Apartment hunting can be very stressful. Just the sheer variety of options available can be a source of overwhelming frustration. With so many appealing places to choose from, it can be difficult to pick just one. And even after you make a choice, how do you know you made the right one?
The process of finding the perfect apartment can be broken down into three simple steps:
Set a Budget
For many renters, the most important consideration is how much they are willing and able to spend on an apartment per month. For this reason it should come as no surprise that the first step in the apartment hunting process should be to establish a budget. Start with your monthly take-home pay and then subtract from that all of your monthly expenses. Monthly expenses should include all bills which are paid regularly as well as money spent on food, entertainment, and miscellaneous items each month. You may also wish to subtract out an additional amount to allow for some savings each month as well as emergencies. The total left after all of these subtractions is the amount you are able to spend on an apartment per month. (Ideally, your rent is no more than 25-35% of your take-home pay.) Once this amount is established, you will have a better understanding of the type of apartment you are able to afford.
Research Available Properties
Once a budget has been established, you should begin researching the properties which fall within your budget range. It may be a good idea to consider properties which are slightly above the range as well as properties which are slightly below the range. Doing this will allow you to see if it might be worth it to you to either make adjustments in your budget or increase your income to enable you to rent a more expensive property. You can also determine whether or not you feel there might be an opportunity to negotiate a lower rental rate on a particular property.
At this point, you don't really need to visit each property. Most pricing information can be obtained from resources such as websites and rental magazines. The purpose of this initial research is simply to help you eliminate properties which are too far out of your price range.
Comparison Shop
Once you have narrowed down your list of possible apartment complexes to a more manageable number, it is time to start visiting these properties. This will really give you a feel for the quality of the apartment as well as the number and quality of amenities offered by the complex. This is very important because this information could be the deciding factor between properties which are otherwise very similar.
The comparison shopping process is also worthwhile because it gives you some bargaining power in negotiating more favorable rent rates. Once you have visited a number of apartments, you will have a good idea of the going rate in a particular area for a particular type and size of apartment. You might be able to use this information to convince the leasing agent to lower their price - at least a little bit. They're probably not going to give you a huge discount, but it's worth a try, especially if they have several vacancies. At the very least, you might be able to get the complex to match the price of a nearby competitor.
Following these three steps will help eliminate the stress of shopping for an apartment and put you well on your way to finding the one that's just right for you.
Mark E. Moebius
CEO of MILJONAIR Development
3451 St. Albans Road
St. Albans MO 63073
636-300-9000
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