I got lucky and was able to find a hangar in less than a year. I got offers for hangars at two airports that are close together, KRAL and KAJO, roughly at the same time. I thought I won a lottery. One of the guys on the field recommended that I should contact the hangar managers or owners on the regular basis so they know I am still interested in hangars. Usually, the waiting list is very long and people signed up on multiple waiting lists. This also means the hangar manager knows the next guy on the list either already got a hangar or isn't ready to move in.
I called up the hangar manager and let them know the status of my project and to make sure that I am serious about hangar rental. After I finished painting my plane, the hangar manager worked around the waiting list to get me into one. Some recommended talking to the people already on the field for information but I found this technique didn't work out very well. Calling the airport managers and hangar managers on a regular basis worked better for me.