Hello, bitches.
I am from Russia and I have no idea how it all works here, but here's my question:
I'm moving to Iowa city in early January and I seriously need help with renting an apartment. Where do I start? And advice and suggestions on the subject?
Maybe some of you can help me?
Sorry if my English is meh. I am still learning.
Up!
Why are you moving to Iowa?
Up...
Also, Iowa is cold, flat, with a lot of farms and not much else. There are also tornadoes and hail.
Iowa? Why, user?
Protip: bumfuckiowa.craigslist.org
My boyfriend got enrolled to a post grad program there.
Sound just like Russia to me so not much will change.
This.
Bring it on, you fucking ruskies. We're ready.
I don't like the "bumfuck" part in this...
Please, one more Russian won't hurt.
You won't like Iowa
GET BEHIND ME SATAN
>no
My first time here and a Satan triple already, hell yeah. >:3
Probably. Considering now I am living in Moscow.
By the way, almost all of the housing there is available on fall 2020.
Do you have someone you know there locally to scope out apartments? If not finding one is going to suck due to the absurd amount of scams.
Up..
Ah right, college town. Find a local real estate broker then. They'll find you a place, but you'll have to pay them
Bumfuck in the US doesn’t mean the same thing. Saying somewhere is BFE or bumfuck Egypt is saying it’s in the middle of nowhere. So bumfuck Iowa is the middle of goddamn nowhere Iowa.
No, unfortunately.
That's the whole problem for us.
My bf is graduating in December from college in another state and ideally we would just move in together in Iowa city with an already signed lease and all.
We pay them and they are a bunch of scams. What do I do next? :в
Thanks, honey, I learned a new word.
Never pay up front. You pay when you sign a lease. Typical fee us one months rent
Yeah either real estate broker or a fuckton of work researching and scoping out potential places to live. Another issue is small time landlords in the midwest are completely technologically inept and just rely on signs on the front lawn which just wtf lol. I recently moved states to some place where I knew no one and it was awful trying to find a place that wasn't ghetto as fuck within my price range.
We found one apartment.
The guy wants to email us the lease and then he wants us to MAIL him the signed lease and a check.
That sounds so messed up to me.
As a Russian I am not used to pay before actually seeing the place.
Is this guy weird?
What was your price range?
Ours is like +-800$. Would that be enough for at least something?
Yeah, the lease is a contract so he needs the actual signed copy. Your concern is understandable. Maybe try to arrange something at an extended stay motel for the first couple months while you find a place? Might be more work, but less of a gamble.
air BNB might be an option for OP.
trips of truth
You won't move away!
Thought about this too.
Also the funny story is that this apartment owner once drilled holes in the ceilings of the apartments he rents out and was watching women in the bathrooms and this is all over the news. It happened many years ago and he had his share of lawsuits and all, but renting an apartment from a guy like this..ithe creeps me out. Is this even safe, lol?
Uncle Vlad, pls no
Yeah, you are so right actually, I don't even have a visa yet. I am working on it of course. Buuuut~
Generally skeevy pervy landlords are rare the bigger issue is slumlords renting dumpy places and never fixing anything. Their is a good chance your initial place will suck and you will have to move once you know the town better. Landlords in america are a bunch of greedy fucks in general so low end rentals are a fucking nightmare. High end can suck as well but it is rarer.
RUSSIAN HACKERS ARE MEDDLING WITH OUR DEMOCRATIC POST ID SYSTEM
I haven't tried it yet. But I bet there would be nothing for our price range.
We contacted the person who subleases this place and he only talks about how the landlord is very attentive when it comes to maintaining the apartment. But I really don't know how to trust in this life. Maybe he just wants to get rid of that lease and only tells good stories.
ЪУЪ cюиyкa
Yeah sounds like your best best is a broker or real estate agent then. So many fucking scams that are easy to avoid if you are already in the city but way harder if you are not.
:*
Thanks for your answers and wasting your time on me. Russian bear hugs to you, user.
Sure user have fun in America and keep in mind America varies a LOT not everywhere is like where you are moving to other places are completely different.
I never got so lucky on our Russian imageboard.
Yeah, I do understand this. Thanks again.