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Advice: Apartment Hunting.
Athenor
Battle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
Battle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered User regular
I've been dragging my feet on this for a while, for reasons I really can't fathom. You guys have been a great help any time I've turned to you for advice, so I'm hoping to get some of that going.
I'm starting college in January. I've got my tuition and books paid for by grants, and about 5,000 coming in a loan to pay for room, board, car, food, all that. The trick, however, is that this is my first time living on my own, let alone apartment hunting.
So I guess what I'm asking is this:
What should I keep an eye out for, like when I do tours or interviews or whatever?
Is Craigslist worthwhile? there's two apartment listings for the town I'm moving to (I'm not wanting to get a roommate), and neither of them have a ton of information tied to them..
Also, given that I'm only a month out, do you think it's worthwhile applying for the university-owned apartments? They require a 3.3 GPA, however, which I don't have (but I can ask for an exception).
Basically I'm just asking for general apartment hunting advice.
I'm starting college in January. I've got my tuition and books paid for by grants, and about 5,000 coming in a loan to pay for room, board, car, food, all that. The trick, however, is that this is my first time living on my own, let alone apartment hunting.
So I guess what I'm asking is this:
What should I keep an eye out for, like when I do tours or interviews or whatever?
Is Craigslist worthwhile? there's two apartment listings for the town I'm moving to (I'm not wanting to get a roommate), and neither of them have a ton of information tied to them..
Also, given that I'm only a month out, do you think it's worthwhile applying for the university-owned apartments? They require a 3.3 GPA, however, which I don't have (but I can ask for an exception).
Basically I'm just asking for general apartment hunting advice.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
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1) Check the papers midweek. On-the-ball landlords will have their ads placed on Monday, not so organized landlords will have them in for Thursday so they can show the place on the coming weekend. Checking Wednesday or Thursday will usually let you see most of the ads for places that will be shown in the next few days. Check Craigslist every day, you never know when something interesting will show up there.
2) For every place that you're interested in, call ASAP at a reasonable time (i.e. don't call in the middle of the night, or during dinner) and find out when they're showing the place.
3) Be at least on time for the appointments, if not early. Bring everything you need to rent the place on the spot. ID, pay stubs or bank statements if they need to confirm your income, cheques for first and last and deposit, etc. What you'll need kind of depends on the local tenant laws, but we've scooped awesome apartments before other people have even had a chance to look at them by being early and having everything in hand. This may not be entirely necessary if your local market isn't as cut-throat as Vancouver, but if nothing else it does send a positive signal to your landlord-to-be.
4) That's not to say that you should be gung-ho to rent going in. When looking at places, I find it's hard to evaluate them without a list of criteria. So before you go, make a list of what you need in an apartment and how much you're willing to pay for that. Also make a list of what sort of extras you'd like to have, and how much extra you'd be willing to pay for each. Right after you see the place, go over your list, see if it meets all or almost all of the needs, see how many wants it has, and compare the rent they're asking with how much you thought ahead of time you'd be willing to pay for that.
As an example, the "needs" list for our current place was two-bedroom, a spacious kitchen (since our last one was too cramped), a nice part of town near my girlfriend's school, and two cats allowed. We were expecting to pay a baseline of around $800/mo. for that. Our "wants" list was a balcony or patio, washer/dryer hookups, dishwasher hookups, a fireplace, hardwood floors, and a place in an older building with some character. We figured we'd be able to afford $50 more a month for each of those items. We (and by we I mean my girlfriend) actually found a place that had everything except the dishwasher. So we're paying a bit more than the average, but I'm really happy with the apartment. Those numbers may seem like they're from bizarro land compared to what you're expecting, don't be freaked, that's just what the going rate is around here.
5) If you're visiting somewhere just for a day or the weekend to look for a place, get up early. Check the ads in the paper for that day, grab a coffee and get on the phone and start setting up appointments for the day. I can tell you from experience that in competitive renting markets, the early bird gets a nicer place to live.
Hopefully you'll be able to find something that works for you. Best of luck!
the city I'm moving to (Bloomington/Normal, IL) has had an explosive housing boom right now, so much so that there is a desperate need for employees. It's also a big college town. As far as amenities go, I'm just looking for a place with on-site laundry, a good sized kitchen, and internet, 1 bedroom. And good soundproofing, I guess. =p
The rest of the ideas, like having money on-hand and the paystubs, is a great idea. The problem is, I won't have a job when I get this apartment, but will rather have my financial aid for college... And I am probably going to need to take out a bridge loan with my bank to cover that.
The fact it's a 2 hour drive away doesn't help either. =P
Still, this is some great advice.
Edit: *grumble* I think the university-owned apartments are out of the question. Not only does it require that cumulative GPA thing, but they also reserve the right to move you at any time, which I don't know if I like, given how much trouble I'm having packing now (mentally, not physically). What's more, I have to be enrolled for summer school.
On college apartment/houses:
I live in Macomb, IL, which is about 2 hours west of Bloomington/Normal, and about 4 times smaller. However, when we were looking for a house in Macomb, we just got a lot of realtors numbers and called them up and asked which houses were going to be up for rent for the next school year.
Not to discourage you, but we had to sign a lease in October of 2005 to move into a house in August of 2006. I know Blormal doesn't have as many houses and tons of apartments, but your choices may be limited as to what is still available if you are looking for next semester or next year.
Good luck
PS: ISU's quad has at least one of every type of tree native to Illinois. Its a beautiful campus.
Thats a crap reason for not wanting a roommate, i had probably 20k dollars worth of easily stealable electronics + instruments, lived with 3 people and above 2 (literal) crackheads who would always bring their shady friends up for parties, and i was never robbed. Plus, its called renters insurance and its like 15 dollars a month.
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I have US Cellular and have never had a problem with a connection in Bloomington/Normal. Thats about all the advice I can give there though.
I found the apartment I currently live in on Craigslist. In Bloomington (Normal?), though, you'll probably be able to walk around and find something good when you get there. If they can't verify your employment, they will probably want to verify that you are a student.
However, I've moved before without a job and listed my most recent employment. That was good enough, as long as you can show them a bank statement showing that you have money.
Mario Kart DS: 3320 6595 7026 5000
When should I start actively looking for apartments, if I don't want to get one until January?
I figure that most landlords wouldn't exactly go for me getting there, working out a deal, then asking the contract to start in January.. Having an apartment sit empty can't be good for business.
Yeah, it's no use looking hard until you are ready to move in, or really close. If you want to price apartments now, or get a general idea of the neighborhood you want to live in, that might be okay to do now. I tried to secure something a few months in advance, figuring I could take over some current tenant's place, but I was told to come back later. With the place I'm in now, I actually moved in the day I looked at the apartment. Start looking the last week of December.
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I have Cingular and have had no problems.
As for renting, my own experience with B/N (moving from Texas!) is driving up about three weeks early. I checked the paper that morning for apartments close to campus, looked at a couple, then started calling random places that had signs out. Found a great place by lunchtime. Of course, this was over the summer - coming midyear might be slightly more difficult but it's probably not a bad one. You might also call the big renting companies to see what they have/will have available. They sometimes have a good idea which apartments will be available (I know their most attractive apartments are rented several months ahead of time).
You do want to give the landlord a little bit of time to prepare the apartment.
In general; show that you are a grown-up and relaxed human being, all landlords I know aren't all that happy to have a partybeast living upstairs, let alone loud youngsters who make a lot of noise after midnight.