It’s hard to find the perfect apartment if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Imagine that you’re preparing to cook dinner for a group of 8. You would need to know what you’re going to serve before you go to the grocery store for ingredients, let alone before you start to cook the meal.
An apartment search is sort of like that. There are going to be a ton of apartments on the market where you live, and if you haven’t established a rubric by which to sort through them and select the ones that are the best fit for you, chances are the experience is going to become overwhelming in a hurry.
A great way to discover what matters most in your apartment search is by conducting a survey on yourself. To get started on your apartment hunt, here is a survey to ask yourself.
How Much Can I Afford to Spend on Rent?
The first thing that you should do when starting an apartment search is set a budget. Without a budget, it’s extremely hard to compare apartments against each other.
Where Do You Want to Live?
Location is a very important factor in choosing your next apartment for a variety of reasons. Try to find locations that provide the following for you:
- A reasonable commute to work or school.
- An area that offers access to the things you enjoy (parks, trails, shops, restaurants, etc)
- Access to essential locations such grocery stores, fuel stations, post offices, etc.
Roommate or No Roommate?
Living with a roommate presents apartment renters with a much cheaper renting option than living alone. Before you start your search you’ll need to ask yourself whether or not you want/need to find a roommate.
How Many Bedrooms Does Your Apartment Need?
This question is related to the above roommate inquiry. It’s hard to start comparing apartments if you haven’t first discovered how many rooms you’re looking for. Typically when searching online for available apartments, you’re going to filter the results based on the number of bedrooms and the price of the apartment.
Pets?
Do you have a pet currently? If not, do you see yourself wanting one down the road? Not all apartment properties are as pet-friendly as others. In fact, some apartment properties will outright not allow pets in their buildings. You want to filter out these types of apartments if you have, or one day want a pet.
Do You Require Parking?
If you own a car, you’re going to want to have a place to park it. If you live in a colder climate, you might need indoor parking. Or maybe you have a second vehicle or motorcycle that also requires a parking spot.
Before launching your apartment search, nail down what your parking requirements are so you can quickly cross off listings that don’t offer the parking you need.
Will You Be Using Public Transit?
If you require the use of public transit to get around, you’re going to want to make sure that you choose an apartment that features convenient proximity to transit stops. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that the transit stop is serviced with routes to school, work, or any other commonly visited place.
Which Amenities Do You Need?
Different properties are going to offer a wide range of amenities. Before you begin evaluating apartments, you’ll want to know which amenities your apartment needs to have. Heated parking, swimming pool, gym, it doesn’t matter what they are, just that you know.
Which Amenities Do You Want?
The amenities that you need will be qualifiers in finding your next apartment. But having a list of the amenities that you want will be incredibly helpful for you when you end up selecting between a couple of units at the end of your search. You may not need a spa or a sauna, but if you’re comparing two properties that have everything else that you need, the spa might be the deciding factor.
Let Elevate Living Assist in Your Apartment Search
By taking this survey you’ll have a great idea of the type of apartment you’re looking for, which will make your search easier. If you really want to make your search easy, partner with an apartment management company like Elevate Living.