There will always be discussion on whether it is best for someone to buy a home or to rent one. With most things in life, it will depend on your personal situation and what lifestyle you are looking to live. In Ventura County, as well as most parts of California, buying a home may not be as viable an option as in other parts of the country. In today’s real estate market, most lenders are looking for excellent credit scores in order to obtain the best rates for a home loan. Even though there are some programs that require only a 3% down payment, that can still add up when the median home price in Ventura County as of January 2015 is over $580,000 (as stated by the California Association of Realtors). Even if you are able to qualify for a loan and can afford a down payment, looking for houses to rent may still be a better option. Although it is up for debate, many people say that you should not buy a home if you are not sure you’re going to live there at least 4 or 5 years. If you are interested in renting a home in Ventura County, below are some places that you can find houses for rent.
Houses for Rent in Ventura County
Craigslist
Using Craigslist to find real estate was discussed in our last post about Craigslist Ventura, so we will not go into much detail about Craigslist here. However, Craigslist is becoming more and more popular for people looking for houses for rent, so this topic cannot be discussed without mentioning it again. As a quick recap, if I were looking to rent a home, I would start by looking in the “Apts/Housing For Rent” subcategory followed by “Sublet/Temp Wanted.”
Homes.com
Homes.com is an easy-to-use website that offers tons of information about residential real estate in the United States. You can find information about homes for sale, home values, mortgage rates, and even foreclosures in your area. They also offer one of the most robust rental searches that we have come across. Not only can you filter by city and state, but you can also narrow down between apartments, condominiums, townhomes, and houses for rent. Although I have not used it myself, the website also offers an app for Android and iPhone.
Rent.com
Unlike Homes.com, Rent.com is exclusively for finding apartments or houses for rent. Their search function is also top-notch and may be the best one that we have seen when it comes to looking for a rental. Not only does it have all the standard search filters such as price, number of beds/baths, and size, but it also lets you filter by amenities such as pool, elevator, dish washer, washer/dryer, and many others. Rent.com also has a moving center where you can get quotes from local vendors to see how much it will cost to work with a mover. You enter your information in their form, the vendors contact you directly to discuss their services and costs, and then you choose which company you want to work with (or decide against using any of them). Finally, rent.com offers a $100 Visa reward card for finding a rental on their site. The site states that if you find an eligible rental using their search, tell the leasing agent that you found them through rent.com and then report your lease back to the website, you will receive a $100 Visa reward card. If this is something that you are interested in taking advantage of, make sure to read their Reward Card Policy to make sure that you understand how to meet the qualifications.
Zillow
When most people think of Zillow, they either think of it as a website to search for homes to purchase or to find a Zestimate on what their home is worth. We will save the discussion on their Zestimates for another day, but Zillow can also be used to find houses for rent. Similar to their search for homes to buy, you can set your rental search parameters by price, bedrooms, bathrooms, size, year built, etc. This could be useful if you know exactly what kind of home you are looking to rent. The tool that I find most useful on Zillow is the map search feature. This allows you to find houses for rent in specific areas of town that you may be looking at. If you are interested in only a certain section of Ventura County, you are able to use the map to find houses for rent only in that section, and then filter your choices from there. Another tool that Zillow offers is a “Rental Pre-Application” form, which they state allows you to receive quicker responses from property managers.
Ventura County Star
We would be remiss if we did not mention one of the major local publications, so we cannot end this post without discussing the Ventura County Star. VCstar.com has a page dedicated to searching homes that can be found locally. On this page, you can search for homes to buy, apartments and houses for rent, and even find a list of local real estate agents. Although not as robust as the searches that can be conducted on other websites that are dedicated solely to real estate, the Ventura County Star offers a simple to use search function that can easily be used to search for houses for rent. And while the website itself is focused on Ventura County, you are still able to search for homes to purchase and rent throughout the rest of California.
CONCLUSION
These are just a few of the resources available to those looking for houses for rent. A quick Google search will turn up many websites that list apartments and houses for rent, so you have many options to turn to. Craigslist is quickly becoming the most popular website to find housing, especially for the younger generation. A sense of caution must always be used when using Craigslist, as scammers can easily post false ads, so some people may prefer to look for houses for rent on other websites. Good luck in your search and we hope this post helps you get started with finding the rental home that you’re looking for!