FINDING THE RIGHT APARTMENT ON A TIGHT BUDGET
The easy way to find apartments these days is to search online. You can check sites such as Realtor.com (yes, they show rentals) or
type "your city name apartments" into Google and find quite a few apartment available for rent.
Those are excellent places to start, but do not finish there. The places that advertise the most have to make up their costs somewhere and
that somewhere is your rent.
Still, these ads can get you moving in the right direction. Sure, the advertised complex costs a bit too much, but sometimes the one right
next door doesn't advertise very much - and costs less per month. So print out that list of addresses and take a look around the area for
more apartment complexes.
Location is always important. It doesn't matter that you aren't buying the place, you don't want your spouse to have an excessive drive to
work, especially at today's high gas prices. Try to balance the cost of the apartment with the cost of driving places.
Think about which amenities you must have, and what you could live without. A swimming pool in the complex is nice in the summer, but its
upkeep is a part of your rent. Laundry rooms on site, on the other hand, mean you don't have to drive to get the laundry done.
Finally, be prepared to look at quite a few complexes before making a decision. New complexes look beautiful, but they can be expensive. On
the other hand, older ones may have just been remodeled inside. So long as the maintenance is kept up, old or new complexes can each be
quite comfortable.
WHEN TO START LOOKING
Give yourself plenty of time. Finding the right apartment can take a good long while, and remember that ideally, you want your next
digs lined up before it's time to clear out of your current space. Two months ahead is not too early.
Or course, timing the apartment search gets a little trickier if you're moving to a new city, as you'll have the whole long-distance
thing to contend with. The fuzzy digital photos you might see in an online listing can only tell you so much; even a good picture
can be misleading. And it's next to impossible to know where in a city you want to live without actually getting your butt out there and
exploring.
If possible, try to schedule a trip to your soon-to-be new home city before your intended move. Spend some quality time actually getting
to know a little about your new town before you commit to a one-year lease. Take a couple days (or more if you have the luxury) just to
explore different potential neighborhoods, taking note of how convenient it is to work, whether there's decent grocery-shopping and other
amenities nearby, and whether you'd feel comfortable walking around the area alone at night. Once you've narrowed down potential areas to
focus your search, you can start looking at ads. Ideally, of course, you'll want to be able to view apartments while you're in town. But
if there's absolutely no way you can get out there and see a place in person, at least try to see whether you can con a friend or family
member in the area into doing some scouting for you. Don't think you know anyone in your future home city? Ask around; it's a small, small,
world, and you just might discover that your friend has a friend who can help you out. Even if asking a perfect stranger to check out an
apartment for you is just a bit too ballsy, you can at least get a local's opinion on what the general area is like.
how much apartment can you afford?
Unless you're lucky enough to have access to unlimited funds, chances are good that the
biggest factor in determining what you'll be looking for in an apartment is budget. The basic rule of thumb for determining how much rent
you can afford is to take your monthly salary, and divide by three to get your rent. Now, if you're living in a big city, it's entirely
possible that the number you get then will be far too puny to secure you anything resembling an actual abode. If you're willing to live
frugally in other aspects of your life, and if you don't have a whole lot in the way of loans hanging over your head, you can probably get
away with devoting 40% your take-home paycheck to housing. If that's still too low to land you a decent pad, you have a few options: 1) look
for apartments that are a little further out from things, 2) look for a smaller apartment, or 3) get yourself a roommate.
where to find out what's for rent
So you kinda have a sense of what you're looking for in your new digs, and are ready to begin the hunt. When it comes to actually tracking
down apartments that are available for rent, here are a few good places to check out…
Online and newspapers
Local newspapers (and their online incarnations)
nationwide apartment listing websites (like rent.com, rentnet.com and apartments.com)
probably the first places you'll look when you begin your apartment search. Another good resource to check out is your local craigslist.
Brokers
In really tight housing markets, you might find yourself having to turn to the pros for help. A broker basically does the legwork
of hunting down potential apartments for you; the small catch is that you have to pay them a not-insubstantial fee for their hard labor.
University housing listings
Even if you're not actually a student, universities can be a good source for finding apartments. These days,
many university housing offices have online lists as well as information on other resources for finding housing in the area. You can also
mosey down onto campus to see if you see any apartment rentals posted on the bulletin boards.
