5 Things To Consider Before Renting An Apartment

Winter Break is just on the cards and I know many of us consider shifting apartments at this time. Even I am planning to do that this December. And that’s why I needed to revisit this article of  mine to gather up some information about renting an apartment that I collected through my previous experiences of renting an apartment. I hope this article proves out to be of some help to you in your task to rent a new apartment. 

Are you a college student? Are you fed up of living in hostel and eating that horrible and unhygienic food? Do you work outside your hometown and live all alone? If you are, there is one thing which you might be planning to do in the coming months i.e. renting an apartment.

While hostel life is counted among the best times in any person’s life, there do comes a time when you simply want to leave hostel and rent an apartment. While you can find such apartments available for renting for the whole year, in college cities, August and December are the ‘spring’ months when lot of people look for renting apartments.

I suppose, it’s about to be the time when college students would be done with their exams and a few of them would be looking for renting an apartment. While renting an apartment seems to be a really easy task, this is something which is totally a misconception. I certify this through my personal experience and that’s why I decided to prepare this list of things that you should consider while renting an apartment.

1. Location: This is the first factor that needs to be considered. The location of your apartment should be near to your college or workplace and should have access to basic amenities like a small departmental store where you can get supply of milk and other eatables, laundry facilities etc. It would be really good if your apartment is in a center location and gives you easy access to both your college/workplace and the local city market. But in case, you need to make a choice, choose a place which is near to your college. Trust me! You won’t regret this decision.
2. Price: It’s time to decide how much money you are willing to spend for your apartment. In case, you are a college student, decide your budget keeping in mind the hostel fee you paid before. Renting apartment should obviously be a bit cheaper. It is in my case. Moreover, you can have roommates which would lead to sharing of basic expenditures and therefore, would save a lot of money.
3. Size: Decide the size of apartment you want. College students – please don’t dream of having a bungalow for yourself for this would certainly not go with your budget. Even if budget is not an issue, it is simply an absurd idea to rent a big apartment; for I, being a college student can say that there is a very little amount of time which we actually spend in our apartment for we are too busy with our college, window shopping and birthday treats. Aren’t we?
4. Become a police inspector: Now that you know the ‘where and what’ of your apartment, it’s time to step into the shoes of a police officer for you would need to inspect the apartments which would be shown to you and choose the best one. This step is really important. I remember when I went to see the apartment I was going to rent. I went inside, looked at the room and cupboard and came back and FYI I am living in that apartment only. Doing such a silly mistake is something which can be expected from me and that’s why I don’t want you to be as stupid as I was when it was my first time. Meredith Home Improvements recommends you check for these things when looking at a new place:

• Check the pipes, gas pipes and water pipes for any leaks.
• Check the sink faucets and showers. Flush the toilet to check the water pressure.
• Check if the electricity and appliances are working properly or not.
• Check the windows. See if they open properly or not.
• Analyze the amount of outside noise for that’s a really important factor for a college student.
• Check the cupboards. This is important. See if there is adequate space in cupboards and all your precious belongings that need to be in cupboard would fit in or not.
• Check if that apartment is under network coverage of your mobile network provider.
• Confirm the parking facilities’ and ensure that there won’t be any issues regarding parking by neighbors or whosoever.\

 Most Important: Check if you will be able to get a WiFi Connection at that place or not.

                               Don’t forget to tell me if I missed any of the crucial points. I would add those up to the list!

5. Time to sign the lease: If you think a legal agreement isn’t necessary because you know that person so well, just stop thinking and get a document signed. It really doesn’t matter if you know the owner or not, a legal agreement is must unless you want to keep it for the regret part of your life. Make sure all the important information regarding time period of renting apartment and cost is mentioned in the document. Even the small issues regarding use of certain items at home should be cleared out before signing.

I have tried to include all the important issues that need to be addressed while renting an apartment. Do remember to tell me if you think I missed some important issue.