The art of apartment hunting

Advice columnist Delsie Burke takes you through the steps of finding your own apartment

The school year is quickly coming to a close and many of us will be moving out of dorm or relocating to different cities. No matter what situation you are in the time is going to come where you need to find a place to live. It can be a big decision, this will be the place where you will spend most of your down time; it is going to be the place that you will call home.

The first step in choosing an apartment is deciding where you want to live. This may sound like an obvious statement but some people don’t realize how crucial the area of the city you are living in is to your total living experience. Choosing in an apartment in a city that you a familiar with is also drastically different from choosing in a city that you don’t know.

If you are going to be living in a familiar city the first and easiest place to begin is with Kijiji.com. Kijiji is a wonderful website that most of us are familiar with, but if you’re not, get familiar! Kijiji allows you to search the area you plan to live in for available apartments and it commonly lists by price and location. You can also narrow your searches to particular streets. Another great tool to use is local newspaper listings which sometimes contain that aren’t even offered in Kijiji.

Criteria for choosing apartment ads differs from person to person but in my opinion it is a good idea to focus you’re attention to ads that include heat, hot water and electricity because having these items included with your rent will essentially reduce you’re stress level so you don’t have to constantly keep track of how much heat or electricity you are using.

Contact the landlords and arrange a showing, if you run into the problem of the landlords not having that particular apartment available then ask if they have apartments available somewhere else in the city. Some landlords know that apartments will be vacated soon but don’t list until the tenants leave, this way you can jump the gun and get that apartment before you have competition.

Again, people have drastically different criteria when viewing apartments. In general, try and look for the best quality for the price you are paying. By quality, I don’t only mean flooring and walls (although this is very important), also consider size and appliances. A large, less aesthetically pleasing apartment might be much more valuable to someone who likes space than a smaller apartment. Most places have your standard, pre-existing appliances (fridge and stove) and remember to consider the quality of these appliances and how often you might have to have them fixed.

One of the most important things for a potential buyer to consider is the location of the building. Try and pick a place that has access to good bus service, even if you do have a car there may be times that you will need to take the bus. Also, consider a place that has a grocery store nearby, if this is not possible than make sure that there is at least a corner store nearby, in case you need something. If you are going to be working or going to school you might want to consider areas of the city that are nearby your work place, what is considered ‘nearby’ is really up to yourself and whether you want to walk to work/school everyday or drive.

Finding an apartment in a completely new city is a different story altogether. The first thing you need to do is begin by doing a general search of the city you intend to be in on Google maps. If you are going to be going to university, do a general search for the university area. Make a list of all the streets surrounding the area, only as far away from the school as you want to be. Next, go to the Kijiji page for that city and narrow your search results based on the list of streets that you made. This will narrow your apartment search and prevent you from getting too attached to an apartment that could potentially be on the other side of the city.

After you have found some apartments that you are interested in begin making viewing appointments with the landlords. Make sure to tell them that you live in another city/province, you should find that many of them will be sympathetic to your situation. They can also give you a good idea of what stores/ buildings are in the area. I can’t stress enough, DON’T try and sign a lease for an apartment without having seen the apartment or area before, you just can’t get a good idea of an apartment by a written description or a testimonial from a friend. This will be you’re home after all, and you need to make that extra effort.

You are going to have to take a few days and visit the city, try and schedule you’re appointments within a three or four day period so you can view them all at once. Take your time making the decision but don’t go home in the meantime, make your decision while you are in the city. The landlord is going to want you to sign forms and make arrangements for moving in, being in the same city as them will make the process easier for both of you.

Apartment hunting is a very nerve wracking and exciting process and after seeing a few dives you might want to just throw your hands into the air and give up. Don’t give up too quickly, your dream apartment is out there, it’s just going to take a bit of digging to find. Best of luck and happy hunting!

Delsie Burke is a volunteer writer with the Baron.