How to Choose the Best Rental

Finding the perfect place to live can be a challenge, especially if you’re on a tight budget. While you may have a list of your “must-haves” in the future home you choose, it’s the little things that seem to be the ones that either make us love it or hate it in the long run.

It’s easy to forget the seemingly small yet important details when deciding on the next home.  It isn’t until were moved in and the lease is signed sealed and delivered when we realize the horrible traffic noise that keeps us awake at night, or the neighbor below you who complains when you vacuum in the afternoon.

The Overlooked Details that Matter
Here are some things to remember to inquire about, check on, or find out before you move in or sign that lease.

Phone Reception
It can be a real bummer if your cell phone either cuts out or all together drops calls from your home base. Next time you are out shopping for the perfect place, call a friend and test out this often overlooked necessity.

Neighbors?
You could either be stuck with the late night partiers who keep you up or the neighbors with hyper sensitivity to everything, including how you walk (the ones that live below you). Best thing to do is inquire about the people living in the units connected to you.  Often you can assess a lot just from learning their age or the response you get from the property manager. They will let you know if one of them is picky about noise or one of them is the noisemaker.

Considering An Upstairs Unit?
While living upstairs has its definite advantages, if you’ve never lived in an upstairs unit and are considering it for the first time I recommend you think long and hard about that before making a final decision.  Besides creating a move-in and move-out that is twice the effort – enough to completely exhaust you before you have even unpacked anything, there is the time in between.  You will be carrying groceries up and down the stairs. Hopefully you are not the forgetful type who has to run back in the house to grab something, otherwise you may need another shower while you’re at it.  The amount of times you will end up climbing those stairs will start to make your purse feel like 100 lbs of dead weight. If you must live on the second floor try to find a complex with an elevator, trust me you will be glad you did.

Economical or Energy Waster
If you are cost conscious and on a budget it may be wise to check the unit for energy efficient features. Does it have dual pane windows? What direction does it face and are their mostly windows facing west or east. The benefit of living between two units is usually lower utility bills since you get much of the cooling and heating from the units connected to you but if you are on an end unit you may want to ensure the electricity bills are within a reasonable amount and that the unit isn’t made up of windows that face east or west, this can get to be quite expensive, especially in the summer months.