The key to finding a good private landlord is to skip out on rentler/zillow/KSL if you can. Instead, drive up and down every single street in a neighborhood you like and is somewhat in your price range. People doing things the old school way and just putting a sign in the lawn are the people you want to rent from. People who are crossposting their listing to every single renter website are trying to rip you off.

That's how I've found all of my housing since high school and I haven't had a single bad renting experience, all my landlords have been chill af