Tips For Finding and Moving In Your First Apartment
So, you are finally moving into your own apartment and you want everything to be just perfect! You want to find a nice and modern apartment that you will love, but you don’t know what is important when looking for a new apartment.
Well, you just have to follow some easy tips and everything will be just ok.
- Pay attention to the windows. It’s not really a deal breaker when looking for an apartment, but it can help you choose if you have few apartments in mind. For example, east facing windows are great for morning sunlight, and west facing windows gets afternoon sun which could get expensive to cool in summer. North windows lose heat and gets no sun ever and south facing windows are usually the best since they let in more winter sunlight when it is cold.
- One more thing about windows. You have to check the window frames for signs of mold, especially in north-facing apartments. That can indicate a moisture problem.
- Check mobile phone signal in the apartment. This is really important! You don’t want to rent an apartment where you can only get a call while sitting on your window. It would be terrible if you sign up to live in a dead zone. Also, check water pressure everywhere and flush each toilet.
- Drive by the place you want to rent at different times of the day and night to make sure you feel comfortable with the area you will soon move in.
- Talk to your soon to be neighbors if you get a chance. You can learn a lot about living in that building by being nice and friendly with one of the neighbors. Ask them what they think of the place, how the landlord is and other stuff that interests you.
- If you decided about an apartment you want to move in, then first thing you need to do is to change the locks. Unless your apartment is brand new, you are not the first person to live there. You can never know if the people who live there before keep the key. So, ask the permission of your landlord to change the locks. You will feel much safer.
- It’s a good thing to take photo or a video of every single wall and nook in the apartment when you move in. Why is that important? If there is a problem later with getting your security deposit back, then you can look at the pictures and see if that hole or a paint scuff was already there when you moved in.
- Get renter’s insurance. It is really cheap, and even if you won’t need it, you will be glad to have it if something happens. You can think that you are careful and nothing can happen, but you are surrounded by other people whose mistakes can flood or burn your apartment.
Ok, if you have everything done, now you can relax and enjoy your new place. Decorate it as you want and make it a real home!
