# Finding rural homes for rent



## MeatCountry (May 20, 2015)

Right now I'm homesteading with a lovely LL on a 5 acre property I was very fortunate to find via CL. Fast forward 4 years I got a new job and thinking of relocating. I commute 1 hour and 30 minutes each way daily. 

The problem is that I can't find anything. I found one place they seemed perfect but while I am 1 out of the 2 of the potential applicants. I don't think I'll be selected. 

I check CL, rent jungle, eBay classifieds, hot pads, zilliow, trulia, etc. Daily to the point of almost hourly. I've joined FB groups around the area for farming properties. Still nothing. 

Do any of you have any suggestions as to others places I could look?


----------



## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Look at bulletin boards in Tractor Supply stores and the like. If you don't mind digging ask the county court house how you can get a list of properties where the recipient of the tax statements has a different address. In WV I'd cal the state tax offices for that rather than the county.

Drive around and look at the properties. You'll eventually find some that are vacant. Get in touch with the owner. You may find properties that are only used during hunting season that you could rent the rest of the year. Get a motel room during that period.

You can also fix up a truck or van and live in a Walmart parking lot.


----------



## Moboiku (Mar 7, 2014)

If you think this is the way of life for you, have you considered purchasing instead of renting? There are more options available for sale than for rent usually. If financing is the issue, it still doesn't hurt to switch your focus to properties for sale - sometimes the current owner is willing to do a "lease to own" situation but hasn't listed the property in the rental section.


----------



## MeatCountry (May 20, 2015)

Darren said:


> Look at bulletin boards in Tractor Supply stores and the like. If you don't mind digging ask the county court house how you can get a list of properties where the recipient of the tax statements has a different address. In WV I'd cal the state tax offices for that rather than the county.
> 
> Drive around and look at the properties. You'll eventually find some that are vacant. Get in touch with the owner. You may find properties that are only used during hunting season that you could rent the rest of the year. Get a motel room during that period.
> 
> You can also fix up a truck or van and live in a Walmart parking lot.


The dogs, pig, poulty and myself in the parking lot shouldn't attract too much attention ound:

Thank you though I'll look around. 



Moboiku said:


> If you think this is the way of life for you, have you considered purchasing instead of renting? There are more options available for sale than for rent usually. If financing is the issue, it still doesn't hurt to switch your focus to properties for sale - sometimes the current owner is willing to do a "lease to own" situation but hasn't listed the property in the rental section.


Oh yes I was working on my friends farm for about 3 years, I've never done anything that I felt so much passion and relaxation from. Dragging a 29 acre field sure! LOL. Then I moved out of my folks placed I started my own small homestead ( in hopes of getting a farm)  for last 4. 

I want to purchase so bad but I won't without a permanent job ( I do contracting) The place I was looking at was "lease to own" of about 5 acres. Which would have been perfect all fenced and a nice sturdy house in a small town. There were 4 people orginally but 2 dropped out from what I was told. Leaving only another person and myself. I haven't heard anything from the owner in about 3 days thinking of sending another message, but I didn't want to be too pushy.


----------



## NC_minifarm (Jan 7, 2015)

I'm in a similar boat. We are renting from a family friend at the moment but can't do what we want with the property (it's 3 acres but on a residential street) so I have two chickens and a garden at the moment. We'd like to get a property to rent with a barn (I've had to sell my horse because board was going up monthly here) and allow us to be a bit more self sufficient. But I also consult- and with my student loans I can forget about loans. We're putting away money for a down payment and all the while looking for something that better suits us to rent.


----------



## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Depending how small the community is, you might need to get plugged into the grapevine. Our rentals have never been advertised. So far, we have always had people come to us because "they heard" the place would be for rent. 

And one poor guy who had put a ton of money into fixing up his rental, held an open house and the whole ball of wax, is now in the process of redoing it because he got a no pay, tear up the house, peeing dog, extra people moving in, type renter from his marketing efforts. I will be surprised if he advertises again, probably go with an agency since he lives elsewhere.


----------



## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

lots of places in Eastern panhandle wv


----------



## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Go to a local post office in a small town near where you want to be. Talk to the postmaster, tell him what you're looking for, leave him a business card with your phone number to give anyone who's interested. Wait.

Small town postmasters know everyone and about everything. They know that Joe Blow's parents died two years ago and the house is sitting empty. They talk to Joe, Joe talks to you.

Mon


----------



## MeatCountry (May 20, 2015)

NC_minifarm said:


> I'm in a similar boat. We are renting from a family friend at the moment but can't do what we want with the property (it's 3 acres but on a residential street) so I have two chickens and a garden at the moment. We'd like to get a property to rent with a barn (I've had to sell my horse because board was going up monthly here) and allow us to be a bit more self sufficient. But I also consult- and with my student loans I can forget about loans. We're putting away money for a down payment and all the while looking for something that better suits us to rent.


Thankfully student loans are the only thing I have to pay. 3 acres is nice but I in a residential area I agree not so much hopefully you can find something soon. 



MO_cows said:


> Depending how small the community is, you might need to get plugged into the grapevine. Our rentals have never been advertised. So far, we have always had people come to us because "they heard" the place would be for rent.
> 
> And one poor guy who had put a ton of money into fixing up his rental, held an open house and the whole ball of wax, is now in the process of redoing it because he got a no pay, tear up the house, peeing dog, extra people moving in, type renter from his marketing efforts. I will be surprised if he advertises again, probably go with an agency since he lives elsewhere.


