San Joaquin Homes Community Blog

Norbert, Here is my "journey" in finding a rental home.

In Dec we found out the home we were renting would only be ours through the end of our lease, which ended March 1. The homeowners had decided to release the home and lucky for us, they had given us a few months notice.
I had just given birth to my son on Dec 11 so I took a few weeks to let the news sink in before I set out on the long journey to find my family a new "home."

In January I started browsing listings on craigslist and other property management sights.  I had heard tons of horror stories about renters being kicked out of their homes because the homes were going into foreclosure and the tenants were not notified. I was nervous and stressed about even looking... not to mention the fact that I had specific things I needed in a home.

I wanted our new house to be in Spanos (close to my mom) and it had to be at least 4 bedrooms since I work from home and I needed an office and my fiance "needs" a game room where he can put his big screen tv and all his video game systems. We wanted something newer with a decent size yard but low maintenance and we wanted all this for less than $1500 per month not to mention our "shakey" credit.

I called numerous listings I found on craigslist and while most were not what I was looking for, I called anyways just to get my feelers out there and find out what the market was really like. I had also called several local property management companies and few returned my call (days later). I was always up front about my credit issues and a lot lost interest after they found out I was credit challenged.

In 2 weeks I viewed tons of ads, homes, and found 2 that we really liked. The first one was rented before I could turn my application in and the second was was listed by a private owner. I was a little hesitant to rent from a private owner because I was scared of the home going into foreclosure and me never finding out until the bank was knocking at my door. 
While driving around a neighborhood, I found the rental sign for the home on English Oak. I was very familiar with the area and called on the home right away.

I was given all the info over the phone as well as a website to see pictures.
I got online that night, viewed the pictures and sent an email to schedule a viewing. A response was sent to me within an hour of me sending the original request and I spoke with Norbert the next day and set up a viewing for later than evening.

I viewed the home and new it would be perfect. Norbert had all the info about the house down pat and pointed out all the cosmetic blemishes that would be fixed prior to us moving in which was nice because I would have not even noticed them. I dreaded telling him about our credit issue since the other management companies were so "unsupported" after they found out but Norbert listened and asked other questions about our job and financial status and more importantly he let me explain WHY my credit was not perfect. He was sympathetic without being condescending which is a rarity for this day and age.

I was confident when I turned in our applications the following day that we would be able to work something out.  That same day, I received a call about a property we had inquired on a few days prior was available and that the owners were willing to work with us to get us in. I told them I would not be able to give them a yes or no answer until Monday as I was hoping to hear good news from Norbert. They really pressured me into renting that home but I stood my ground and decided that even if we didn't get the English Oak house I didn't want to rent from these people because they were pushy and a bit unprofessional.

Lucky for me, Monday I got a call with good new and we will be moving into our new home in 2 weeks. I'm excited and a lot less stressed!!
I didn't realize how crazy the rental market is. I'm just glad that we've found a House to call home and that we will be working with a property manager who is on the up and up and dedicated to his clients :)

Tracie (your new residents!)