by Lauren Webber
Get More With Less Work
Apartment hunting can be a real pain, and it’s complicated by your desire to finish the task. Likely enough, if you’re hunting for an apartment, your previous living arrangement won’t work. You’re either in a temporary arrangement, or you’re “floating”, which is worse. Even if you’re in a motel, you’re paying too much nightly, and that puts pressure behind you.
Still, you shouldn’t just jump into the first lease arrangement you can get approved for. That apartment may cost more than is strictly necessary, it could be in a bad neighborhood, you might have crazy neighbors, you might even end up contending with roommates. A better way to go about it is to take things as slow as it’s feasible to so you can make an informed choice.
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How Many Units Should Be Examined?
You shouldn’t look at less than five separate units. You may find the best apartment the first time you go looking, but you’re probably not going to. So figure out some parameters you need to meet whatever living solution you find, and then use these to inform your search. You want to look in multiple areas for multiple units to determine which ones to actually go see.
For example, sites like Craigslist offer bottom-dollar deals, but a lot of them are cheap for a reason. That reason could be drugs or insanity, but whatever it is, it’s something you’re going to have to deal with in exchange for the price. What makes a lot more sense is finding trusted sites. At this website you can search Dallas apartments by neighborhood.
Finding sites like these will help you narrow down your search, but it’s also wise not to restrict yourself to purely digital listings. There are elderly landlords out there who don’t understand the internet, and have no desire to. They’ll list things in local printed periodicals and newspapers. Well, check those, too. And don’t neglect a few drives around town looking for vacant apartment units.
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Determine What Your Needs Are Beforehand
What you’ll want to do is understand your price range, and understand your commute needs for work. A home thirty miles out of town could be leased at a fraction of the cost in-town living goes for. But you’re driving sixty miles round-trip five days a week for work, and that equates to twenty hours a month, or two-hundred and forty hours a year; not to mention 2,880 miles.
That’s going to cost time, money, gas, and vehicular wear-and-tear. What you save by living out of town could be overcome by what you spend in the commute. Meanwhile, you could spend a little more and get a unit right on top of wherever you work. According to AAA.com, you spend approximately sixty-one cents a mile. That’s $1,756.80 just based on mileage under the previous statistic.
An apartment for $146+ more a month in-town, again based on these hypothetical numbers, will actually save you money over one out of town that’s cheaper. So you’ve got to take these things into account. Not only that, consider your nearest neighbors. A bottom-dollar deal in the middle of town could put you in a position where you’re rubbing elbows with illicit drug dealers. That’s not desirable, either.
Utility Bill Considerations
Another consideration will be “gas” or “electric” utilities. Which will be more or less expensive, but it depends on your region. While gas usually costs more up-front, it saves money in the long-run. However, this will depend on your region. Sometimes colder or hotter climates may be more or less, depending; so figure this out before you sign a lease.
How Long Will You Live There?
Lastly, you need to know how long you plan on being at a given apartment. If you’re only going to be there for six months, or some other minimum lease term, then there will be certain things which may be allowable. If you’re planning on being there for a few years, all these considerations are quite key.
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Finding The Best Unit For Your Situation
The location, cost, utility configuration, and length of stay in a given lease all represent key considerations as you go about searching for an apartment. Additionally, use all means of searching to find the best deals; including web, newspaper, and physical searches.
Factor all these things together correctly, and you’ll find the best apartment for you in your area, and the hunt will definitely be less terrible. In fact, it may even be something you end up enjoying!