With skyrocketing property rates, renting a place is equally expensive. Add to that exorbitant broker fees (which you cannot grudge them since they are doing their job) and you'll probably find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck. That's why we think you should ditch the broker and try these alternative methods to find the right place...

Search online
When Khristina Patra, an assistant producer shifted from Mumbai to Bangalore, she was a tad apprehensive hearing that brokerage is usually two months rent. Keeping the broker as her last resort, she moved her search online.

"I found Sulekha.com gave me the option to search without broker suggestions. I made a list of the places I was interested in and contacted the numbers listed. They were of the owners' themselves. I scheduled appointments to see the places. After six places, I found one I liked," says Khristina who was staying at the company guest house for a month before she zeroed in on the perfect place.

The flip side:
1)You need to contact home owners quickly because properties online are very fast moving. A place you see listed today might not be there tomorrow.

2)While a broker will show you really good homes (often beyond your budget), you'll find loads of uninhabitable places listed online within your budget.

Move in with friends
Raam Puthran, a media student came to Mumbai in August looking for a job. He contacted a couple of his school friends who were now living in Mumbai and they agreed to have him live with them for a few days while he hunted for accommodation.

"After a few weeks of hunting, my friends told me to give up the search and move in with them. The landlord got me included in the contract and I've been living there ever since. Of course, I still consider this accommodation temporary and will move out when I find a suitable place," Ram explains.

The flip side:
1)You cannot always expect to have the landlord incorporate you into the contract and living beyond a couple of weeks with your friend could be termed as subletting and is illegal.

2)When it comes to claiming HRA (House Rent Allowance), if the contract is not on your name, you can kiss that bit of tax relief goodbye!

Scan the newspapers
This isn't a foolproof or easy method to find a place to crash but it sure works sometimes! If you have the time and patience, you can do what graphic designer Prashant Jain did when he moved from Gwalior to Mumbai with nothing but an offer letter. Not knowing where to stay, he was directed to a lodge (dormitory-style accommodation) that cost him Rs60 a day. He stayed there for a month and scanned the newspapers day after day for a suitable place.

"I had a location in mind close to my workplace and would look in the Times Classifieds for places in that area. I found a couple of paying guest accommodations. I liked one and ended up living there for two years till the rent rates increased," says Prashant Jain who's been living in Mumbai for about seven years now.

The flip side:
1)You need time and patience to scan the newspaper classifieds especially because they aren't sorted by place or price!

2)A lot of the time you will land up calling the numbers and find that they are brokers. Once you get sucked into the web of brokers, you'll find it hard to get a place on your own.

Spread the word
A placement opportunity brought Vijaya Baswaraj, a web developer from Nashik to Mumbai in 2008. She informed her sister who was a practising gynaecologist in the city at the time to look out for a place for her. Before Vijaya moved to the city, her paying guest accommodation was already taken care of.

"My sister had a patient who was considering keeping paying guests as she lived alone. She was more than willing to keep me and a friend of mine too. Being a girl in a new city, it was a blessing to have a trustworthy landlord. So I'm very happy," says Vijaya.

The flip side:
1)People who know the landlord exaggerate the benefits offered in that accommodation. A week into the contract you might realise things aren't as rosy as you thought.

2)If the landlord is a friend of a friend then you might just find yourself feeling obligated in some way or backward to ask for certain facilities etc.