Welcome to the Real World: Finding Your First Apartment

July 14, 2011 3:00 pm     Posted in Back to School, College  Courtney - Bridgewater State University g+ page

[Life after college is hard. Like really hard. But it's not so hard that you should curl up in a ball and watch E! marathons all day long. Not only are we covering the experience from a first-hand perspective, but we're now covering it from a how-to-survive-it perspective. Every week, we're going to bringing the best advice to getting through your first post-grad year. Because sometimes, your grandmother's "just go to law school" advice just doesn't cut it.]


By Courtney

This past Saturday  I finally moved into my new apartment with my old best friend. We started out apartment hunt June 1st…looked at over 20 apartments, and finally found one we liked. It’s a work in progress.

Before June I knew nothing about looking for apartments, we had no idea what to expect the first time we saw one. It was pretty frightening. It didn’t help that we both grew up in the suburbs and had no idea what it was like to live, let alone rent an affordable apartment, in a city.

Needless to say I’ve learned a thing for two about hunting for apartments that I wish I had known about a month ago, like research neighborhoods before you drive to them and waste gas money.

So in order to help all of our readers I thought I would put together a few things I’ve learned along the way to help you all in search of your first (second, or third) place:

Oil vs Electric vs Gas Heat: Luckily this was one of the things my ex-boyfriend told me early on, “Make sure you get gas heat, it’s wicked cheap” however, I ended up finding an apartment with oil. But regardless, and for the most part (well depending on where you live), the price of heat goes like this: electric is the most expensive, oil is the second most expensive, and gas is the cheapest. Just something to keep in mind when looking at non-utility inclusive apartments.

Neighborhood: Just because it’s a wicked cute apartment, does not make up for the fact that someone was shot outside of it a week ago. Be smart about where you chose to live, and remember you’ll have to sleep there at night. It’s kind of funny, because almost all of these guidelines I’m giving you I did the opposite. We ended up moving to Brockton, which doesn’t have the best rep, that’s not to say we’re in the worst part of it (thankfully avoided that) but we’re also not in the best part either..more like on the fringe of both in no mans land.

Listen to your gut: If you have a bad feeling about the apartment..doesn’t matter what it is, listen to it. Your first instinct about a place is usually right,  even if the price is perfect, location is great..if you just have a bad feeling about it, run…well walk to your car and then drive away. We knew the moment we stepped into our apartment that we were home, it even had a connecting door between the two bedrooms (a big seller for people who have shared a room for three years)

This is just part of our kitchen, it's so huge! Be open: You will not, repeat, will not find your dream apartment. Carrie’s apartment from Sex and The City was a set, I know because I looked into it. You will find something cute as long as you refuse to settle for something that smells like cat pee and may or may not have a blood stain (or three) in the closet. But you need to keep your options open. Just because something it’s disgusting and needs to be updated on the outside, doesn’t mean it isn’t adorable and waiting to be loved on the inside.

Bills Bills Bills: I know this is going to make me sound like a complete air head, but I had NO idea how many bills there were when renting an apartment. I highly suggest finding an apartment with utilities included, it will make your life so much easier. Right now we have to deal with a bill from the electric company, Comcast, oil company (which we have to find and set up ourselves), gas company (our stove is gas :\)..it’s endless. And that’s not including our other bills like Netflix, cell phone and car insurance..yay to growing up.

Off street parking: is so freakin’ important. If you can find an apartment building in a city that has off street parking..count your blessings. It’s so important to find off street parking, not only does it guarantee your car not being hit by on coming traffic, but it also guarantees you will not have to move it for street cleaning..which if you forget about sucks.

Find a good landlord: When you are looking for an apartment, it’s important to also look for a good landlord. Your landlord should be someone you can get along with, trust to come over and fix something in your apartment, and  depend on when things go wrong. You can usually get a pretty good sense of how one will be from your first meeting, and if not just ask what they are willing to do.

Hopefully these tips help you on your search! Let’s turn things over to you guys: What other tips do you have? What was the worst part about apartment hunting? What was your favorite part? 

15 Comments on "Welcome to the Real World: Finding Your First Apartment"

  1. Erin says:
    Thu, 14th Jul 20114:42 pm 

    How about using a realtor/brokerage fee (Very convenient but expensive)? Public transportation?

  2. Courtney - Bridgewater State University says:
    Thu, 14th Jul 20114:54 pm 

    good point! We had decided to just go through craigslist/friends that new of open places. But having a realtor on our side would've made things easier. And yes to Public Transportation! You can check on google maps to see if there is a T or Commuter rail near you, I highly recommend leaving near one if you plan on living just outside of a big city.

