apartment searching

Where do I start?

Start by ensuring that you are fully prepared to move out on your own! Make sure you know your budget! You'll definitely need to have some money saved up for a few things.

• Boxes/bags to move clothes, shoes, and other personal belongings.

• A Uhaul or gas for your car if you have one.

• You'll have to pay a deposit to move into your apartment.

• A deposit for an apartment is usually the total of your first & last months' rent.

• Sometimes you have to pay a fee to establish gas, electricity, or water in your new apartment.

• You'll need to get food to put into your refrigerator.

• Toiletries are a necessity.

Do your research.

• Most highly populated city apartments aren't listed until four or five weeks before move-in day.

• If you start searching sooner, anything you look at will likely be gone by the time you want to move.

• The following are great resources to help you find your first home.

  Craigslist.org

• Typically a lot of sublet options.

• Beware of scams! Do not send any money, or give any personal information until meeting a landlord or realtor, in person, and viewing the apartment.

  Roomie.com

• Great for finding roommate situations.

• Very simple and straight-forward.

  Rent.com

• Easy-to-use platform.

• Enter zip code, city, or state and you'll have access to a bunch of listings.

• You could also hire a broker to assist you with finding an apartment. A broker is basically someone that connects you with the owners of properties, you'd typically pay the broker a flat fee to assist you with securing an apartment. There are broker companies in every state that will assist you.