Where I previously lived for years, you'd sign a lease 1 year in advance. Or at minimum, a few months in advance. Now I've moved to a city where everywhere says "available in 2 weeks!" or "available today!"

Am I missing something? If I have a lease, I can't just up and move whenever I want. And I'm not packed and ready to move in a week. These are the questions getting stuck in my mind:

• Are these places really available with that short notice, or are the landlords just saying that for some reason?
• Am I supposed to just hope that the right place is available the exact week my lease is up? (How tf do you plan a move in a week?)
• How do people afford two rents at the same time for a month, which is what seems like will end up happening?

I ask because I really need my next rental home to be someplace I stay for a long time. So I don't want to rush into something or settle for whatever's available. But I also don't want to miss out if an awesome place comes up with like 1 day's notice. Paying two rents for a month would also not be ideal.

Please be nice, I've rented for a long time so I'm not totally new to this. Just new to this particular market. I know it's a ridiculous question, but I'm really not understanding how people do this.