How to find places to rent in a small town?

[saraha]

Ds1 had an interview for a new job in a town we are not familiar with. It does not have a local paper. We tried looking online but only got two results for apartment complexes and some high priced fancy houses, too much for a just graduated kid and his first full time job. How do you find those apartments that are above a shop or part of a house?

[OH_Homeschooler]

Maybe have him ask when he gets a job offer? I would think that when he gets a job offer, HR would be willing to help with some resources.

Edited March 4, 2021 by OH_Homeschooler

[RootAnn]

How small? Here, the HR department would sometimes put the prospective employee in touch with a real estate agent who would be familiar with such things. Or, we are small enough that word of mouth at the company would be all you'd need.

[Katy]

HR should help him when he gets the offer. 

[saraha]

It is a small town library, so don't think there is an HR, but they might just know from word of mouth

[Alicia64]

I'd start with Zillow -- it's not just for those buying a house, it's also for those looking for rentals. You can search apartments, townhomes, condos, houses etc.

[Ottakee]

29 minutes ago, saraha said:

It is a small town library, so don't think there is an HR, but they might just know from word of mouth

Often librarians know a lot.  Otherwise facebook local groups.

[history-fan]

Asking the library staff is a good idea. Other ideas that I have seen having lived in very small towns- the grocery store either ask or most I knew had a bulletin board by the entry for local notices, the gas station which in one of my towns was the town “news hub”, if there is a city hall many rentals need a license with the city. If there is a church  or other business that sees traffic ask people working there.

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by history-fan

[Lucy the Valiant]

Post office knows EVERYTHING in a small (enough) town. Often there's a physical bulletin board, too - either in the grocery store / main gas station / library.

[City Mouse]

Around here, most rentals are found by word of mouth or Facebook. He should look for a local Facebook group to join. Also, I would suggest going to some of the small local businesses and asking the people working for suggestions. The post office here is hardly open, so that wouldn’t help much, but putting the word out at our local beer joint would probably be helpful. However, the are very few rentals in our small town, and many new residents end up having to live in a camper at one of the local RV parks (generous description but they do have full hookups) or living in a motel room for quite a while. Rentals don’t get posted anywhere because they are so few that they are scooped up as soon as they are available. It took my DD a full 12 months to get an affordable rental in the nearby town where she works. She spent last winter living in a hotel rooms so that she didn’t have to commute over the mountains in the snow and ice, and she works in a very public facing job and told everyone she could that she was looking for a place.

Edited March 5, 2021 by City Mouse

[Ottakee]

He could also check with local churches or even a senior center if the town has one.  There might be someone looking to rent out a house while an elderly parent is in a nursing home or someone looking for a roommate.

[J-rap]

Small towns often seem to have affordable apartments above shops, offices, etc.  Word of mouth is sometimes best.  I'd check with churches, the local grocery store bulletin board, the local coffee shop.  Is there a school in town?  Often schools are a good source because teachers are connected with lots of different circles within the community.  Our local hardware store had a community bulletin board too.  Is the town close enough that your ds can drive there for an afternoon?  That way he can poke his head into various establishments, introduce himself, and let them know he's looking!  He can also just drive around and look for "apartment for rent" signs.

 

[saraha]

We went to the town and drove around. We stopped into a couple of businesses but got no where. We did collect a couple of numbers for a couple of small complexes, but mostly struck out. People seemed wary as soon as he asked about places for rent 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Selkie]

Definitely ask on local Facebook pages - that’s how most people find rentals here. If the town is small enough, there might not be many rentals, though. Are there any neighboring towns that are close by? If so, I would check there, too.