Apartment Hunting

Is there anything as frustrating as looking for housing in a town you don't know? I am about to move to the Georgetown, Texas area for my new job. I am debating either living in Georgetown or in Austin, which is about 25 miles away. Usually, you can find classified ads online for different kinds of housing. But all I can find for this area are gross apartment complexes. I really don't want to live in one of those, but I am afraid I will have to. Craig's List has a few homes, but they are all huge houses that are too big and expensive. Is it that hard to find some rooms in an old house? Or a small house in an older part of town? Or something that doesn't reek of corporate developer scum? Or am I just not smart enough to work the technology to find what I need?