r/Moving2SanDiego • u/latudalithium • 3d ago
How can I find an apartment in SD without having to go to SD?
I used to live in San Diego but moved out years ago. I want to move back, but at the moment my work schedule won't allow me to visit SD for long enough to find an apartment. Are there any legit services that can help me here? Thanks.
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u/anothercar 3d ago
Move into an Airbnb for a month while you hunt
Or apply for corporate owned apartments via their website
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u/Cold-Brew-Queen-27 3d ago
Agreed on booking an Airbnb! You should be able to easily find something within a month.
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u/spaul247 3d ago
I used Zillow and thankfully the woman who ended up being my landlord was happy to do a live video walkthrough. You’re definitely gambling by doing it that way, so if that’s the route you take, make sure you triple check that everything works/is in good condition when you move in.
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u/GroundbreakingAd9635 2d ago
Absolutely. I went on zillow, found apartments, called them, and asked for virtual tours.
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u/RagefireHype 3d ago edited 3d ago
What I did when moving to SD is I did a FaceTime with the landlords/agent. Check the vibes not just when talking with them, but also to see a non-curated video and them just walking through it.
Still isn't the same as seeing it in person, but it's better than just blindly signing a lease without neither an irl or virtual tour. I was comfortable enough to sign the lease due to FaceTime without seeing it in person.
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u/ronj1983 3d ago
This is exactly what we did. The woman started the vid in the leasing office with other people present. Then left and walked to our place and showed us everything inside. Then we signed the lease electronically. No hassle at all.
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u/chathobark_ 3d ago
I book an Airbnb
Come out, look on Facebook and craigslist for a monthly room during that month
Do it once or twice a year
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u/ronj1983 3d ago
In 2020 October we went on Craigslist looking as we had 2 weeks to find a place. Found Dorado Plaza Apartments. Did a Facetime virtual tour from the leasing office to our apartment. Signed electronically and paid for our place. Pretty simple for us.
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u/jellosghost 2d ago
Taking a place sight unseen has its risks but can be done. I’ve done it both in NYC and SD. I’m not aware of any service or broker in SD who can help you on this front though.
Do you have friends or family in or close to SD who can see the place in person? We ended up seeing a place on Craigslist that was awesome (more on this later) and we had family come down and FaceTime the place.
If you don’t have that, then there are a lot of professionally managed buildings in San Diego, especially in the downtown neighborhoods. Not the best deals, but you can get floor plans, pictures, and virtual walkthroughs with leasing folks. You can easily get a one year lease and then take your time looking for a longer term home.
About Craigslist. Definitely full of scams and weirdos, but a lot of mom and pop operations still use it. Not useful for you, but I was shocked about how many buildings in SD just have signs and telephone numbers for their marketing. SD still has small town vibes, so lower tech methods are still in play here. I got an amazing deal in Mission Hills from an old school landlord via CL. So might be worth a gander.
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u/Tiny-Carpenter-5465 1d ago
Hella scams online homie.
I had some rando show up to my house thinking it was available for rent & was tryna take a tour.
Someone had listed my house on Redfin for rent using pictures from when it was sold. The dude said the guy he communicated with on Redfin asked for a deposit to tour the place….
Careful with rental hunting here in SD from far away. There’s hella scams.
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u/sdBolts21 3d ago
Safest but not cheapest option is by applying via the apartment complex website and go from there. No Craigslist ad or fb ad because 90% of them are scams ready to take your money.