷 Open Thread

[FormFollowsBudget]

I'm finally moving back to the Boston area - which means I have to figure out getting an apartment cross-country. Looking for advice on how to go about it (here on in DMs). We're aiming for the Davis/Porter area, probably a 2 bedroom, moving in July 1.

• How far ahead do apartments tend to be available? Should we be planning a trip ASAP to look at places, or will there be a decent selection in mid-June?
• Will we be fine using Craigslist/Zillow/etc to find places to look at, or is it worth using a broker? (Do I recall a change in who pays the broker?) If the latter, any recommendations for what broker to use, and how far ahead to contact them?
• Any other advice - it's been a long time since I've been apartment hunting in Boston.

I'm looking in the same area for 8/1. 7/1 rentals are popping up now on Zillow and Craigslist, which are still the two most popular. You're probably fine for another month. After 6/1 may be tight.

You're likely dealing with a broker one way or the other. The recent law made it so that tenants don't pay for a broker that the landlord hires. Now landlords don't hire a specific broker but they're still in the mix since they're still sent listings, just aren't the sole broker for any given apartment. If there is a fee, it's still on the tenant to pay.

 

[jklo]

I like apartments.com because of the interface. But the one thing I hate is that they don't have a "Exclude Rooms" filter. I guess that's not much of an issue in most of the country, but...