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Renter, Know Thyself

© Lisa Hart Daily

One of the great things about an apartment is the lack of permanence. Commit to living there a year, or maybe six months, and after that decide to move again. Following a whirlwind romance, you want to move to the islands with your new bride. Or you just really, really hate it there and want to find a new place to live, pronto.

Not so fast. Nothing is ever that temporary. Moving is expensive and stressful. So, it pays to know what you need and want before signing the lease.

There are hundreds of variables in apartments, which is clear immediately upon picking up an apartment rental book or logging onto a web site. Probably, the first eliminating factor will be the monthly rent. Most experts say that housing costs should be limited to 25 to 35 percent of monthly income before taxes. This is easy to calculate, and provides a starting point.

Once you know the rental budget, you can start looking for affordable apartments. I looked for my first apartment in the long-ago days before web searches were available. I drove from leasing office to leasing office, talking with agents about availability and finding out which to eliminate (or, more accurately, which communities could eliminate ME based on my income).

Today a prospective renter can start the search at any number of apartment rental sites, with searches based on factors such as pricing, number of rooms, and whether or not the community has a pool or gym. Additionally, some real estate companies have rental agents on staff to assist in a search when the renter is not necessarily looking for an apartment within a complex.

Make a list of promising communities, and schedule an appointment to visit. The visit provides an opportunity to see the size and condition of the apartments available.

In addition to obvious questions such as the number of rooms, and how clean the interior and grounds are kept, it pays to do some soul-searching before falling in love with the cute two-bedroom with a fireplace and bay windows.

Here are some nitty-gritty things that may be deal-makers or breakers:

•Laundry facilities: Is there a washer-dryer, a washer-dryer set up, or a coin-op laundry room on the third floor? It may not sound too bad to carry dirty clothes around and hoard quarters for a year or two, but if planning to stay there a while, will the place still be charming in year five?

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