Welcome to Austin. I was surprised about the realtor thing too when I came from the bay, but was told that's how most rentals were handled here. Quite a change from Oakland but give Rock & Roll Realty a shot, they're less annoying than most and will find you a cool place. Also, I got some really good responses when I put a "looking for room" ad.
Spots are easy, they're everywhere and skatespotter.com will show map locations of spots so that's easy if you know them by name.
Like Sleazy said, No Comply is a cool shop and good place to meet people. If you like the more punk rock kind of shop check out Apparition. We have a super mellow mini that's fun to mess around on and people are welcome to pull out the flatbar and parking block inside the store. This weekend will probably be wet so Capital is worth checking out. Fun place and Allen is a cool ass dude, definitely someone good to know if you want to get involved in the local skate scene.
Good luck man, welcome again.