Neighborhood bulletin boards
Coffeeshops, bookstores, record stores and the like often have handy bulletin boards where people can post
their ads; you'll often find "apartment for rent" signs pinned up amidst the car-for-sale and massage-therapy ads.
Ride-through/walk-through
If you're dead-set on a living in a specific neighborhood, take a morning to canvas the area. Grab a notebook
and a pen, and go on bicycle/foot so you don't have to worry about holding up traffic. Head up and down each and every street of the area in
which you're interested as you hunt down "for rent" signs.
Word of mouth
Let everyone you know that you're on the hunt for new digs. You never know who might have a lead on a great place that's
about to be vacated.
viewing apartments
When you see an ad that looks promising, don't dawdle: pick up the phone and set up a viewing as soon as possible. In a
competitive housing market, apartments go fast. Trust me, there's nothing more disheartening than spending a whole day circling newspaper
rental ads, only to find that when you start making calls a day or two later, all the apartments have already been snatched up by folks way
more on-the-ball than you.
The apartment viewing is an interview of sorts -- both for you and for your prospective landlord. Show up on time, and make an effort not to
look like too much a slob/freak/miscreant. At the same time, bring a notebook and paper along and take the opportunity to ask the landlord
whatever questions you might have. A few things you might want to throw out there: How long is the lease for? Is there the option to renew?
Are there any additional housing-associated fees besides the rent that you should know about? (This is especially true if you're moving to
another city/country, as I recently discovered when I learned that in addition to the monthly heap I'd have to pay to my landlord in
Edinburgh, I'd also be shelling an additional couple hundred per month to cover city taxes.) Are utilities included, and if so, which ones
(water, gas, electric)? Does the apartment building have laundry facilities? What's the parking situation? the apartment hunter's essentials
Don't head out without these...
a notebook and pen a good map a checkbook (so you can make the deposit if you decide for certain you want the place) enough money in your bank account to cover a deposit and first month's rent credit report (check out ehow.com's guide on how to do this) names of references (if you've never rented an apartment before, get character references and a pay stub/tax return/something that proves
you have money coming in)
If a place looks at all like it has potential, take your time to really look it over carefully. Take stock of the closet space; make sure
that the door and windows look secure. Peek out the windows and check out the views; note the direction they face to get a sense of how much
sunlight they're likely to let in (if the windows all face north, for instance, you will pretty much be living in a cave). Make sure that
you aren't situated over a bar or a club or anything else that might result in long, sleepless nights spent cursing the noise. If your
viewing is during the day, come back to check out the neighborhood at night. Most of all, think about what this apartment would be like if
it were filled with your stuff, and how you'd feel coming home to it everyday.
Unless you're truly one of the blessed, chances are good that you'll see many, many hideously wrong apartments before you finally stumble
across your new home. Try not to get too discouraged as you find yourself traipsing through one dingy place after another, and don't let
impatience rush you into settling for something you don't genuinely like. Unless it's obvious that you've been thoroughly unrealistic about
the sort of apartment you can get on your budget, it's worth it to hold out for a place you're sure you really like.
As for me, I'm realizing that my dreams of settling into a new place to call home are going to take just a wee bit longer than I
originally anticipated. The way things look now, I'll be lucky to be nested by October. My birthday's in October, and I think a nice
apartment would be a dandy present. Maybe accompanied by a gift certificate for a pedicure, if that's not too much to ask.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT APARTMENT
If you're ready to choose your apartment make sure you consider the size, parking, security, privacy and strata rules of the property.
Whether you buy off-the-plan or find an apartment that already exists, you should consider the physical and social aspects of the block
you'll be living in. Here's a list of important factors to consider.
Apartment size
If you have a family, you obviously need an apartment with enough room for the kids. And if you like to
entertain, you'll need enough living area to accommodate guests. If you're buying off-the-plan it's not easy to visualize how large a space
will be. If possible, see a display apartment before signing any contract.
Car parking
While many new security apartments provide parking for occupants of the building, make sure you ask the developer
before buying. Some local councils will not allow owners of new apartments to purchase on-street parking permits, thus you're only option is
in your apartment block. It is worth checking your local council rules first. If you need more than one car space try putting up a note on
the building's notice board. You may be able to rent a space from someone who doesn't have a car.
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