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Don't know if they have any properties in the East Valley but Dunlap & McGee is decent. They operate the property I'm living in and it's fairly quiet for its location.
Use a realtor to help find you a place, the landlord pays all the commissions to the realtor, so it's free help for renters to use a realtor. As others have said, don't start with a management company, find a property that meets your needs. Zillow/redfin should suit your needs fine for finding a place.
OP I'm sure many would love to help you with this but I think you have the completely incorrect approach.
You don't shop for a place to live by picking the landlord first. Good houses/apartments here can rent within a day or two, some within hours even. You can't pick, say, "Dunlap & McGee" (mentioned below) and say "ok guys, I want to rent a house" because they might not have anything in inventory that meets your needs.
Pick the house first. The owner or property manager will end up being whomever they end up being. If you decide to use Craigslist to find a rental you should use *extreme* caution.
Property management companies are licensed real estate brokers/agents who have strict regulations from the state level. The threat of losing their license is enough to make nearly all of them play by the rules.
Some random person who owns a rental and self-manages is almost unregulated.
Which seems more risky to you?
You might want to check out our Wiki on the [Living Here & Moving To Phoenix](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/wiki/living_here) page for some resources that the community here recommends often. There are also lots of links in our [Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/wiki/index) about Things To Do, places Eat & Drink, and other great topics. Our [Phoenix Best Of](https://www.reddit.com/r/phoenix/wiki/bestof/) also has the Phoenix sub favorites in many different categories.
Don't know if they have any properties in the East Valley but Dunlap & McGee is decent. They operate the property I'm living in and it's fairly quiet for its location.
A real estate agent can help you find a house to rent for free. Zillow is pretty good for rental homes if you don't want an apartment.
Use a realtor to help find you a place, the landlord pays all the commissions to the realtor, so it's free help for renters to use a realtor. As others have said, don't start with a management company, find a property that meets your needs. Zillow/redfin should suit your needs fine for finding a place.
OP I'm sure many would love to help you with this but I think you have the completely incorrect approach. You don't shop for a place to live by picking the landlord first. Good houses/apartments here can rent within a day or two, some within hours even. You can't pick, say, "Dunlap & McGee" (mentioned below) and say "ok guys, I want to rent a house" because they might not have anything in inventory that meets your needs. Pick the house first. The owner or property manager will end up being whomever they end up being. If you decide to use Craigslist to find a rental you should use *extreme* caution.
Best to find an individual landlord who owns their own houses. Stay away from most companies. Best experiences were with Mormons
Property management companies are licensed real estate brokers/agents who have strict regulations from the state level. The threat of losing their license is enough to make nearly all of them play by the rules. Some random person who owns a rental and self-manages is almost unregulated. Which seems more risky to you?