Craigs List if you are lazy. If you really want to find the best rental at the best price, get in your car. Drive around, find neighborhoods you would like to live in, then become a stalker and drive around each weekend looking for signs put up by homeowners.

The stalker part was joke.

Try rentslicer.com

Josh

Using Craigslist, the UT (signonsandiego.com), Rentslicer.com, and others it not lazy, it’s smart. Judging by your post, I would estimate that you are already somewhat familiar with the area that you want to rent in and have a feel for its various idiosyncrasies. The time frame you are looking to rent will have an effect on how the intangibles (traffic, noise, good school proximity) play a role in your decision-making process. Buying the property would be a different story altogether, assuming you were going to stay put long-term.

As a renter of a home myself, I would recommend that you scan the readily-available sources out there, such as Craiglist, Rentslicer, etc. And that you cross-reference them with other sites like Zillow. You are basically going to look for those owners that have purchased before the most recent housing bubble…the owners that don’t have to charge a higher rent in order to achieve profitability.

Also cross reference any final choices with a foreclosure database. Twice I have found a place with a great rent price and they had recently gotten a Notice of Default. It is possible for someone going down the drain to get a few months rent out of you, not pay the bank for 3-6 months until the bank forecloses, then you get to move again. None of the foreclosure databases will give you an exact address without subscribing but foreclosure.com lists the street name and the name of the owner on NOD’s, and today’s zestimate on foreclosures. Cross referencing on zillow for foreclosures and with tax records online on NOD’s, can confirm if you walking into an eviction by a bank. Other forclosure sites give you other bits of info, but running it on various sites you can get almost all of it.

While I have used many of the online/print resources in the past… by far the best tool I have found for scouting rentals is my mountain bike. Ride around, be friendly, stop to talk to people and get the inside scoop. Talk to the people out walking their dogs… they walk those streets every day and know exactly what is for sale/rent. Talk to the little old lady, she is the one who has a couple of rental properties in the area, or knows someone who does. In my experience, the house you are looking for has an 8″x12″ generic red for-rent sign stapled to the garage door with nothing but a phone number on it. Those for me have always been the best places, the best landlords, and the best prices.

As as a bonus… a mountain bike in the areas you are looking will get you in pretty good shape.

I found a great Mission Hills rental a few years back using The Reader – it has pretty extensive listings.

Good advice El Jefe. The best rentals properties at the best prices never make it online. They are owned by some retired 70ish year old gal/guy who generally has very long term tenants. When they leave your 8 x 12 genreic red for rent sign is all he needs to find another great tenant in a weekend.