Rent a flat or a house in the Michigan

Hi Christine,
merry Christmas and happy new year,
i have a Egyptian friend she's moved to Michigan (Kalamazoo) to study and work, i wanna to help her to find a work and small flat ....... any suggestions ???

As far as I can tell, there are two good ways to find a flat or a house:

1) Online. This is the best way. There are a LOT of websites dedicated to real estate; it's easy enough to find one (like remax.com or something), enter the location you want, and see what they have available. It's important to look at MULTIPLE SITES as well, since no one site will have ALL the available properties.

2) This may sound strange, but honestly: go for a drive. Wherever it is you want to live, spend an hour or two just driving around. You'd be amazed how many properties, flats and houses alike, you'll be able to find with "For Sale" or "For Rent" signs out front if you just look. And some of them you won't be able to find online for one reason or another.

Something it's really important to keep in mind is this: a mile makes a HUGE difference in Michigan. You can be in an extremely safe, wealthy neighborhood, then go a mile down the road and find yourself somewhere decrepit. On the one hand, this means that you should do at least a drive by of ANY property you're interested in, since just because the area is generally safe it doesn't mean that exact location will be.

HOWEVER, this also means that if you can't afford to live where you want to, it's entirely possible you'll be able to find a much cheaper property somewhere close by. If everything is too expensive, try moving your search by one mile. Sometimes it won't help, but sometimes you'll find much cheaper properties.

I hope this helps!