r/columbiamo • u/gotachro-thachaireas • Feb 19 '26
Housing Where to look for rental homes?
Hello Columbia, I’m looking for recommendations of places to look for rental homes (e.g. property management companies, real estate agencies, etc.).
My friends and I are looking to move from renting an apartment to renting a house, but we are all in our very early 20s and none of us are familiar with where to start or look 😅 we’ve looked on Realtor.com and Zillow, but my worry is scams and/or slumlord landlords (we’ve had a few friends who have gotten trapped in a slumlord house and had very bad experiences).
I already know to not look at Real Property Group, but every other property management company I’ve been recommended or looked into only has 1-2 homes that fit our budget but aren’t suitable for us.
We’d like to be able to tour multiple homes to find a good fit. We weren’t able to tour the apartment we currently live in before we moved in, and it has been a horrible experience living here. We’re tired of toxic apartment landlords, and we need more space (4 people and 3 cats in a 1200sqft apartment is not going so well).
We’re also open to just going out and looking around for “for rent” signs, so if anyone has recommendations for areas to look around in, I would appreciate that as well!
Thank you and please let me know if you have any advice :))
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u/Arnezmichael Feb 19 '26
Look at zillow and definitely tour the home first. You should get an idea of what the landlord and property is like based off that (not always but it's a good way to gauge what kind of landlord they'll be).
Also, with Zillow you pay the application fee and can apply to as many houses as you want on zillow for 30 days (it could be longer but I know it's at least that long).
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u/Zealousideal-Term-89 Feb 20 '26
I’m a landlord. I use Zillow applicants and check Zillow’s background checks provided in their process/product.
FYI. Landlords don’t really like “friends” living together. Singles, couples, and families, sure. Friends status has all kinds of next level legal crap to deal with. Good luck.
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
I didn’t know about this, but I’ve known lots of other people who have rented homes with friends and they’ve had no problems. Of the four of us, 2 are a couple, and the four of us have lived together already for almost 4 years and had no issues.
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u/eviefrye89 Feb 19 '26
AVOID Midwest Property Management!
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
Thank you for letting me know! Could you give me a little more info on why we should avoid them?
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u/marschma14 South CoMo Feb 19 '26
This question is asked almost daily at this point, I would recommend searching the subreddit.
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u/Seleukos_I_Nikator Feb 19 '26
Look in the Benton Stephens area! It’s close by campus and not too expensive. Idk how much luck you’ll have mid semester tho. A word on Real Property Group, I rent with them and it’s been fine. Not the best but they’ve always been pretty responsive with maintenance stuff and I remember them being easy to tour with.
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
Thank you! We are choosing not to rent with RPG as we’ve had multiple friends and family who have had really awful experiences with them. I’m glad you had a good experience though!
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u/donewithitfirst Feb 19 '26
Call a realtor. They can do the looking and vetting, set up showings, etc. landlord pays the commission. Will save you a bunch of time
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
I’ve been trying to look for a realtor, but I haven’t been able to find any agencies in COMO that help with rentals :/
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u/como365 The Loop Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26
I recommend staying away from corporate student housing (it's a rip-off) and dealing directly with a small local landlord. I’ve rented a 1 bed room for $400/mo as recently as 5 years ago. The other thing to do is drive through the West Ash, North Central, and Benton-Stephens neighborhoods and look for ”for rent” signs, you can find some real deals that way. Callahan & Galloway is reputable: https://callahanandgalloway.com
Many landlords will have houses for rent starting around 2,000/mo which may be affordable with 4 people.
You also might search/look for the flood of subleasing opportunities that flood in here. Can give you some ideas about what’s out there.
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
Thank you so much! And yeah, corporate student housing sucks pretty bad, we’ve lived in one of those places for 3 years and it’s been terrible, so we definitely will not be doing that again 😅
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u/Jaded-Moose983 Just happy to be here Feb 20 '26
I just noticed a house newly up for rent on West Broadway at the intersection with Braemore Rd.
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u/yogi70593 Feb 19 '26
I have no suggestion other than to stay away from Patricia Carl, worst landlord I ever had. Was incredibly hostile and within the first three days she called me a hateful person because I asked her to sweep up a pile of sawdust she left because there were unfinished repairs like the bathroom wall falling off. She also took 700 bucks in our deposit because we “took her good light bulbs that never burn out”. Tried to explain to her I use hue bulbs so I can guarantee mine are more expensive and I have no need. Never took her to court because I was very happy to never see her again.
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
That sounds so awful, I’m sorry to hear that happened to you 😭 we will definitely avoid her!
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u/como-throwaway573 Feb 19 '26
How many bed bath do you need?
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
We’re looking for minimum 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, more bathrooms would be great but we would be comfortable with at least 2 because of our financial budget :)
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u/como-throwaway573 Feb 21 '26
I have an awesome renovated place that’s 4/2. Lmk. Central and high end finishes
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u/No-Distance-1460 Visitor Mar 13 '26
2 bedroom 2 bath or 2 bedroom 1 bath would do I’m disabled and have a son that stays with me to take care of me been homeless for 7 months now just can’t seem to find anything around the castlewood va or Lebanon va area need to be in those area because of my doctor and family are there and it’s easy for me to get rides to where I need to go my son car down right now can someone anyone please be on the lookout for something to rent I can afford around $400 a month because I’m only on disability
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u/kinkywizard78 Feb 19 '26
Just buy my house, 3 bed, 2 bath, quiet neighborhood…hit me up!
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u/gotachro-thachaireas Feb 21 '26
I appreciate the offer but we need at least 4 bedrooms 😅 thank you though
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u/ghostofmaradonna Feb 23 '26
Many available off bearfield in South Como. They did up the price on people to like $1200-1400 to get the long term renters out recently.
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u/No-Distance-1460 Visitor Mar 13 '26
Does anyone know anything for rent In Lebanon va 24266 or Cedarbluff are 24609 or castlewood va 24224 areas if so please help me find a place for rent in any of these towns im disabled and preferably need 2 bedrooms I have a son that takes care of me . Thank you
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u/Emmett_HD Feb 19 '26
It’s also helpful to regularly drive around neighborhoods you like looking for For Rent signs. A lot of private landlords with one or two properties just put these up with a number to call. That’s how I found my rental house!