Rental Houses
If you're searching for rentals, don't just limit yourself to apartments. You might miss out on a wonderful place to live that's yours for the taking: a single-family rental houses.
Most people never even consider rental houses, but there are plenty available, and there are plenty of ways to find them. First, try an online search. If you use one of the popular rental sites, you can sometimes specify that you're looking for a house. Other times, the apartments and the houses will be mixed in together.
Another option is to go to a real-estate broker. Many of these professionals know of houses that are available to rent. As people move, they sometimes leave their unsold home behind. Rather than paying two mortgages, they can make some money renting their old place out. The main drawback to these houses is that they might not be available on a long-term basis. You might also have to tolerate numerous visits from potential buyers.
Once you've found a house you'd like to rent, you should treat the process the same as you would treat an apartment search. Meet with the landlord to check out the house. Be sure to ask who will handle routine maintenance (especially things like mowing the lawn and shoveling snow from the sidewalk). Many landlords will take care of these things for you when you live in an apartment, but when you're renting a house you might find that you have to take a little more responsibility for maintaining the property.
Bear in mind that because you're getting a lot more square footage, you're also likely to pay a lot more for these spaces. For some people, it's worth it to have some outdoor space or a front porch.
The great part about renting a house is that you don't have neighbors on the other side of the wall. Instead, they're on the other side of the fence!
