How to rent a house?

How to rent a house in Houston TX?

• Ok so I want to get all the information on how to rent a house in houston tx..Do I go around the neighborhood and when I see a sign do I just call the number and ask the owner what I need to know? do I have to put a down payment on a rent house or no? and what about getting a rent to own house, i know it has to be listed for rent to own. So do i have to leave a down payment or how does that work? if so, around how much? i still live with my parents so this is a first step for me. Or what about buying a house, i don't have much save or what not. But on the range of a house i want is from 80,000-90,000. So how much do ya ll think rent will be a month? Do y'all know any good website to look on a rent to own or just renting a house. Do i have to be a certain age? cause Im 23 Yrs and i will be moving out with my boyfriend n son. Thank You

• Answer:

  You can look on Craigs List to find homes for rent. Rent to own is a bit harder to find, but they may be listed on their as well. YES, you need good credit to rent or even buy a house. Now, I highly doubt you are going to be buying a house. Why? Because, even you say you do not have much money saved. If you are looking at houses in the 90k range, you are going to need at least 3.5% of that for an FHA loan as a down payment. Then, you are going to need another 3 to 6% of that amount for closing costs. This could be in the thousands. Second, if you have no credit established, or your score is not above 620, you won't find a lender to take you on. Third, you need to make about 30k a year in order to qualify for that 90k house. You would do better to just rent a place FIRST and find out all the work that goes into having a house ( you do realize you have to mow the lawn, pay all of the utilities etc when living in a house? .. it's more work than an apartment ) Yes, you will have to pay a deposit to rent a house. Most landlords will want first months rent and a deposit that is usually equal to your rent. So, if you find a house that costs $1000 a month to rent, you will need to double that to $2000 just to move in! Then, you will have to turn on all the utilities in your name, and if you haven't had utility service before, they will run a credit inquiry and will assess a deposit/turn on fee etc! Some deposits for utility companies can be $200 or more! Then, you have to consider how much it costs to rent a moving truck/gas/boxes to move. If you were to find a lease option or rent to own house, yes, you need a deposit for that too. They usually will want about 1 to 5% of the purchase price as a down payment, and then the rent is usually a bit higher than the going rate, because you may get a rent credit which will be applied to your down payment at the end of the lease option. If you cannot fulfill the lease option, you lose your down payment and rent credits. Those go to the landlord for taking the place off the market for 12 to 36 mos while you lived there. And, don't bother thinking you can sue to get that money back because you couldn't obtain a mortgage. LOL