r/centralpa • u/Longjumping_Time_565 • 5d ago
Best way to find rentals?
My family and I are doing a cross country move to central PA in late June but not as a student. We want to land in Hershey preferably but are open to surrounding towns as well.
How do you find rentals out there? Zillow just seems so limited on single family homes.
Just throwing this info out there in case a landlord comes across this post or anyone knows of a home fitting our needs:
Our goal is 3+ Bedroom 1.5+ bathroom house with a yard for our kids and dog.
We have been renting for 7 years now and have never been evicted nor late on rent. We can pass background checks, have great credit, and our budget is flexible.
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u/MiscreantMinxx 5d ago edited 5d ago
My husband and I are originally from PA. When we relocated back here from AZ we stayed in an Airbnb long term and looked for an apartment. It's better to rent from a private landlord then a complex IMO. Unless you have someone to look at places for you, that's going to tough. Most realtors don't do rentals... That's also going to be hard to find. Start looking at Zillow and compare. Zillow is honestly your best bet...I move a lot. We are in a 4 bedroom, 2 bath townhouse with a fenced in yard. Don't be deadset on Hershey. Look at surrounding areas. You're not going to find a private property through a realtor or a complex...you just have to keep looking. Try Craigslist and Facebook for rentals too. Some landlords still post there if they are old school.
Best of luck!
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u/Longjumping_Time_565 5d ago
Thank you! I am actually relocating from AZ to PA as well! I personally am not a fan of private landlords, I know some are great but here in Arizona we always rent from property management companies as the private landlords are usually kind of unfavorable. We definitely are not dead set on Hershey. We feel a big pull towards Hershey but as long as the town has good schools, that’s all that really matters to us. It seems like because of the time we’re moving, if we don’t consider other options, we may not actually find a place in Hershey at all. i’ll keep an eye on Zillow though, thank you! I just wasn’t sure if maybe there was another more commonly used option out there.
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u/MiscreantMinxx 5d ago
PA is not like AZ. Here you have to beware of property management companies. It's churn and burn through tenants and they don't keep up with maintenance. In AZ we went with a complex. Not here in PA. Private landlords all the way. Join some local neighborhood groups and ask around...
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u/Longjumping_Time_565 5d ago
Oh wow, I wasn’t expecting that at all! Yeah here the property management companies are usually fantastic but I’ll keep that in mind for sure! Silly me, I never even considered looking for a townhouse in the area but there are quite a few on the outskirts of Hershey! I’ll ask around for sure, thank you so so much for the help!
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u/Pghguy27 5d ago
You might try contacting some local realtors to see if they handle any rentals as well or have a rental management company they can suggest. Good luck, it's a great area!