Apartment Hunting In Boston

KentXie

KentXie

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Hi everyone,

So I'm planning to go apartment hunting soon and it would basically be the first time doing it without the help of Northeastern's off-campus housing database. Essentially what I'm saying is, I'm a total noob at this. If there are any advice that any of you can offer regarding where I should start looking (i.e. which newspapers, online databases, real estates, etc.), that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
KentXie said:
Hi everyone,

So I'm planning to go apartment hunting soon and it would basically be the first time doing it without the help of Northeastern's off-campus housing database. Essentially what I'm saying is, I'm a total noob at this. If there are any advice that any of you can offer regarding where I should start looking (i.e. which newspapers, online databases, real estates, etc.), that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Best of luck! I personally think you should shop for neighborhoods first, and consider ones that are slightly "further out"--even just 1 rail stop or 3 bus stops further-- than whatever you'd first think. People who need to live at the very center (of any neighborhood) always slightly overpay. That was me as a noob: New to Boston, I lived on Beacon Hill. Still pretty noob, (but learning) I was *just* over the line from Boston into Brookline (5 doors?) and a block away from St Mary's (Green Line). Next was anywhere within 15 mins of a Cambridge Red)

Once you have a neighborhood (or three) you'll have a better basis for determining what drives prices and where you might find a good deal because you differ with "the market" in its assessment. With that sense of value it becomes easier to use whatever search seems best.

I'm the kind of guy who drew 5 and 15 minute walk circles around Red Line stations...and moved to Arlington because it was the only place I could afford a "Cambridge" T-stop ;-) For my house, I "traded down" to Zone 1A CR and decent express buses, and voila! West Medford.
 
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I used Craigslist a bunch of times and never found anything decent that way. I really ended up in my current place by luck. I didn't know shit, I walked into a random real estate agency, and the agent was nice and showed me a really good place, and I jumped on it. That's probably not good advice though. You might try looking on Zillow to get a feel for the prices in the neighborhood before jumping in, although I never tried contacting a rental through that site.

If you are car-free I recommend taking a close hard look at the frequent bus routes within a 10 minute walk, not just the prominent T stations. Having more than one option is a big plus, especially if they go in different directions. I would also try to get a place within reasonable walking distance of a food market that you don't mind using. Or get a place with space for a bike, if not.

If you have a car, then you need to decide how you want to park it and pay for it. But you already know that whole spiel, so I won't go into it.
 
I'm starting a search now too - for Sept 1 :(

Craigslist and patience. That is how I have done it in the past.

Craigslist tends not to have the nicest (most expensive) places, but it does tend to have houses and condos that are rented "by owner" and modest apartment buildings. If you can rent direct from an owner and avoid a broker fee, that is like paying 7.5% less rent prorated over a year (or 4% prorated over 2 years). If you really think you'll stay more than 2 years, don't worry about paying a fee.

I've learned a few things from CL over the years. Apartments that are "available now" are more likely to be bait and switch. Also searching is hard because many brokers just put a list of every placename anywhere near Boston in the ad so that it pops up no matter your search terms. Don't try to craft a more specific search because you'll just accidentally exclude something you want to find. Give the simplest search terms possible (i.e. Mission Hill or Porter) and then take the time to skim the results for returns that are actually about Mission Hill or Porter Square.

Once you contact a broker to see a place, make sure to ask if they have anything similar that they can show you at the same time. If they have something else that is a candidate then great. If its a little out of your price range or missing some element you really want, look anyway just for comparison sake. Just don't tell the broker you aren't serious about the place.

I have usually read several hundred listings, called about 25 of them, actually looked at 10-15, and signed for 1.
 
Apartment hunting in Boston is a truly miserable experience. I found One Webster totally by accident as I was applying to work at ICON Arch. and was browsing their portfolio and Googled the place on a whim just to see how much the apartments were. We searched for 4 months after that via Zillow, CL, Rent.com, etc and ended up right back where we started.

Forget about sites like Zillow and Rent.com because they are populated by web bots that pull ads/pix for apartments from various places and post listings automatically. Usually, the listings will be brand new on Zillow but will have rented 2 weeks ago when you call. I had some awkward conversations with annoyed real estate agents about this when I didn't understand how Zillow works. They are good tools to get a feel for price and what's in the area, but totally useless in Boston because the market is red hot everywhere.

...Good luck.
 
Thanks for the advices all and best of luck to others also searching for a new home!
 
CL sucks because its a good 70% bait and switch. Unfortunately its also the best way I've found to apartment shop. When I call a listing off CL I will be blunt that if its a bait and switch and they don't tell me until I'm in the car ("oh it just rented") they will loose my business. Some agents can be very pushy too, as in show you three properties or so and then expect you to sign a lease, or show you places that are nothing like you said you wanted. I think its harder to find a good broker than it is to find a good apartment.

My friend had good luck by going straight to his management company. He knew he liked most of the Hamilton Company's stuff though, so if you notice a lot of places that look good all have the same plaque in the lobby you could try that too.

Also if you have to pay for your own heat and hot water add a few hundred to your winter rent budget. If you can ask existing tenants about how drafty the place is / typical utility bills that helps too. If they are talkative I'll usually ask why they are leaving too.
 
davem said:
My friend had good luck by going straight to his management company. He knew he liked most of the Hamilton Company's stuff though, so if you notice a lot of places that look good all have the same plaque in the lobby you could try that too
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This strikes me as very good advice. The management company determines what your actual experience will be, certainly moreso than the agent.

Sure, somewhere there's an even better landlord self-managing and renting the two other units in his 3-flat or 6-apt building, but it is hard to find that guy as a noob--he either uses connections (rolling tenancy / friends of the folks moving out) or has a favored agent.

And the bait-and-switchers, and the Overpriced New Building are spending too much on marketing and agents--they make themselves easy to find, but they're not adding value to the units.
 
I fell into my Somerville Union Square apartment by a terrible broker's accident (seriously, he was hungover most times we met, was not on the same page with us as to what apartment we were signing a lease for, and had to be saved by his office manager - who ended up getting our fee). We love the apartment now, but it was a terrible process. You kinda have to just fight through it. Know what neighborhoods you want to live in, and understand that you might end up living around them, rather than in them - especially if your price range is on the lower-end of the range for the neighborhood. Good luck!
 
I'm a licensed real estate agent and would be happy to help you guys learn the market/look at apartments if you're interested. Feel free to shoot me a message.

One thing I would suggest is to rent an apartment off the 9/1 cycle. On the downside, there's lesser selection, but on the upside they generally rent anywhere from 5% to 15% less than 9/1 rentals do. Just a thought.
 
I have been searching for two months. I ended up staying in my current place in Brighton. My lease ends at the end of this month, and I luckily went on an at will.

I have a gut feeling my landlord is going to try and get me to resign around 9/1 with a nice increase :(.
 
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