Apartment Hunting Tips: A Guide to Find Your Perfect Apartment
Learn how to find your dream apartment with this post about apartment hunting tips!
Looking for a new apartment is so exciting! It’s a chance to start fresh and make a new place your home. But, the search for the perfect apartment can be exhausting. I recently moved across the country and found an amazing new apartment. I’ve compiled a list of important things to consider when apartment hunting, to help make your process easier.
This post is all about apartment hunting tips!
Apartment Hunting Tips
If you’re about to start your apartment search and feel a bit overwhelmed, I’m right there with you! This summer I made the huge move from Eastern Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia. Previously I’ve moved lots within my province, but in my most recent move across the country I had to be 10x more organized. The good news for you is I learned a lot along the way, and I’m here to share my apartment hunting tips with you!
1. Start your research early
Firstly, I think any good “purchase” (in this case we’re talking about rent) starts with a crap ton of research. Your rent is likely a huge cost, so you want to go into the apartment hunting process with all the information you have available.
I started looking online for apartments a couple months before I moved to Vancouver. Even though I wasn’t able to tour apartments yet, I found the research SO helpful. I learned what price ranges to expect, what style of apartment I like, and overall just got a better sense of the market.
Doing research early helps you move faster when you’re actually touring apartments and ready to sign a lease. This is important in big cities like Vancouver where apartments go quickly and you may not have a ton of time to think about your decision! If you’ve done your research, you’ll know quickly which apartments to jump on and which ones to pass on.
2. Ask for recommendations from friends and family
If you have friends and family that live in the city you’re moving to, that’s a huge resource that you should take advantage of! Your friends and family know you well and can help you narrow down your search. They can help suggest neighbourhoods you would like, and other important details that you may not be able to find from an online search.
Keep in mind though, your friends & family may be a bit biased. Let them guide you but don’t be swayed completely by their input! You have to make sure it’s the right fit for you, too.
3. Write out your wish list & non-negotiable criteria
Before you start touring apartments, you should write out a list of what is non-negotiable, and what would be nice to have but you could survive without. Think about things like amenities, size of apartment, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and price. Your list will also help you narrow down your search as it will cross off many potential apartments that don’t meet your non-negotiable criteria!
Your price is definitely the most important non-negotiable. It’s also the easiest to be swayed on, so you need to have a very clear understanding of your budget. Figure out your maximum, and stick to it! Remember that extra costs accumulate monthly, so even if an apartment is “only” $200 over your budget, that adds up to over $2,000 in a year, almost $5,000 in 2 years, etc.
4. Know the right questions to ask on a tour
When it’s time to actually tour apartments, it’s important to go in prepared and know what questions to ask. I wrote a separate post that includes apartment hunting questions, make sure to check it out before you check out before you tour apartments (20 Smart Questions to Ask Before Renting an Apartment). You don’t want to have any surprises once you move in. The best way to prevent surprises is to ask lots of questions in advance!
When I toured apartments, I found it helpful to have a list of all my questions on my phone. I asked questions from the list, and took notes on all the answers during the tour.
In general, I would say the more specific questions are, the better. Ask direct questions, and don’t leave room for the landlord/property manager to dance around the question. Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions by phone or email after the tour if there’s something you forgot to ask.
5. Tour the neighbourhood, not just the apartment
When you’re going to look at your apartment, I highly recommend you take some time to look around the neighbourhood. You could have a beautiful apartment, but it could be in a neighbourhood that doesn’t suit your lifestyle.
After each apartment tour, I went for a coffee and walked around the neighbourhood. This can be really helpful to figure out whether you could see yourself living in this area. You’ll want to check out things like – are there grocery stores nearby? Are you comfortable with with the noise level in the neighborhood? Are there parks and trails nearby?
6. Keep a detailed record of units you visit (include photos & videos)
Lastly, this tip helped me stay organized throughout a very chaotic week of touring apartments. After you’ve toured multiple apartments, it can be a bit overwhelming and hard to keep track of them all! You might forget the exact layout of one, or the amenities of another.
I found it incredibly helpful to keep a spreadsheet or a word document that highlights the details from each viewing. Make sure to jot down bunch of notes after viewing an apartment so you don’t forget before moving onto the next one. Videos and pictures are also really helpful to be able to look back on little details like how much closet space was there, where are the windows placed in the apartment, etc.
Keeping track of all these details will help you make your decision because you’ll have all the information in one place.
This post was all about apartment hunting tips!
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3 Comments
Alice Carroll
Thanks for the reminder that recommendations are important to also look for when hunting for an apartment. I’d like to look for a good 2-bedroom apartment in the future because a friend and I are thinking about living together starting next year. That will surely make rent costs more manageable for the both of us.
LifeWithSyd
Sharing a 2-bedroom apartment is a great way to save on costs! Good luck finding your new place 🙂
Alice Carroll
Thanks for the tip about how tours can help a lot in better scrutinizing an apartment. I’m interested in looking for a good two-bedroom apartment for rent because a friend and I are planning to live together. That will help a lot in saving money on rent in the long run.