Renting apartment Italy before obtaining a long stay visa or residency

Keep in mind that renting an apartment  in Italy is totally different than the states. Look for affitti transitori and for foreigners. I use mitula.it to find apartments although I made a deal with someone who was renting a vacation apartment . Also, the renter in most cases will pay the agent fee. Hopefully this helps

I just did the same thing. Also in Milan.

I started with an AirBnb apartment for the first 5 months (i rented initially for 2 months and kept extending it).
After I saw that the residency permit thing is going to work out, i started looking for a normal apartment.

You must have the receipt from the post office that confirms that you've payed for your residency permit which you get when you mail the documents of your request.
Without it, or the residency permit itself, they will not rent you a normal apartment.

And people here like to rent for longer periods than 12 months.
Although you can leave at a few months notice.