Howdy, Panhandle Ags! My husband and I will be moving up to Lubbock at the beginning of May so he can start a new job. We're hoping to rent a 2-3 bed, 1.5-2 bath house or duplex for a year or so until we get the lay of the land and decide where we'd like to buy.

We spent all last weekend in town looking at places managed by several mgmt. companies in town and didn't have any luck. Everything was either too expensive or too dumpy. Part of the problem is we have 2 dogs and so that limits our options, but getting rid of them is not an option...they're family!

We've scoured the web, paper, Thrifty Nickel, craigslist, etc. without much luck.

Any ideas from you locals? Any help would be appreciated. We can't wait to get involved with the local A&M club, as just driving around and seeing all that red & black made us a little nauseous.

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

Hey Wocka. I live in the SW part of town outside the loop and I really like it. (the block framed by Frankford, 66th, Milwaukee, and 82nd) Its a very young area, lots of families, not that many students, with yards. I don't know if you looked here and I don't know of any specific openings but I'll keep an ear to the ground.

If you'd like, I can email some law students graduating in May and see if they have something you'd like.

Btw - I think maybe we have a friend in common down in Austin, Texas who works for the state?

No real suggestion except maybe look at the outlying communities? If your job is on or near the loop, you can commute really quickly.

I worked for the Ag experiment station out north of LBB by the airport. My commute from 30 miles away took the same time as the folks who lived in SW LBB.

Thanks for the suggestions. Suzy, I have a cousin that lives in that area as well and it's nice. We're just having a hard time finding anything nice to rent...if we were buying it wouldn't be an issue. There's lots of nice properties for sale, but we're just not ready for that yet.

I wouldn't be opposed to living in outlying communities, but other than looking in the LAJ, do you have any suggestions about how to find these places? Most of the little towns don't have papers online...

Hmmm...chamber of commerce, local realtors, yellow pages, thrifty nickel???? Does the LBB paper have a section for out-of-town rentals?

Well, come May a few students will be leaving and putting their places either up for subletting/assignment, hence the offer to ask around to some 3Ls here. I know a few are leaving, but there may be others. Some of their places are nice and they have dogs.