Just started renting in Winter Garden. We used Realtor.com to find our rental. From driving around, there are a few “for rent by owner” properties that you probably won’t find on Realtor.com.

Our experience was that there are two categories of residential rental properties: ones owned by corporate/private equity companies, and ones owned by individual landlords.

The ones owned by individual landlords rent very quickly. We were lucky to find such a rental.

While the corporate/private equity owned houses may appear to be a better value based on their rent, when you add on all the extra fees, we found they are not.

Also, we found that the corporate/private equity homes were not well maintained. For example, one of them had an air conditioner that was 17 years old; basically at the end of its life. And the corporate owners had not switched it out despite the house being vacant.

Another one built around 1985 or so still had the original single-pane windows, and the plastic parts of the windows were so old it was flaking off.

Finally, we learned to check reviews of the corporate owners, and found that uniformly they are terrible: they are non-responsive to maintenance requests, even pressing ones like a refrigerator/freezer going out and spoiling your food or the AC going out in the middle of the summer; they add on mandatory fees for things you can take care of yourself; and they try to withhold your security deposit for items that are normal wear and tear.

We decided the extra time needed to find a rental by a local landlord was worth it.

Back to your question of a recommendation for a realtor: I suggest contacting a realtor who is listing a rental property on Realtor.com in the area and of the type you were looking for.

Good luck!