- Craigslist: simply go to www.craigslist.com, select the city you live in (if available), then under the "housing" section you will see various options. Options are apts/housing, rooms/shared, sublets/temporary, and so on. Choose the option that suits you the most. If you are looking to rent an apartment or house that doesn't have someone already living in it choose apts/housing. If you want to find someone looking for a roommate then rooms/shared is the obvious way to go. And if you simply need to find temporary housing then sublets/temporary is the choice you want to make.
- Austin Apartment locators: Most apartment locators I've dealt with are free. They get paid by the apartment complex when you move in. Helpful as they are they can also be a pain. In my experience its best to get with a few different locators as they all have specific properties they show to everyone so some of them may not have exactly what you are looking for. I've had some locators attempt to put me in pretty disgusting and run-down apartments and some have even bought me lunch. No matter what they will always tell you they have the best deals and some will pressure you more than others.
- Get in the car and drive. This is the most time consuming way to look for an apartment. But at least you won't have to deal with the hassle of a locator. Maybe you saw a property the other day that you thought might be a good place to live. Dig up the location from your mental filing cabinet and pay them a visit. Most of them are very accommodating and they will be happy to show you the property. Don't forget to bring your I.D. as a lot of places require it for a tour (not sure why).
- Send a spam mail at work. Do you work at a big company? Sometimes the easiest way to find a new place to live is to find someone you work with who is also in the same situation as you. Provided you can agree on the location and other things.
Casing the joint -
Okay so you've found a property that looks okay on the outside, but is it okay on the inside? Do they have anything available to show you? If not I recommend going someplace else. You should ALWAYS see what you are getting before you move in no matter how desperate you might be. A lot of apartments will have models to show that are fully furnished so you can get a feel for what your apartment will be like. Don't expect it to be as clean as the model though. While you are touring the model apartment feel free to open the fridge and grab some water, soda, or ice cream. Many apartments will have all sorts of things waiting for your sweet tooth in the model. But that's not the reason you are there. Depending on your required quality of life you will want to find out some of the following things -
- Do you have a standalone hot water heater or is the building on a boiler system? Boiler systems can be a problem. Lets say you decide to take a shower around 7pm or so, your neighbors may also decide to take a shower, or wash their clothes, wash the dishes, or just run cold water for the fun of it. In any case if the building is on a boiler system you may experience VERY uncomfortable temperature changes in the water. One moment it can go from scalding, melt your skin off hot, to freezing break your bones cold. I've found that in buildings like these you have to find the sweet spot when adjusting your shower or you will shower in torment for your entire existence at said complex. If you have the type of shower that only has one knob its best to avoid pulling it out all the way and only go with halfway. ON THE FLIPSIDE if your apartment to be has a standalone water heater you may find yourself washing things a lot faster to avoid that rush of freezing cold water that awaits you ten minutes from when you started your endeavor. Its up to you which type of water system to go with but most of the very large city-like mega-complexes will have a boiler system. Sometimes you wont have any problem at all. And you can always complain to the management right?
The next thing to check for is a frost-free refrigerator. These are pretty standard these days but there will be times you find that one nice apartment with a crappy old fridge. If you don't mind the freezer looking like an igloo imploding on itself then be my guest.
Some other things you want to check are the appliances. Does it come with a dishwasher? Is there a garbage disposal? Washer and Dryer connections?
Signing the lease
After searching and examining the apartment to be it will be time to make a decision. Sometimes apartment managers will tell you they can only hold a place for two weeks after you put down a deposit. And in most cases apartment management is really nasty about getting their money. Just remember the bigger the apartment complex the more you will feel slighted. After you move in sometimes the management will go from friendly to what seems uncaring. Its not that they don't care they are simply pressured to rent units so they put most of their effort into that. Before you sign the lease check out the apartments ratings & reviews.
Moving in
Nine times out of ten you will get a checklist usually referred to as an inventory form. GO through this checklist and fill out everything on it. If you don't they can deduct things from the deposit that may have already been damaged or worn out when you moved in. Feel free to flip the page and add categories if you need to. Cover your ass or suffer the loss of your deposit. Its up to you.
Moving out
In most cases just give 30 days written notice to be safe, otherwise its your word against theirs and usually their words are always golden, unless of course you bring along that micro-cassette recorder when you give notice. During this 30 day period scroll back to the top of this page and start from the beginning.
Couch Surfing
If your new to town and need a place to stay whilst you find a place, check out CouchSurfing.com
Home Buying Opportunities
With the subprime mortgage crisis that is going on, home prices are expected to drop and apartment rental prices are expected to go up. It may be a good time for you to start saving up for your first home. Some people buy homes and rent out rooms to help pay the mortgage. With home prices dropping this may be something you want to consider.
The people who are currently losing their homes will be looking for rentals. More people moving into the rental market can cause a shortage of rental units and higher rents. If you are considering buying a first home you need to check out BuySmallHouse.com and learn what defects to be on the look out for when you are viewing houses. |
