Finding The Right Apartment

Where to look and how to handle the apartment tour

Whether student or professional, single or attached, the process of finding the right apartment can be frustrating. But of course you know that already, and that's why you're here. We've put together some useful tips that will help you separate the good apartments for rent from the bad and minimize the hassles of your apartment search.

How to find the right apartment

Many people turn to a local apartment finder or apartment rentals guide at the beginning of their apartment search. These can be useful tools in helping you determine what type of apartment you want, but the rental selection usually weighs heavily toward large apartment complexes with corporate ownership.

The Internet has obviously become a valuable resource for finding apartments for rent. If you're single and don't think you can cover the rent for an entire place on your own, roommate sites such as roommates.com let you set the cost, gender, location and other parameters of your apartment search. Craigslist.org is one of the most popular free sites online for apartment rentals.

And though it sounds low-tech, don't underestimate the power of asking friends or checking billboards at your local university or coffee shop. Some of the best independent landlords rely on word of mouth for their apartment rentals.

The apartment search checklist

Your apartment search has yielded a few promising apartments for rent and now it's time to take the tours. At this point it's a good idea to look over an apartment guide or checklist for questions to ask your prospective landlords. Here are a few questions we recommend asking:

What utilities are included in the monthly rent?

Is the rent likely to be increased in future, and if so, by how much?

Under what provisions will your security deposit be returned?

Are there any additional fees for parking, laundry, etc.?

Obviously you'll also have your own set of questions you've compiled during your apartment search and you should ask those as well.

Here's a tip you won't read in an apartment finder: your examination of apartments for rent shouldn't stop with the tour. If you like a place, make a return trip on your own. Walk around the adjacent blocks, knock on a door or two in the apartment building, and get a few opinions about the landlord, the building, and the neighborhood.

Lastly, finding apartments for rent should be a discrimination-free experience. If a landlord makes a blatantly discriminatory comment to you or you have strong cause to suspect discrimination during your apartment search, contact your local Fair Housing Center.

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