Hunting for a city apartment is ultimately rewarding, but can be a frustrating process. Fortunately, there are things you can do to make it easy to find an apartment, or at least not as hard to find some city apartments. Here’s what you should know.
Set a Budget Range. – One of the first things you’re going to want to do when you want to rent an apartment is set a budget range. Figure out what you’ll be able to spend on groceries, utilities, and rent, and how that will fit in with your other bills, like student loans. This will help you narrow your choices down. For example, you may want to check out some city loft apartments, but only have enough to rent an apartment where there are no lofts available. Or conversely, you figured out that actually do have enough to rent a loft, and so you can limit your options to only those types of city apartments.
Use an App. – There are tons of awesome apps out there that can help you find the apartment you’re looking for. Although many are extremely similar, the more popular ones offer special features. Padmapper, for example, bundles the listings of such sites as Craigslist into one convenient package. Hotpads features street views so that users can check out. There’s also Lovely, Trulia, and more.
Ask for Discounts. – It never hurts to ask, does it? Depending on the place you’re considering, you may be able to get a nice little offer or some other sort of discount that you can take advantage of. For example, some landlords are willing to knock a bit off of the rent or give the tenants the first month free if they’re willing to sign a longer lease.
These are just a few of the things you can do to make apartment hunting easier. If you have any questions, feel free to share in the comments.
