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Hunting for the Right
Living Space
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People move out of their apartments or homes or a
variety of reasons, many of which revolve around
financial concerns. Often, an apartment complex or
rental company will raise prices as a lease expires in
order to keep up with competitors in the apartment
rental market. With the number of apartment buildings
increasing in suburbs and cities around the United
States, renters have a greater number of options than
they did a generation ago. In this case, renters should
not be concerned about finding an open apartment but
finding the right apartment for their particular needs.
Renters should put together a checklist with a number of
spaces available for various apartment complexes visited
as well as columns devoted to a number of criteria
important to good apartment living.
On
the top of this checklist should be a section for the
neighborhood surrounding the apartment complex. For
families with young children, a good apartment will have
a quality school, day care facility, and play ground
within minutes of the residence. Couples, individuals,
and roommates who are younger should look for apartments
near quality grocery stores, malls, and other retail
stores for easy access. Apartments near major highways,
city streets, and major shopping centers should also be
put into the positive category. Renters who encounter
poor parking structures, limited shopping, and overly
crowded streets should put a negative by neighboring
apartment complexes.
Another item on the apartment checklist is the size of
the apartment viewed. Individuals typically will look
for studio or one-bedroom apartments while families and
couples will look for additional bedrooms for storage or
office space. Apartments with adequate or additional
square footage should be considered in the final round
of consideration by renters. One way of finding the
right amount of space for a renter’s needs is to
consider how much square footage they are getting for
their monthly rent. Another way is to consider the size
of bedrooms, kitchens, storage areas, and bathrooms in
the viewed apartments. Finally, renters should assess
the quality of furnishings, carpeting, and appliances in
the apartment as a way of determining whether it is
worthy of a second look.
Apartment hunters should also consider the amenities and
pricing of their prospective apartment. Some apartments
feature brand new appliances like refrigerators with
sliding freezers or self cleaning ovens. These
appliances are not only a financial investment for
rental companies but reassuring to apartment renters who
don’t want to worry about the included appliances. As
well, many apartments have different options for
parking. In bigger cities, the best apartments are the
ones that feature underground and surface parking for a
low fee. In the suburbs, apartments will typically
feature a car port, garage, or underground parking for
an extra fee with normal outdoor parking available for
no charge. Other amenities available to some renters
include fitness centers, access to an office center, and
activity rooms that are available for parties or events.
While these are on the higher scale of apartment
rentals, people should consider apartments with the most
included amenities for a second look through.
Finally, renters should include a section in their
apartment checklist for commuting distance from their
new apartment. With gas prices still high in most areas
of the United States, long commutes from home to work
and back can be costly. Finding an apartment that is
close to work but costs a little more per month than
comparable apartments further away from work can be an
investment in fuel savings. As well, commuting can be a
headache in big cities so finding an apartment near work
will save aggravation over the long term.
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