I'm looking at several at least up to 50 miles from my location. I've gotten in contact with a few agencies as well, every little bit helps. 



Forcast said:


> lots of places in Eastern panhandle wv


Jobs too?



frogmammy said:


> Go to a local post office in a small town near where you want to be. Talk to the postmaster, tell him what you're looking for, leave him a business card with your phone number to give anyone who's interested. Wait.
> 
> Small town postmasters know everyone and about everything. They know that Joe Blow's parents died two years ago and the house is sitting empty. They talk to Joe, Joe talks to you.
> 
> Mon


This is a very good idea and something I never thought of I will most certainly do that. Thank you very much!


----------



## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

MO_cows said:


> Depending how small the community is, you might need to get plugged into the grapevine. Our rentals have never been advertised. So far, we have always had people come to us because "they heard" the place would be for rent.


We have a rental house that is rural - (3 acres) and we don't advertise other than putting a sign out front "For Rent" and list our phone number. 

Now granted, our rental house is on a busy State Highway near 2 State Parks. Usually within a day of the "For Rent" sign being put up, the phone calls start. 

The majority are just nosing - want to know how many rooms, what all is included in the rent, and how much it is. (I think some calls are nosy neighbors just wanting to find out, some calls are from local renters checking to see if it's a better deal than they are getting, and then you have a few serious lookers. 

When we are ready to have it viewed, we call the "people wanting to look" and set up times - spaced out. It usually doesn't take long to see if somebody is really interested or not.

I would say start driving around in the area you are looking at. Drive on roads you have never been on - and drive into the very rural areas - looking for a house that suits your wants. For the houses that are "For Sale" and meet your wants - stop and inquire if they would be interested in renting.

Many times if homes listed "for sale" have sat empty for a while - and no one recently has inquired, the owner may be in a mood thinking it's better to get some money NOW (rent) rather than letting it sit empty.


----------



## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

You could contact realtors in the area. I just went through a long process of finding a place to rent in a different state and after encountering people who wanted to rent me property they didn't own I stopped looking on CL and went through a realtor.


----------



## ozarkchaz (Feb 4, 2005)

Zillow also advertises Rentals.


----------



## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

We have a local free paper full of classified ads, houses and otherwise. Look to see if you have one. Maybe put a house wanted ad with an email address on CL or in such a paper or a cheap drop phone# you can buy and use for a month or two and ditch to keep the annoyances down.


----------



## PrairieClover (Jun 19, 2015)

Some of the real estate companies list rentals too, if you haven't checked there. You can also get notifications when a property meets your specifications from some of the websites (like hotpads).


----------



## MeatCountry (May 20, 2015)

I need to vent, this situation is so frustrating to say the least. I check just about every rental site to the point of almost hourly. With little leads. Or I have people contact me telling me they have something and then I don't hear from them. So I have to inquire about a status only be told the property was sold or they changed their minds. etc. Then I get people who can't read and ask me if I want to buy. My strangest issue is finding a place in agricultural area but the prospective owners get concerned when I tell them I have chickens, ducks, etc. One lady had a place with 5 acres out in the middle of no where but didn't want the animals? I provided references and offered to pay a (hefty) deposit. She was inclined to agree but I could tell she really didn't want to chance it.

I really wish I could buy.......


----------



## 1948CaseVAI (May 12, 2014)

In south central Kansas you would need to be able to show, somehow, that you are not going to cook meth there. Lots of rentals up in smoke due to meth cooking and people are now spooked. The rural sheriffs all have meth hit squads that are specially trained to clean up meth sites. It is a mess.


----------



## _Karen_Cee_ (Jun 15, 2016)

Renting a homestead is something I'm more than likely gonna have to check in to as well, when the time comes to make a move (2 yrs) so I'm-a gonna follow this thread - and share if I find out anything that's helpful. 

Something else I've been researching - and I do know to be extremely smart about it - is rent to own properties. That might be a way, depending on the people involved...the type of property...location...etc. to have a homestead. You might look into or ask a realtor about that, if it's of interest to you.


----------



## Mulegirl (Oct 6, 2010)

MeatCountry said:


> I need to vent, this situation is so frustrating to say the least. I check just about every rental site to the point of almost hourly. With little leads. Or I have people contact me telling me they have something and then I don't hear from them. So I have to inquire about a status only be told the property was sold or they changed their minds. etc. Then I get people who can't read and ask me if I want to buy. My strangest issue is finding a place in agricultural area but the prospective owners get concerned when I tell them I have chickens, ducks, etc. One lady had a place with 5 acres out in the middle of no where but didn't want the animals? I provided references and offered to pay a (hefty) deposit. She was inclined to agree but I could tell she really didn't want to chance it.
> 
> I really wish I could buy.......


My guess is that some folks have been seriously burned by bad renters, something that can happen more easily when the property's too far for neighbors to notice that weird stuff is happening. I can completely understand, and it's one reason we're outright selling our property in VA and not trying to rent it.

Back when I was rent in Virginia (in the Culpeper-Madison-Orange Counties area), we found some places through Craigslist and Hotpads, but the one we ended up renting came through a personal connection. It can be hard to find places, definitely. Sometimes a good answer is to rent in a town near where you want to be, and use that as a base to find a more rural property.


----------

