Hello, I am thinking about moving out of my parent’s apartment with 3 other people. I am completely unexperienced in the realm of apartment hunting and I would like some info from people who have already gone through the process. Any hints and tips would be appreciated also.
Thanks!
Decide what kind of apartment you want. You say you and three other people. Does that mean you want four bedrooms? Or are you going to bunk together and try to cram everyone into two bedrooms? Do you want extras such as a balcony? How many bathrooms can you get by on? Do you want to live in a complex with a gym and a pool and all that? These things will cost you more.
Decide how much money you want to spend. Obviously rental rates will vary across the country, and even moreso by neighborhood. For example, a nice 2BR apartment in a nice neighborhood in Springfield, IL will set you back $500-700/ month. A not-so-nice 2BR apartment in a decent, though not very nice neighborhood will cost you $350-500/month. You can get a run-down apartment in the ghetto for less.
Consider whether you want the landlord to pay utilities or not. Most landlords will pay for sewer & trash pickup. Some will also pay your water bill. A few will even pay your electric and/or gas bill. Some will pay bupkus. Needless to say, the more utilities your landlord pays, the more you’ll pay per month. However, this may save you money in up-front costs.
Consider your up-front costs. You’ll need to pay your first month’s rent, a security deposit (usually equal to one month’s rent, sometimes more, sometimes less), and sometimes your last month’s rent. That means that if the rent is $700 per month, you may need as much as $2100 up front. And that’s before the cost of turning your utilities on. Most utility companies charge a deposit and a fee to turn the service on.
Start scouring the classified ads. My advice is to circle properties in your price range, go visit the properties, then discuss with the landlord EXACTLY which utilities he pays and doesn’t pay.
If you’d rather go online, realtor.com and apartmentfinder.com both have search tools. Keep in mind that these places generally only list apartments in apartment complexes and don’t list apartments that just one person owns.
Good luck!
See if your town has an apartment locator service. They’re often free (for you, the apartment complex usually gives them a kick-back). They’ll often know who’s running specials. I’ve used the one in my city 3 times and had great results each time. Only potential drawback is they usually just deal w/ complexes.
Once you’ve determined a general area in which you’d like to live, you can research potential places at such sites as Rent.net and Apartments.com (those might be the same site, come to think of it).
These are not to be used in lieu of apartment hunting, of course, but they can be tremendously helpful in weeding out the ones you don’t want or need. You can provide such search criteria as min and max rent, square footage, pet feasibility, amenities (pool, health club), proximity to shopping, utilities, and so on.
The two times I’ve moved into an apartment, I did the bulk of the legwork using sites such as these. Once I’d winnowed the choices down to a manageable number, I drove to them, first checking out the surrounding neighborhood. This prevented me from wasting time scheduling visits with every plausible apartment in the area.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!!!
Find out who is responsible for what, such as pest control and repairs. If the fridge breaks, is it your dime or the landlords? What about wiring problems? Find out EXACTLY under what circumstances you can break your lease, in the event of emergency and you just can’t continue to live there. In most jurisdictions, withholding rent is NEVER legal. Find out about possible pet deposits, find out about how the landlord deals with problem tenants, and find out your eviction rights. GET A LEASE IN WRITING. Contact your state/province housing authority/department of housing whatever it’s called. Many colleges and universities publish “tenant handbooks” regarding state/provincial and municipal rental laws. If you are a month-to-month tenant, your rights may NOT be the same as those on a lease.
I repeat, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
Regarding your housemates - good friends don’t always make good housemates. Strangers either. Set up a list of chores, a list of rules. Decide AHEAD OF TIME in whose name bills will be in (all one person, or each person in charge of one utility). Know ahead of time - will you be getting phone? Long distance? Cable? Internet? What additional costs are there? Need to buy furniture? Shared purchase, or do you want to take that couch with you in a year?
Ask your landlord how much heating costs - remember a quote for July will be much cheaper than one in December! Make sure all tenants are ready and willing to pay their part of the rent and bills - the best would be to have a cheque-writing session a day or two before they come due. Rotate who cleans what rooms, who is on garbage duty, etc. Decide ahead of time if food will be shared. What about toilet paper? FIND OUT IF YOU CAN GET ANOTHER FRIDGE. One for four people tends to be crowded.
I don’t care if your housemate is your best friend since you were 2 - this is a business deal. Be smart about who you decide to pay things with. You have the right to enforce your rights.
This is extremely helpful. Thanks everyone!
Just to be clear, he means $500-700/month for each of the two people, not total for the 2BR. Your location is NYC, so I think the price is going to depend very heavily on where in NYC you live, but you can probably count on it being more expensive than Springfield.
Sit down with your friends and talk about what you’re looking for. Make a list of the things you can’t live without and the things it’d be cool to have. Accept that you’ll all have to compromise at least a little bit.
Agree not to commit to any apartment until you’ve left the site and talked about it together.
Know what you can afford. And know what extras will be charged- almost every apartment has some costs above the rent- water, heat, garbage, electricity, cable, laundry- make sure you understand what’s included.
Talk seriously about whose name will be on the lease.
Make sure you’re all in agreement about how the apartment will be used. Will all the living room walls be filled with Bob’s collection of Star Trek novels, or does he have to keep them in his room? Will Stan’s large, enthusiastic dog be coming along, and is everyone okay with that? Will it be okay to have sex in the apartment? Will you be sharing food costs, and is everyone okay with splitting the cost of the alcoholic roommate’s booze? How often will you clean, and how will you decide who does it? Does the fact that the TV belongs to you mean you get to decide what to watch when the Babylon 5 marathon and the Big Basketball Game are showing on the same night?
Living with roommates can be tons of fun, but making sure everyone is in agreement on the living arrangements before you sign the lease can save hours in arguments.
Yeah, those prices made my jaw drop when I first saw them. We have already decided where we want to live and have been searching for prices already. I am just concerned about what to ask the owner. Should I go through a realtor?
This is another thing I have been wondering about. Does the person with his/her name on the lease have any special responsibilities?
The one with the name on the lease is the one who is legally renting the apartment. That means if the rent doesn’t get paid or someone paints graffiti on the walls or someone puts a cat in the garbage disposal, whoever’s name is on the lease is the one whose credit is messed up, or who gets sued, or arrested.