What to Look for in Your First Apartment

Moving out of your parent’s house or college dorm and finding your own place is a truly liberating experience. Here you can make your own rules and decorate the place as your own. While you likely won’t immediately go into buying your first home, you’ll probably instead end up renting an apartment first.

Trying to find an apartment can be tricky, as many people don’t know what to look for, especially if it’s their first time. So how do you know if an apartment is the one for you? Here’s what to look for in your first apartment.

The most obvious thing that you need to consider is the overall price. If you’re looking for your first apartment, then you’re likely either still in school or have just graduated and are trying to make it on your own. As a result, you likely already have a lot of debt, so taking on an expensive first apartment probably isn’t in your best interest. Although you certainly don’t want a run-down apartment, you also shouldn’t be splurging on luxury apartments either.

Many people think that an apartment’s rent and overall price are synonymous, but there might be a lot of other costly things that you need to consider as well. You’ll likely have to make a large security deposit when you sign your lease, and you also might have to pay for utilities like electricity, heating, water, and WiFi. All of these costs are things that you need to consider when looking for your first apartment.

An important part of your first apartment is who you’ll be living with. While you may want your own place initially, that isn’t always the best option. Renting your own apartment can be extremely expensive, and since you’re just starting out, it may be a little outside of your budget. As a result, you may have to try coliving or live with roommates in order to lower rent and ensure payments.

Ideally, you would want to room with people you know, but sometimes you’re required to live with people that are new to your life. For some, this is no problem, while for others it can be a major inconvenience. You should definitely look into the roommate situation and figure out whether you’re comfortable with your potential roommates before making a final decision.

You may be used to your parents or guardians doing your laundry for you, but that all changes when you get your own apartment. Unfortunately, laundry is an important part of adult life and something that you’ll need to do pretty often. You’ll want to be as clean and healthy as possible, and cleaning your clothes, towels, and sheets is a major part of this. As a result, you should definitely be aware of the laundry situation of an apartment before you move in.

Are there washers and dryers provided? Are they easily accessible and high quality? Will there be a lot of people sharing the appliances? These are all things that you need to consider about the laundry situation before you decide on your first apartment.

When looking for your first apartment, one of the most important things you should consider is the apartment’s location. At this time in your life, location may be extremely important due to unreliable transportation. You likely don’t have an extremely reliable car, and you might not even have a car at all. As a result, your apartment will need to be conveniently located so that you can easily get to school, work, or other places that you need to be.

The location of your apartment or home is always important, but it is especially important when you’re just starting out on your own.

Published in: Home advice | Author: Yanita