Do you know where you’re living next year? Do you get to live on campus again, or are you finding yourself wandering into the real world? I’m here to say that although apartment searching is often considered one of the major stresses of going to a five-year institution in a city, it really shouldn’t be. Renting an apartment or a house for the first time is definitely a learning experience. Where should you look? What are you looking for? How do you know whether or not you’re being ripped off? I am signing my second lease for an apartment in West Philadelphia this Sunday, and let’s just say I’ve learned a lot from my two years of apartment hunting.
Last year was my first time looking for an apartment without my parents’ help. I was looking for a two bedroom apartment and naively wasn’t thinking about cost… or where I would do my laundry, wash my dishes, sleep, eat… live. I knew I wanted to be close to campus and I wanted to have a kitchen. I ended up paying $700 a month for my first (tiny) apartment with utilities, cable and internet being a separate cost. I used to think that the whole “broke college student” stereotype was just something people joked about, until BAM, I had to ask my father to help me with rent, I was borrowing money from my sister and I one time had $.61 in all my bank accounts combined. Hashtag OKREALLIFE n.
The lease I am signing on Sunday is for a large house on 42 and Powelton for $550 a month. Yea yea, it’s far away, but it’s also right next to Vidas Field and on the Drexel Shuttle Athletics route, close to Rave, Fresh Grocer and barzzzzzz, it fits in the overlap of Drexel and UPenn security, and IT’S THE BEST HOUSE EVER.
From my experiences looking, I’ve compiled a few tips to finding an apartment that will fit your needs and (hopefully) won’t make you that “broke college student.”
1. Outline what you and your housemates want: There are a TON of apartments in Philadelphia and this will narrow down the search tremendously. Specify location, highest rent you’re all willing to pay, and amenities you want. I’ve found that searching with the, “I’m going to just find the cheapest apartments on Craigslist,” mentality doesn’t really work… because, well, there’s a reason why they’re cheap.
2. Don’t settle, but know when you have a good thing: Viewing houses is one of the number one adventures of the whole renting experience. I once viewed a house with random doors on the second and third floors that opened to the outside (wut?). If something doesn’t feel right, then just let the apartment go. Don’t let the stress of having somewhere to live cause you to get a place that sucks (…learned this last year…). On the flip side of this point, every house is going to have its quirks. There are some things that you’ll just have to look past. It’s very rare to find the house of your dreams.
3. Be prompt because you aren’t the only one looking: If you don’t fill out an application as soon as you find “the one”, you will lose it. If you don’t sign the lease by the time your landlord says you have until, you will lose it. Just be on time. That’s pretty much the lesson here.
4. Landlords renting out fewer properties can be better than dealing with large reality companies: My first apartment was so expensive/bad/poopy because I leased it through a reality company. We had a lot of repairs that needed to be done that weren’t done on time, or were done poorly. All of the apartments they leased out were treated the same way even though they were all different. Next year I am renting from a husband and wife, and they’ve been extremely patient through it all. When they showed us the house they pointed out repairs that they were doing and the “quirks” of the house (so we wouldn’t find them later). They also live in Philadelphia so it would be easy for them to pop over if we were having any issues. (They also have the cutest kid on the planet)
5. It’s only a year: Unless you’re singing a two-year deal, just remember that it’s only a year of your life. You aren’t marrying the apartment, so stop searching for Mr./Ms. Right. Eventually you’re going to grow up and buy a house of your own. Will you be sharing stories about your first time living alone and the stress it caused, or will you look back on the time fondly? That’s for you to decide!