Finding Your First Apartment

Finding Your First Apartment

Moving out of home for the first time can be daunting. Nowadays, many people are staying at home much later. This helps them to save money and live more comfortably when they do move out.

However, many can quickly feel lost when it comes to actually getting their first place.

For most people, a first home will be an apartment. They are smaller spaces with lower price tags attached. This works well since younger people are still establishing their careers and working their way up the pay ladder.

They also tend to be in social spaces, such as cities or busy towns, close to amenities and public transport links.

Plus, if you don’t have kids yet, you don’t need that much space. But how do you go about finding your first apartment?

Here are some suggestions that can help you on this journey.

Renting vs. Buying

The first question you need to ask yourself is if you want to rent or buy an apartment. There are plenty of apartments for sale, as well as apartments to lease.

You will likely have a wide choice either way.

Buying means that you’re paying off your own mortgage and putting money towards something you will eventually own outright.

Renting means paying for someone else’s mortgage. You get to benefit from the flexibility of not being so tied to one place.

Once your contract ends, you can move somewhere else.

Many find that renting is useful if they intend to go traveling or want to stay somewhere short term and then settle somewhere else.

Creating a Budget

Next up, is a budget. You need to determine exactly how much you can afford to spend on your housing each month.

This goes for mortgage payments and rental payments alike.

Creating a budget will help you to see the maximum housing cost you can afford per month. Having one will help you meet other required and contracted payments and leave yourself with some disposable income.

It’s important that you allow for this disposable income. It’s all good and well living in a nice place, but if you can’t afford to do anything else, you’ll quickly find yourself feeling bored and down.

Location

Where do you want to live? You’re going to want to have an idea of a location to start your property search.

Factors to consider include whether you want to be close to work, whether you want to be close to family, and whether there’s anything else you need to be close to.

Such as public transport links or specific amenities. Also, look into the safety of the areas you’re considering.

Specifics

Before diving into the house hunt, it’s generally a good idea to create a list of things you want from your home.

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Do you want a studio? Or are you looking for one bed or two bed? What floor would you like to live on? Some apartments are ground level while some can be up in the clouds as part of a skyrise.

This guidance should help you on your journey toward finding the best apartment to suit your needs and preferences!

Are you ready to begin the journey of finding your first apartment?

Matt

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