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How to Rent an Apartment: A Complete Beginner’s Guide

In the United States, there are about 43 million rental units. This makes up about 36 percent of all housing units. If you’re looking to rent an apartment, it’s clear you’re not alone.

When renting an apartment, you want to find a place that suits most, if not all, of your living needs. However, with so many renting units waiting for tenants, it can be difficult to find an ideal living space, more especially if this is your first time.

That’s where we come in!

In this article, we’re sharing a guide on how to rent an apartment that meets your needs. Have a read before you head out on your apartment hunt!

Know What You Need in an Apartment

It’s simple, really.

To get the right apartment, you need to know what you need in an apartment in the first place.

There are basic requirements, such as whether you want a studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom apartment. Then there are personal preferences that you won’t find in every apartment. For instance, do you want an open kitchen and a balcony with a view?

Is there a dedicated parking space?

When you’re done with the structural/physical requirements, think about other things. If you own a pet, for instance, you need a landlord who allows tenants to keep pets.

When you know what you need in an apartment, you increase your chances of zeroing in on the unit that’ll meet your living needs.

Make Use of Rental Sites and Apps

In the good old days, when you wanted an apartment you had to drive from neighborhood to neighborhood, checking out almost every vacant unit on your way. How laborious.

Thanks to technology, you can now hunt for an apartment without moving an inch. Just log into a rental app, feed in your preferences, and let the platform recommend the units that are available. You can see pictures and videos of the unit.

That being said, it’s still important to physically check out an apartment you found on the web. Go there and verify that it’s as good as advertised before making a rental application.

Submit Your Rental Application

After finding your ideal apartment to rent, the next step is to submit an application. It’s not uncommon for landlords to receive multiple applications for the same unit. Therefore, it goes without saying that having a go-to online rental application form on file is crucial for landlords.

Submitting a rental application isn’t just about filling out your name and email address. In most cases, you’ll need to provide proof of income.

This is an easy thing to do if you’re employed. Just attach your paystubs.

What if you’re self-employed? Perhaps you’re an online freelancer or run a small business? You can use a stub generator. Here’s the best check stub generator. Easy!

Most landlords will also do a check on your credit history to establish whether you have a habit of defaulting on debt. It’s possible for your application to be rejected because of poor credit or a bad criminal background.

How to Rent an Apartment Made Simple

If you’re a beginner, you might think renting is one of the most straightforward things in the world. Well, it is, but only when you know what you’re doing. It’s easy to waste a lot of time and money on apartments that don’t meet your needs.

With this guide, though, you now know how to rent an apartment without any hassle.

Keep reading our blog for more tips and hacks.

Written by Jordan

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