  3. Lizz says:
    Thu, 14th Jul 20117:59 pm 

    I really wish I saw this article like 4 months ago. Me and my friends were apt shopping for the fall semester and idk about them but I was pretty lost at first lol. We found an apt we all like but it was very very hard, especially since we started looking pretty late compared to everyone else on campus

  4. Marisa says:
    Thu, 14th Jul 20119:13 pm 

    Geat article Courtney, pleasantly surprised. I will definitely use this next year.

  5. Jen says:
    Fri, 15th Jul 201110:11 am 

    I suggest renter's insurance! Mine was only $100 for the entire year, and given that I live over a business and my belongings are at the mercy of what goes on down there, I think it's worth it. Also- my friend got her phone stolen at school, and she got her renter's insurance to cover it.

  6. Margo M says:
    Fri, 15th Jul 20111:44 pm 

    Such a Massachusetts post– wicked was used twice before the jump on HuffPost. What a great and informative post! I think it's important to remember your rights as a tenant, too. I know my school had workshops where you could learn about your rights, and make sure that your landlord is getting things done properly. It can be difficult when you have a large corporation in charge of your apartment too.

  7. erin says:
    Fri, 15th Jul 20114:02 pm 

    Smart. I wish I'd done craigslist but it was easier and lazy to use a realtor but now we're really paying for it. They charge a full month's rent for their services!

  8. Kevin says:
    Fri, 15th Jul 20114:46 pm 

    I'm going to be moving into my first apartment next year with a friend and there are some things I'm still concerned about.
    Do they check your credit history? I do not have a credit card and do not like paying with credit. Also will your current employment be a factor in whether or not they let you rent the apartment because I will be moving half way across the country and there will be a high chance I will not be employed the moment I arrive in a new city. I'm also a little confused on how the lease works, I understand the difference between a monthly and a yearly lease but is there anything else I should know, are there fines attached to the lease as well. Finally, what are the average costs of things like electricity and water and gas. I understand it depends on the person in the apartment but for anyone hear what are your usual costs?

  9. Danielle says:
    Wed, 20th Jul 20118:16 pm 

    My friends and I have been searching for an apartment throughout the summer and finally got the approval from the landlord today about an apartment that we were all excited about. Its extremely scary thinking about all the bills I'm going to have to pay but it's part of growing I suppose. Moving in the beginning of August.. here goes! :)

  10. moo says:
    Sun, 7th Aug 201110:59 am 

    Does CollegeCandy edit these articles at all?? This was really terribly written.

  11. Courtney - Bridgewater State University says:
    Thu, 25th Aug 20114:26 pm 

    Hey Kevin! Sorry I'm just getting to your comment now!
    -Most do, I got really lucky with a fed up landlord that just wanted nice people to move in. But if that is the case you can usually ask your parents to vouch for you (so they co-sign the lease with you). It's always a good idea to start building credit though!
    -Most landlords like to see that their tenants are employed, that way there know you are able to pay the rent. Plus on most applications they ask what your yearly salary is. I understand moving so far away it's difficult to find a job, but it would probably be a good idea to start looking and when you go for an in-person interview you can also scope out apartments.
    - It will all be in your contract, my lease is yearly and if we break it we lose our security deposit. We also need to give a 30 day notice if we are planning on leaving. But every situation is different, it is just super important you read through the contract, and if you don't trust that you'll pick up on everything have a family friend or lawyer comb through it to make sure you are getting the best deal.
    - For us, electricity is about 30, gas is 10-15, and we are still trying to figure out where out water bill is..our landlord has no clue where it comes from haha. but for the most part it's usually included in your electric bill and all comes to like 50 a month.

    Hopefully this helps!
    -
    Courtney

  12. CollegeIglu says:
    Sat, 27th Aug 20112:52 pm 

    For help with finding a new apartment check out http://www.collegeiglu.com!

  13. von Matuschaka says:
    Wed, 2nd Nov 20111:55 pm 

    last hundred years, a woman would find a man who was there to scare away thief's, burglars, molesters and dangerous people. There were some I knew a cop to live with, some who had a friend who had that look around him that persuaded men to step softly. Then it was the custom to have a man accompany you after dark when you went home on foot. –Even young teenage boys were part of this protection service. ——-Last time I had to protect my son in Rome, he was 22 and did not know about the street smarts needed. I had to discourage an Italian man. last year my son called me his weapon on that trip?? With a neighbor near you have someone who can be there for you before a cop can be, and it helps keep the taxes servants fees low/? If all fails. a pistol or just a holster with flap closed will warn away the people who are looking for a mark?? Good luck

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