Finding a rental home may not be the easiest task, but it doesn’t have to be the most difficult, either!

First question: where should you start your search? 

Friends and family! Ask around and see if anyone you know may be renting a home, or may know of someone else renting a home. If you’re renting from someone you know, or a friend of a friend, the lease process can become a bit easier because you’re not dealing with a complete stranger.  Even if your friends and family don’t know of anyone renting a home, they can still keep their eyes open to see if they come across the place that’s perfect for you.

If that didn’t work, what’s next?

The internet! This is probably the most obvious place to look for a rental home, but you still have to keep some things in mind. If you know the specific area you want to live in, you can look into websites that offer rentals in only certain places. For instance, if you want a rental in Austin, Texas, check out tenant.rentals. Services like this one save you the time of sifting through tons of rentals that are all scattered around. If you haven’t 100% decided where you want to live, that’s okay! There are plenty of websites that serve as huge databases for real estate listings. Check out Zillow, or Apartments.com. They’re trusted sites whose sole purpose is to help you find your next home.

Now, you may have seen the greatest home ever, only to realize it’s for sale and not for rent….but don’t fret! Believe it or not, sale listings can also lead you to your next rental. If a homeowner has a home for sale that’s been on the market for a long time, they may be willing to rent it out until they find a buyer. It’s already probably costing them a lot to keep the house empty and on the market, so renting it out to you will help the both of you.