There’s an old saying that moving home is one of the most stressful things you can do; you’ll also read about it on various home and lifestyle blogs. Whilst this is true, in particular for those who haven’t planned a move properly, it tends to overlook just how much stress and pressure can come with finding a new place to move to.
Finding a new apartment to rent is no easy task at all. The hard truth is that neither this article nor any other you may read can make it possible for you to find what you are looking for, the market is so tough. All I can do is help you prepare and plan for finding an apartment, showing you how to look and how to be ready to move.
The key to finding your new apartment rests with following these points:
- Be sure of what you are looking for
- Be ready to act fast
- Check all places where apartments are listed
- Investigate and cover all aspects of the apartment
Let’s consider those points in finer detail.
What do you want?
Believe it or not, many people head into the apartment market simply on the basis of a need of somewhere to live. This is a dangerous tactic, leaving you exposed to living somewhere that is impractical and indeed possibly being taken advantage of.
You need to build your own unique list of priorities of an apartment that is right for you. To do this you have to draw up a list of 3 to 5 priorities and ask some questions. Examples would be which is more important, the size of the apartment or location? Is being closer to work or closer to friends and family of higher importance? And what sort of services or places do I ideally need to be close to?
All too often people skip asking questions such as those and as a result end up living somewhere that they soon grow to hate. Don’t fall into that trap.
Get Set, Go
Whilst it’s important to ask the above of where you want to live, it is equally important to be prepared and be ready to act as soon as possible when you find an apartment that meets your requirements. What you have in mind for your ideal, dream home is likely to be shared by hundreds of others out there also looking for an apartment.
Being ready to move gives you the edge in two senses. In a literal form, being in a situation where you can move in short notice is going to increase your chances of getting an apartment. The market is so busy right now that no landlord is going to be interested if you ask him to keep the premises open for you “for a couple of months”. Also, Have deposit money and at least a month’s rental fees sat in an account saved and ready to strike a deal. If you can offer a deposit straight away whilst someone else interested in the same apartment will need “a couple of days” to put it together, the landlord or owner is going to see you as the preferred client.
Look For Listings Everywhere
In this day and age, it’s easy to fall into the trap of or make the assumption that absolutely everything is on the internet. Some people use the internet alone to search for apartments as a consequence, and this is a bad approach to take.
Apartment rentals are one of those traditional businesses which prefer to go with a traditional form of advertising. Newspaper classifieds are filled with more properties than the web for this reason. Be sure to pick up newspapers in the area you are looking to move into and read the classified advertising. A very good source of this kind of advertising tends to be the free or very cheap local newspapers. They are funded entirely by advertising, so they tend to attract a lot of accommodation listings and of course they are all going to be specific to the area you want to live in.
This isn’t to say that the internet is a bad place to look, far from it. A number of dedicated sites do manage listings as quickly and accurately as possible, ensuring that their site is not just full of apartments that have already gone. Dedicated sites are good, but don’t forget to utilise website that you use on a frequent basis.
Are you familiar with the term or phrase six degrees of separation? It’s an idea that says everyone on Earth is connected to everyone else by links to no more than six other people. This is where social networks are a powerful tool in apartment hunting. For your next Facebook status update or tweet, say that you are looking for an apartment in a certain area. There’s a good chance that one of your friends knows someone who knows someone that knows of an apartment.
Say for example, whether we’re talking about apartments in the Carrington Place at Shoal Creek, or somewhere remotely away from your area, you there’s no doubt that you can find help when looking for this best apartment for you. This is by far one of the best ways to get in touch with private renters who do not advertise at all, instead waiting for personal recommendations for tenants.
Buying an off plan property in Marbella, Malaga or Tenerife could prove to be a be a worthy investment around this time of year.
Investigate Everything
Let’s say you have found the perfect apartment, hopefully with some of the advice above. Are you quite certain that it’s perfect? In many cases people viewing apartments act like they are a house guest or worse still visiting a museum. They become wary of touching or looking at anything, feeling as though they are encroaching on someone else’s property.
You have to get out of that kind of mindset. When in an apartment that looks like it might be what you want, make sure. Open cupboards and closets up to make sure they meet what you need. Investigate the bathroom to make sure the fittings and fixtures are all in order – and by that I mean yes, switch the taps on to check that the water runs and nothing seems to leak. Yes, that means flushing the toilet too.
Also try as far as you can to establish any “hidden” costs. Will you be expected to contribute to any of the running costs or staff working in the apartment block? Are there any sort of rates and local taxes due for residents not covered by the rental fee?
Hopefully these pointers will help you find and move into your new apartment as soon as possible. This list, however, doesn’t cover everything. Many of you reading this will have had experiences in looking for an apartment. What did you find the most helpful point, or the biggest hindrances to finding a place? Why not share your experiences, allowing others to benefit and find an apartment with greater ease.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Mikey
