Out-of-state cosigning in VA

[Mal83]

Hi, I'm going to George Mason this Fall and was wondering if it's true that most places in that area won't accept Out-of-state cosigners. At this point I'm not sure that I'll need a cosigner at all but the only money I'll have coming in is from a grad plus loan and the savings that I have...so all in all it's about 20,000 that I'll have for the up coming year. I'm a first time apartment hunter and I'm overwhelmed a bit so my father and I contacted a Weichert realtor in Fairfax to help me out. All we told him was that I'm coming from Arizona to start grad school and I'd like to find something at around $900 a month..give or take. He responded with, "most places won't even accept cosigners let alone out-of-state ones." We never said I'd need a cosigner and I've been finding a few options on the GMU off campus housing site, why would landlords advertise on school sites if they don't want tenants who are students first and foremost? He said I'd have better luck going with For Sale By Owner properties, maybe that's another option, but can anyone weigh in on cosigning in Virginia? What he said shook me up a bit, not necessarily because of the rent prices but because I'm worried that my applications would be thrown out because they'll see that I'm nothing but a student at this point. So if my parents could cosign as a backup I'd feel much better.

Edited May 14, 2011 by Mal83

[Mal83]

well, just in case anyone else ever comes across this or a similar issue....it turns out that after diving into apartment hunting I have found that cosigning is absolutely an option, even from out of state. The real estate agent was either entirely misinformed...which I find hard to believe, or lying because he didn't want to be bothered, which is much more reasonable knowing that my father was a real estate agent at one time and has first hand knowledge of how he and others do not typically want to be bothered with rentals because there's no money in it. The apartment I'm applying for right now even accepted just a letter from my father saying that he'll help with the rent if the need should arise. He doesn't even have to really cosign. So when relocating to an unfamiliar area don't bother with real estate agents if you're just renting, it's really overwhelming at first but once you get into it you realize it's totally doable. I had contacted a few other agents too and the ones that actually responded were let's just say less than enthusiastic.

[CalSeeker]

well, just in case anyone else ever comes across this or a similar issue....it turns out that after diving into apartment hunting I have found that cosigning is absolutely an option, even from out of state. The real estate agent was either entirely misinformed...which I find hard to believe, or lying because he didn't want to be bothered, which is much more reasonable knowing that my father was a real estate agent at one time and has first hand knowledge of how he and others do not typically want to be bothered with rentals because there's no money in it. The apartment I'm applying for right now even accepted just a letter from my father saying that he'll help with the rent if the need should arise. He doesn't even have to really cosign. So when relocating to an unfamiliar area don't bother with real estate agents if you're just renting, it's really overwhelming at first but once you get into it you realize it's totally doable. I had contacted a few other agents too and the ones that actually responded were let's just say less than enthusiastic.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you end up finding a place and how much are you going to pay? I am still looking in NoVa as well...