Apartment for rent by owner... does this even exist anymore?

Searching Craigslist for an apartment is a fruitless battle, with more scams than anything else and I'm not looking to give a real estate agent an entire months rent that we desperately need to keep in our pockets with the economy being the way it still is.  

This being said, I am looking to rent a 2-3 bedroom apartment in the vicinity of Sewanhaka high school.  We have a son who will be a senior this coming school year and I'd like to stay in the neighborhood where we currently live (Averil Park vicinity)  We can afford up to $2000, a little more if utilities are included.  We have two older, declawed cats.