How to Find Your Perfect First Apartment!

On June 8^th I will be officially spreading my wings and leaving the nest, meaning that I will finally be moving into my very first apartment! I lived away at school for four years, so I'm no stranger to being away from family and having to take care of myself, but a dormitory just doesn't compare to an apartment of my own.

I've been back home in the area for about a year now and have been religiously searching for an apartment for the past five months. So that's the first step in the process, you've got to constantly be looking. And yes, sometimes it may take six months of looking to find a place that you can't wait to move into. By looking around you will also find the apartment amenities that you are truly interested in as well.

The internet, of course, is a great place to start looking. I used www.craigslist.org extensively in my search as well as looking at local real estate websites. Apartments are constantly becoming available and being rented out, so these websites are always changing, sometimes as frequently as every few hours.

Location is also a huge factor, so when looking online just isn't enough, you need to go out and drive around. Go to the neighborhoods that you are interested in and just ride through jotting down locations and addresses. Sometimes it is even helpful to ride around an area that you aren't necessarily interested in because there are always hidden treasures to be found.

Also you need to have a definite list in your mind of what you must have in an apartment versus things you don't care about quite as much. For example, I knew that absolutely wanted hardwood floors, may seem silly but it was important to me, so that was something I wasn't willing to compromise on. However having a laundry machine in my building didn't matter much to me, it would have been nice, but it wasn't going to be a deal breaker. Making decisions like that will really narrow down your search and help you to find your optimal first place.