Narrative: Renting An Apartment In Portland

Per the Oregonian's story on renting in Portland, Oregon:

"Inner Northeast and Southeast are popular with young professionals because they're more affordable than the west side, yet close enough to make commutes downtown to work and the nightlife easy. But inner and central Southeast Portland have the lowest open rentals percentage: just 1.6 percent of units available [emphasis added]. That's a 21 percent decrease from 2006 and a nearly 75 percent decrease from 2005."

This explains why I had such a hard time finding a place to rent last fall! I just thought that late autumn had to be a tough time to find good affordable apartments. It really is crazy out here, though. I was so excited to go apartment-hunting when I got out here, because I'd never looked for my own place before (looong story), & it was NOT FUN. At all. Even a little bit. Because things go so fucking fast.

My "favorite" was the one-bedroom in Belmont (I walk past that building all the time actually). I called about 40 minutes after the ad went up on Craigslist. The woman said she'd already had 10 calls. I made an appointment for 90 minutes later, & by the time I'd parked my car (I had to leave work in the middle of the day. From Lake Oswego, mind), she'd left a voicemail saying the apartment was rented! Granted, the monthly damage was only $550, which is super-cheap for my neighborhood. But things really do go almost that fast.

This is what worked well for me in my search (I hesitate to call it "advice", but I guess it is):

1) Do whatever you can to be the very first person to see an available space. Apartments seem to work on a "dibs" basis. If you are the first person to get your application in, as long as they think your credit's okay, it's yours. I got my apartment because I checked the Willamette Week's online ads before the print edition came out. By the time it did, & people started calling my landlord, he had already rented it. To me. Oh, by the way, you will probably not find an apartment unless you have already moved here & can look at it in person. Because there are already 12 million people in Portland whom a landlord can physically meet who want to rent that space. Why should they bother with someone who lives 2,000 miles away, even if you are the nicest most perfect tenant ever?
2) You will probably find your apartment on Craigslist. It has the most & best listings, but you will have to keep the page open all day & refresh no less than every 30 minutes. I was the first person to look at three places using this method. Every place save one that I looked at was on Craiglist. BUT, it is definitely worth it to keep an eye on the Willamette Week & Portland Mercury websites. For some reason my landlord only listed in Willamette Week. Bless him.
3) Expect to fork over some dough for credit checks. This will depend on how your hunt goes. Me? I spent about $100 on 3 credit checks for potential apartments. The first one didn't like my credit. The second was the place I almost took, until I found the third place. (I also paid a credit check fee for a fourth place, because I wanted to think about the fourth vs. the third, & the property manager said they'd hold it & refund if I decided not to move forward. Which they kindly did.)
4) Be overly honest & give too much detail about your credit (if it isn't perfect). The first landlord asked, & all I said was that it was "not perfect, but not terrible". He rejected me. (Which worked out for the complete best for me, for the record.) Lesson learned! For the next three apartments I gave an exquisitely detailed narrative of my credit. Before they did the check. I said, "This is exactly what you are going to find." Then I told them why they would find it there (making it sound as nice as possible, of course). I threw in some personal information. I was not above mentioning my most recent living situation & its possible effect on my report. I even said that I didn't understand why so much importance was placed on letter-perfect credit. After all, what's the very first thing you're going to pay every month? RENT. And every one of the three offered me the space.
5) Have patience (if you're fortunate enough to have that luxury). I started looking for an apartment immediately after my arrival, in the beginning of October. I didn't find the perfect space for five weeks. And when I did find it, I couldn't move in for another three weeks. Which was really hard. But now? I'm totally in love with my apartment. With my neighborhood. It's perfect. Then again, I hate moving, so crashing in my friend's dining room in Wilsonville for two months was worth it to me.

Because I'm not moving again until I buy a house. And in this market, that's not likely to happen for a while.