This post is sponsored by Zumper. 

You just accepted a new job offer to a new city in a new state. Everything is being lined up to move, but how do you find a safe affordable place to live? It's not the proper time for you to buy immediately upon moving, so you decide to venture into the rental market. There are so many options- how do you choose? 

As someone who has rented in various cities and states over the past ten years, it is a difficult process to figure out, especially if in a time crunch.  Moving blind to a new city is frightening because you don't want your housing to be in a high-crime area and not knowing people makes it hard to make proper choices without recommendations. Sure, you can find out info on google, talk to HR and your soon-to-be boss, but how you go about finding rental listings in a crazy rental market? 

While it may be easier in rural or small cities, finding single family rentals in larger cities, such as Charlotte North Carolina, is even harder because there are so many decisions and application processes to sift through. Listed as one of the best places to live in NC, the Queen City has a LOT going on with sports, shopping, and a growing and thriving job market. So, how do you choose where to live? 

Which side of the city offers the best, safest, and affordable housing? How far does one want to commute to work? What type of housing fits the renter’s needs- family, individual, apartment complex, townhome, home? How far does one want to live away from shopping, restaurants, and schools?

Search engines are great tools to navigate the rental market. From reviews to amenities, the renter can find practically everything needed to make a choice towards signing a future lease.

Zumper helps navigate renting challenges by showcasing real-time listings of various types of housing needs. There nothing worse than falling love with a listing on a site to find out later it has been gone for weeks!

Before searching, check out the Zumper Blog to find updated rental data  and guides of locations across the US, such as Charlotte, NC. Finding Market rental values, location values, and median rental prices will be helpful with searches. These are all helpful for newly employed, or new to the area employees to determine what type of housing fits into their salary and budget. For Charlotte, the average rent of a 2 bed in South End is $2006.00.

Typing Charlotte, NC into Zumper’s search engine yielded hundreds of results. To fine-tune the search, I set a maximum rent of $2000, set the search to view pet-friendly (dogs and cats), a 2 bed/ 2 bath apartment showing lowest prices first. I looked for an apartment with a long-term lease and 103 listings were instantly created!

Zumper offers several features that make the search easier too! Listings are shown in the left column, announcing rental prices, amenities, contact information, etc. The right side shows a map of all featured listings, so that the renter can navigate to desired areas, or search further.  Listings may also offer pictures, virtual tours, or videos to help you determine the best housing lay-outs and styles for your needs.

The map might help determine what area of the city the renter would prefer to live in: downtown, uptown, in the ‘burbs, etc. and show the listing in relation to job, schools, or favorite restaurants.  

Other search settings include the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, pet- friendly, housing type, lease length, and special options- such as coveted move-in specials.  

If the renter already knows the area they prefer to live, it’s easier to type in a zip code or specific neighborhood. For example, someone desiring to live near University of NC- Charlotte, would type in 28223 or University City- South Charlotte into the search engine. This would bring up listings close to the University that might match your desired location. Real-time listings pop up in the University City- South, Charlotte area showcasing rentals in the area and beyond. 

No listings to suit your rental needs? Zumper also shows listings near a preferred location. Searching downtown Charlotte yields a few results, but it might be worth checking out the locations 1-20 miles outside of the search area to see availability. Within 10-20 miles, locations in Silverwood, South Park, and Fort Mill pop up.  The renter would then need to determine traffic levels on I77/I485, commute distance, and even where their community resides. If the renter is going to be downtown or mid-town all day, it might be worth it to pay extra to not commute back and forth.

Finally, set an alert to send matching listings directly to email inboxes daily. Hopefully, this won’t be needed too long as Zumper should help us find rentals right away!

Ready to move and explore the rental market? Whether it’s requesting more information, desiring an application, or wanting to set up an visit- Zumper is an all-inclusive search engine, so no need to navigate to different websites to find or request more information!  By becoming prequalified  communication with landlords can be super easy- because neither party must worry about credit checks, blind inquiries, no follow- through, or unavailable listings. Using Transunion, screens and credit checks are completed on tenants who apply through Zumper. Also, a messaging system exists  so that tenants and landlord's don't have to keep track of extra emails and texts. 

Whether its moving to a new city or staying in your home, definitely use Zumper’s website or download the Zumper app to find your new home!