Sorry I don't really understand short term lease options very well. Also DNS any info is appreciated. Thank you

Bryce,

What don't you understand?

If you're interested in low limit cash up to 2/5 or tournament poker, I wholeheartedly disagree. There's a thriving poker club community in Portland, and a pretty good home game community beyond that. You can play from 11:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. most days of the year.

My recent experience moving into Portland from the suburbs seems worth repeating here. In short: unless you want a roommate, you're looking at $1100 and above for any decent sized one bedroom. I spent 3 months checking Craigslist every day before getting my current place, a 1 bedroom in an older Portland foursquare (http://pdxclassichomes.com/classic-styles/foursquare/). I pay $1100 for about 750sf, plus basement storage, and that's a pretty good deal. The problem is not only finding something, but getting it. When I was looking, you pretty much had to call the listing agent the day it was posted on craigslist or you didn't have a chance, and you'd often have to be even quicker. The craziest time I called a woman about an apartment an hour after it posted on craigslist, and she already had four applications pending (online application), sight unseen. A lot of places only accept applications at open houses, and people line up an hour before and fill out applications the minute the step into the place. I got my apartment when I saw the listing post as I was waiting to look at another apartment; I called the management company and set up a time a half hour later. By that time, they had four other appointments scheduled.

From what I've heard, my experience is fairly common. However, it's worth keeping in mind I had specific requirements, mainly close in (not downtown, but close in) in a walkable neighborhood. If you're willing to move a little further out, say >50th ave (~50 blocks from the river/downtown) you're going to find better deals (but not that much better). Also, as an aside, I wasted some time looking at a couple of the new apartment complexes that are sprouting up all over Portland. They're new, modern, nice, with good locations, but HORRIBLE bang for your buck. I checked out a 450sf apartment in the same general area as my current apartment. The kitchen was literally in the hallway, and they wanted $1,350 for it.

Re: Seattle vs. Portland. I spent six years in Seattle on Capitol Hill and loved it. Thought I'd live there forever. When circumstances brought me to Portland, I still thought I'd want to end up back in Seattle. However, the last two times I've visited the city seems....different. Construction, mostly "modern" apartments and condos, is crazy in a lot of the areas that used to have a lot of character, and prices/cost of living seems to be getting crazy. That said, it's a beautiful, beautiful city, and probably my second choice after Portland.

Agree with Malice that Sizzle Pie is a sufficient slice at 2:00 a.m. after drinking. However, there are quite a few better pizza joints, although Apizza Scholls isn't really my thing.

I have never signed a short term lease. I get how a short term lease would work at the basic level.what i don't understand is:

1.) the best way to go about this.
2.) someone already stated my original suggestion wouldnt work/be available in portland so i was wondering what the closest to that is that would be feasible.
in an idealized scenario what would happen is I would go to downtown portland and to a nice looking apartment complex and be like "ok i have 2k dollars i need a place to live in that is my own place.I would like to sign a short term lease." and then the manager of the property would say "ok great, we have a 5000 square foot penthouse for you to rent for three months for 2k, sign here" and then he hands me a standard 3 month lease and them im like yay i have big private penthouse."

So ok thats just ideal sooo are there good places for a three month lease that do short term leases? is portland the kind of place i can just pay for upfront on those leases with no job?

Apparently there's a poker/strip club somewhere in Portland. So that may help your decision.

I guess I got lucky in getting my place here. I've been here for about 2 years now after moving back up from LA. Got a ~800sqft 1 bedroom in Hawthorne and it's only $775 including all utilities. I even have my own washer and dryer. My landlords converted the bottom floor of their house into this apartment. You do kind of have to get lucky to find places like this here though, people were hounding my landlords as soon as this went up for rent. I pretty much had to kiss some serious ass to get it.

I heard something about that place. In all honesty though, Mary's Club GOAT.

At least three. More accurately, they are strip clubs that also have a poker table.

