If you have been keeping up with the blog, you’d know that I am planning on living off campus in an apartment next year. I spent my entire spring break looking, having appointments, and well…stressing out. Here are some tips that I have for those of you looking for apartments in the future:
- Download StreetEasy: StreetEasy a website that lists apartments on the market in your area. You can put in all of your criteria as far as budget, neighborhoods, amenities, etc. It’s an incredible website and it also has an app so you can constantly be checking new listings, saving apartments to your favorites on your account, and reaching out to the buildings themselves.
- Be prepared: Myself and my roommate didn’t use a broker because of the amounts of research that was done in advanced. For a year now, I have been taking notes in my phone of buildings that I pass by and writing down their addresses to look up later. While you don’t have to be constantly on the watch and taking notes for an entire year, it is good to not start from scratch, but StreetEasy also makes it simple if you don’t have a ton of apartment requirements.
- Talk things out beforehand: While this may seem like common sense, be sure that everyone involved is on the same page with what you are looking for not only in an apartment but as a roommate as well.
- Don’t compromise: Remain firm in what you want in an apartment. If you know that you are going to be miserable commuting from the Upper East Side (6 to the S to the 1…no thank you), then don’t do it. Half of the battle with going to school is getting there! And if you are an Art & Design major, the supplies that you have to bring with you can make a simple commute 100000x worse, especially at prime rush hour times.
- Ask questions: Ask whomever you made the appointment with tons of questions! Ask about what’s included in the rent, how long the rent would be, the application process, the necessary documents, if there have been any issues with bedbugs or cleanliness, the laundry room, and the environment of the building. You don’t want to move in and be unhappy now, do you?
I hope these tips helped! Feel free to ask any questions about apartments!
Ashley