Welcome to Surviving Apartment Life!!

      Your first apartment, true independence. The excitement is overwhelming and your imagination runs wild. You have already picked out every piece of furniture, your dishes, towels, entertainment, etc. Only one problem.....you forgot the apartment. Then panic takes over, "Where should I look?", "What should I look for?", "Room mates or no room mates?", "Help!!!" Relax, you have come to the right place. The first step, which is one of the hardest, is to plan a budget. This is very important!! I learned the hard way and struggled a lot. The benefit of a budget will help you lay out exactly what you can afford and what you can't. Remember, your responsible for everything, so factor in electricity/gas, water/garbage(typically paid for by landlord), any cable or satellite tv, and renter's insurance. Create a budget on paper or on the computer and print out and take a month to put money in the bank because not only will you need to pay your first month of rent but also a security deposit, which is usually one month of rent but can also be a lot more. Once you have that all figure out and you know how much of an apartment you can afford, now it is time to look.
     Figure out what is most important to you. Would you really use that extra storage of a garage or would you rather have a larger apartment for a home business or school work. Do you need that dog you have always wanted right now or can you settle for a fish? Make a list of what is most important and what you can do with out and look online or in free publications you can get at the grocery store and even look in the paper. Look for the amenities that you must have and see what is in your price range. Call on apartments you are interested in and schedule a walk through so you can can see the apartments first hand and get a feel for the neighbor hood. Another option is to search online for reviews on the apartment. Just pick your favorite search engine and type in the apartment name along with the word review and read what other people thought of the community, the management and the apartments themselves. Once you have decided on an apartment its paperwork time.

Next: Rental application, references, co-signers and more...