Search tips for Rental Apartments in the USA
Every tenant goes through this phase when his lease period is about to get over and it’s time to move into a new apartment. Undoubtedly, apartment hunt is time consuming, confusing and stressful but at the end it’s worth it!
Before you hit the road and get on with your search, do read on. Based on my own experience, I have listed some points below to help you make a wise decision.
1. Search time- Generally you are aware of the lease duration and date when it gets over. Be on the look out for the apartment at least one and half month prior to your move out date. Utilize that time to do a research on your preferred communities and draw out a comparison analysis. Basic parameters could be community name, rent, location, available dates, and convenience from your work place. Below are a few websites that would be useful to you:
2. Search areas– You need to have clarity on the areas where you would prefer to stay. This is important because the rent amount would vary from one area to another. After you finalize that you would be able to fix a slab for the rent. Besides, vicinity of the apartment with your work place would be an important factor in your search.
3. The Neighborhood- Start visiting communities in the shortlisted areas. This would give you an idea on the community, their exact location and most importantly the neighbourhood. Watch out for some important factors like proximity with the shopping areas, public transportation, safety levels of that area and distance from the main road or freeway/highway.
4. The Community- At the community level, some of the points which you should consider are: How old is the community as there could be mold or termites issues if it’s very old. What is the turn around time of the management, incase of any maintenance related problem? Whether the community is pet friendly or not? Some communities do not allow pet which could be a setback for you incase you have a pet.
5. Apartment location- Generally leasing executives show the model apartment or the apartment similar to the one in question. Don’t get carried away by the looks of model apartment. They are well decorated and strategically chosen to portray the best picture possible, in front of the prospective tenants. If the actual apartment is not available, inquire about the location of the apartment(s) available. You would get an idea on surrounding of the apartment, like distance from the parking area, mail box or leasing office. Moreover, it would help you if you are very particular about directions. You would know which direction your bedroom be facing. You could also visualize the view form windows or patio and see if that’s in sync with your preferences.
6. Inside the apartment - Be very vigilant towards what is there inside the apartment. Some of the stuff that you should watch out for in the first visit would be:
a) Appliances- Appliances would look stained and shabby if they have not been replaced for a long time. Old appliances could be problematic. Because of their functional problem you end up using them for a long time leading to more utility bills.
b) Fitting and plumbing – Do check out the bathroom and kitchen of the apartment, where water usage is high. Such areas are more prone to plumbing leaks. Most probable problems could be loose fittings, water leakage from joints, water blockage etc. Any such problem raises a question on the construction quality and management efficiency of the community.
c) Laundry: Mostly there are washer and dryer unit in the apartments. Again do watch out for the usability of the same. If there is none, check out the common laundry area. Clean and well -maintained laundry room means that the community is well taken care of the by the management. Besides, it indicates that you would be sharing the laundry room with responsible and sensible neighbors.
7. Reviews of the community: Feedback time - See what others have to say about the apartment which you have liked and shortlisted. Some of the websites that you could visit are:
http://www.apartmentratings.com/
http://www.apartmentreviews.net/
Since it’s the unhappy or dissatisfied tenants who write reviews, so you would not get an accurate picture but really good apartments would always rank high over the rest of the ones. Please ignore the most extreme comments about apartments. Safest bet is to explore your network and get a real feedback from your friends and peers who have already been staying or have stayed in the same community.
Finally, it’s good to have multiple choices at the time of making final decision so that you would be able to prioritize your requirements and hence come to a conclusion which works the best for you.
These are some of the obvious factors; however there is another factor too- Your instinct! You would have immediate affinity for some places you visit. That my friend, is the final green signal for you to proceed. Of course you need to critically judge your decision based on the factors mentioned above. So, all the best with your search operation and happy staying!!
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