Apartment Hunting Tips

In today’s tight real estate market, stories about apartment hunters seeing scores of units before finding a suitable one, only to be outbid by a prospective tenant with check in hand.

Apartment hunting may be very daunting for a few potential tenants. Frequently the variety of alternatives available to these renters is a source of overwhelming frustration for the tenants. With so many appealing alternatives it may be hard to select just one. However, there are a few hints which may aid to ease the process of flat hunting. The process of getting the perfect apartment may be broken down into three simple steps. The first step is to set a budget. Next the tenant should search their available choices and then comparison shop to determine which alternative is the best.

Set a Budget First

For several tenants the most important consideration is how much they’re willing to spend on an apartment per month. For this reason it should come as no surprise that the first step in the flat hunting process should include establishing a budget. Tenants should consider their every month income and subtract out all of their every month expenses from this amount. Every month expenses should include all bills which are paid regularly as well as money spent on food, entertainment and miscellaneous items every month. The tenant may also want to subtract out an additional amount to allow for a few savings every month as well as emergencies. The total left after these subtractions is the amount the tenant is able to spend on an flat per month. Once this amount is established the tenant will have a better understanding of the type of apartment they’re able to afford.

Search Available Properties

Once a budget has been established, the tenant should start searching the properties which fall within his budget range. It’s likely to consider properties which are slightly above the range as well as properties which are slightly below the range. Doing this will allow the tenant to see if there’s a chance to either make improvements on the amount of every month spending to allow for the renting of a costlier property. The tenant may also determine whether or not they feel there’s the chance to negotiate a lower rental rate on a particular property.

When initially searching properties, the tenant doesn’t necessarily have to visit each property. Most of the pricing information may be obtained from resources such as Internet sites, newspapers and rental magazines. Since pricing is the primary concern at this point, the initial research will enable the tenant to eliminate properties which are too far out of their cost range.

Comparison Shop

Once the tenant has narrowed down his list of possible flat complexes to a more manageable number it’s time to begin visiting these properties. It’s during this step that the tenant will actually get a feel for the quality of the flat as well as the amount and quality of amenities provided by the complex. This is very important as this information may be used to decide between properties which are otherwise very similar.

The comparison shopping process is also worthwhile as it gives the tenant a few bargaining power in negotiating more favorable rent rates. Tenants who have visited a number of flats likely have a good idea of the going rate in a particular area for a particular size flat. These tenants may use this information to possibly convince a few leasing agents to lower their costs at least a little bit. There won’t likely be huge drops in cost from these negotiations but it will likely be enough to be considered worthwhile.