College Student needs help

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collegestudent_IHB

New member
Hi All,





I am a 4th year college student at UC Irvine about to graduate in 4 weeks. I would appreciate it if you guys could give me some advice. We are having a hard time decoding the apartment-rental landscape in Irvine.





1.Can I get access to the MLS listings? I dont like depending on real-estate agents to tell me what is listed and what is not?


2.Anyone know of any 3 bedroom apartments for rent at the marquee place high-rise in irvine? Or a 3 bedroom at Promontory Point ? Watermarke? The Plaza?


3.I dont want to/like to deal with real estate agents. Can i go directly to the builder and lease from them?


4.The luxury apartments we have seen so far - Villa Siena, Toscana, The Village at the spectrum, Marquee Place - I get the feeling that everyone who is showing us around are high-balling us and I am having a hard time trying to get a "fundamental value" for the apartment ( arent college students naive?) from which I can negotiate. Is there a certain percentage/formula I can always discount from what the agents first offer?





A little background history: I plan to live and work in Irvine after I graduate with 2 other friends ( who graduate with me). Because there are three of us, we can afford rents that go uptil $3000.00 (split 3 ways). and we hope we can get a luxury apartment (3 bedroom) for that kind of money.





I know I am asking a lot of questions, but any piece of advice, dealing with any of above, would be very appreciated!





Thanks!
 
Most of the apartments in Irvine are owned by the Irvine Company. You can see them athttp://www.irvinecompany.com. It's not necessary to go to a RE agent.





If you want to rent from home owner, you could check craiglist or local RE listings. For example www.toddm.com has some lease listings on his web page.
 
Find the area you want to live in, and drive around. You will probably see for rent signs, especially in coastal areas. If you want to live in a high rise like the Marquee, go to craigslist and run some searches. There are always units available for rent.
 
You can search for rentals here:





<a href="http://firstteam.com/Home.aspx">First Team</a>





<a href="http://ocrealestatefinder.com/">OC Real Estate Finder</a>





<a href="http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/">Craigslist


</a>
 
<p>Most apartment are mostly 2br/2ba and the one in high damands are the 1br and studio because these are the cheapest. Because apartments are packed together and the unit often run out of exterior perimeter wall for windows. Therefore 3 BR unit is rare and hard to lease. Because 3BR often are rented to family with noisy kids and that often annoy the twenty something years old like yourself. Most luxurious project like Villa Sienna, and the Colony at Fashion Island has very limited 3BR. Family renters are not interested in the Executive lifestyle projects.</p>

<p>The Irvine Company link can take you to Irvine Apartment Communities and there is a project Woodbury Place. These are single family detached and duplex homes that has an attached garage for your safety and they offer executive lifestyle ammenities just like other higher end project like the Bluff, Colony and Villa Siena. This community is not gated therefore you do not have to pay extra for the 3rd transponder and another whopping fee for the 3rd parking space.</p>
 
I would check out villa siena, it has a nice mediteranian feel and they do have some 3 bdrm townhouses and you can usually get away w/ not having to buy a 3rd transponder.
 
<a href="http://www.octowers.com">www.octowers.com</a> for the Marquee and Plaza etc. I know someone who negotiated his rent in Marquee down to $2300 a month. Lots of desperate flippers there so be careful who you rent from. You may want to see if someone here can do a title history for you here before you sign the lease.
 
<p>College,</p>

<p>My favorite public MLS site is <a href="http://www.homeseekers.com">www.homeseekers.com</a>. You should get the latest and greatest listings.</p>

<p>Graphrix has the best advice for you. Be careful to verify indeed the landlord is real and honest.as people do find way to steal your identity to obtain fraudulant loans. The landlord maybe defaulting soon and will leave you with eviction and lost of deposit. At least 2 bloggers on this forum were victims.</p>

<p>Screening landlord is my most critical service to my tenant clients</p>
 
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