Yeah, you're just lucky your landlords don't care about money, or are clueless.

well i know the area well. crash is right the traffic around seattle makes it so bad you dont want to go anywhere. like in l.a.

i vote for astoria. ill even meet you up there some time. i am there a lot. great younger scene with night life and music in the bars., close enough to go to portland.
reasonable costs of living and liberal town. ocean 5 minutes away and views to kill. great food but not expensive anywhere.
oregon weather isnt as bad as told. summers are wonderful with little rain and winters are mild on the coast but do get some big storms and enough rain with many sunnyish days. few days below freezing.

portland if you want a real city but it has small downtown and is spread out. not bad traffic and wonderful people and food. lots of water in town and parks. good college.

if you want to move even farther down the coast i can rent a fairly cheap place a half mile from the best beach on the coast. but two hours from the city and small town living 40 minutes from astoria.
pnw is the best place to live in my opinion for a great clean life. and the best outside things to do. if you are an inside person go elsewhere.
poker is okay in portland with cheap costs involved in playing. up to about 2,5 no limit.

I'm kind of surprised they haven't jacked my rent up yet. I don't even have to pay for internet. So my advice if you're planning on moving to POR is to find clueless hippie landlords.

Spaceman,

Go to the various housing sections in Craigslist for Portland and read the different types of listings.

I guess i should phrase what im asking some other way, before turning to craigslist since i currently have months and months i have some time to plan.


1.)What are some things to watch out for when signing a short term lease?
2.) Are there any nice apartments that have short term leases and can also accomodate someone who doesnt have a job?
3.) Are there apartments in reasonable locations that do short term leases?
4.Are there any odd laws that could work against a short term renter in portlnd?

Bryce,

http://portland.craigslist.org/search/sub

That answers some but not all of my questions. I didnt know what the word sublet meant in terms of apartments.

Short term and nice combo probably not happening.

Short term probably costs more, may be worth it just to sign a year to save money and deal with any negatives for a while.

i probably cant sign for a year unless i convince my dad to cosign whihc i really dont want to do. since i wont have a job most likely.

NW 23rd women in the summer are the best.

Thanks for posting all of this.

Living in D.C., I've heard that exact story many times and I've had a guy living on my couch while he lived that experience. So I don't doubt a word of it.

But it's never happened to me, so I guess my question is, is this experience different when you're dealing with large management properties? I have, I think, taken the first apartment I've looked at almost every time I've moved. Filled out an application, and it's basically done.

Maybe I'm not picky, and I do have fairly strong credit, and mostly I've lived in large, non-new-build buildings.

Hey Ray, thanks for the advice. I was in Astoria last year and probably should have spent more time there.

I'll send you a PM about the rental.

Personally, I prefer sacrificing sq footage for nicer interior/appliances

This place would be awesome for a single dude, very good price for that neighborhood with how nice it is, one of the best places to live in Portland, if not the best.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14...edsearch-image

The sideways photos crush my spirit. That's pretty nice, but personally I take a rent reduction over the granite countertops.

I suppose I'll figure more out this weekend when I'm actually looking around. I don't see any reason I shouldn't be able to pay less than I'm paying in D.C., but who knows reality may play out differently.

Bryce: I was looking at Astoria rentals and saw this. Not that you want to go to Astoria, but maybe something similar in Portland?

IME, the large management properties are the ones who do the open houses and won't do appointments. When I was looking I dealt with every type of landlord and didn't see much difference. With FHA laws, nearly all landlords are pretty gun shy about choosing someone based on anything other than first come, first serve (with qualifying credit). One apartment I looked at the out-of-state landlord had the old lady next door show the apartment and, in her words, "choose her neighbor." That one was just BEGGING for a lawsuit.

Yeah, we're polar opposites on this one. $1,495 is crazy talk for a 495sf apartment in Portland, IMO. 495 is NOTHING. But I have a lot of **** I'm not willing to get rid of and like having people over, so.....

In looking at places I've also noticed that "newer" appliances are not always "nicer" appliances.


Astoria is awesome. A little small for me to live there full time, but definitely a great little town. It's blowing up, though. I wish I had bought property there even four or five years ago. Still probably should. RE prices there are starting to blow up.

Another thing going for Portland is they don't fluoridate their water, so your vital bodily fluids won't be sapped.

crashjr:

Hey_Porter:

It does seem like Astoria is really starting to take off based on what I've read -- lots of food/bar options, growing arts scene and it seems affordable. But is it fairly conservative? ...

And 10,000 people is pretty small, yeah.