First Time Apartment Renter’s Guide – 10 Step Checklist

Woohooooo! Looks like someone’s trying to find apartments and taking their first step into adulthood. And that’s gotta feel exciting for sure. But at the same time, it’s pretty much one of the most strenuous things you can do. Because honestly, finding decent apartment complexes is not everyone’s cup of tea. But don’t you worry. With a lil bit of help from us, you could end up making your process of moving into a rental apartment a lot easier. Promise.

And hey, you should know that we take our promises seriously. And it’s why we’re only talking about something we know from A-Z. In fact, we, at Stanza Living, have built the largest managed accommodation ecosystem in the country. In simpler words, we’ve got 450+ residences in 24+ cities. And a lot of them have managed apartments that provide the best possible amenities (like tech-enabled security, professional housekeeping, and laundry services) for young folks like you. So now you know why we’re so confident about this. Now, please bookmark this page. So you can pull this checklist out as quickly as you think of sipping a cup of tea on a rainy day.

Things I Should Consider When Renting an Apartment for the First Time

Here you go! This is the checklist you should follow when renting an apartment for the first time:

• Count Your Monies
• Choose Your Hood
• Shortlist Some Cribs
• Check What They Can Do For You
• Interrogate Your Landlord
• Plan Your Timeline
• Plan Expenses
• Gather The Essentials
• Complete The Paperwork
• Move-in

Looking for fully-furnished flats with daily professional cleaning? Check out our Stanza Living managed apartments.

Count Your Monies

If you’re a student, your folks are probably gonna pay for your apartment. Unless you have tons of side money selling NFTs. But here’s the thing, renting an apartment is not as simple as fetching some ghee with your mum’s money purse from the downstairs shop. So you gotta have a talk with your parents about how much they would be able to afford. It’d set the foundation for you to start hunting for an apartment. And btw, that’s not nearly as tough as figuring out how NFTs function. So get to work.

Choose Your Hood

After you get a rough idea about the monies, shortlist some convenient localities which will also be under your budget. And we suggest you find apartments in those neighborhoods as per their distance from your workplace or college. Because trust us, you don’t want a flat that’s so far away, you feel like you should be paid or given the degree just for commuting. In fact, the only advantage of living in the interior areas is that your friends will never agree to a party at your house. So you’ll never have those giant clean-ups to do.

Shortlist Some Cribs

Once the shortlisting of localities is done, move on to searching for budget-friendly apartments under each of them. After you’ve gone through a dozen or so, shortlist 3-4 of the best ones. Following that, it’s time to go out and check these properties with a mind as analytical as ACP Pradyuman from CID. Just so you can make sure the shortlisted flats have got no skeletons in their closet. Both literally and figuratively.

Check What They Can Do For You

Comparing apartments just based on the looks is noob behavior, sorry. So please don’t. Instead, add some other essential amenities (like furnishing, AC, electricity costs, water supply timings and etc, etc.) as important parameters to compare between them. Basically, just don’t fall for them by their face value. Look at their inner beauty, if they have any. And in case they do, declare your commitment to them ASAP.

Interrogate Your Landlord

Yep, you should interrogate the landlord. But of course, not with a tone of voice that makes them feel cornered. Ask them about the cost per unit of electricity, the existing damages in the apartment, the plumbing, the garbage disposal, and etc, etc. Plus, make sure you don’t come across any hidden costs later. Also, this is something that you should not skip, no matter what. Because it’s very, very important to get off on the right foot with your landlord. Even if it means facing your worst fear of making difficult conversations. Ahem. Ahem.

Plan Your Timeline

Fortunately, time does not work like in Mr. Nolan’s movies in real life. So setting a timeline for moving shouldn’t be hard. Now, now, there are plenty of factors to consider while doing so. You need to think about avoiding the peak season, prices of flight tickets, and check if there’s any set period to move in as per your landlord. Because imagine the worst-case scenario. You book your flight tickets only to find out that your apartment is being renovated on the date of your arrival. Well, then you’d have to pay extra money for hotels and food. So there’s that.

Plan Expenses

This one’s something you need to do simultaneously with the above. As you go about setting your timeline, it’s also important to align your expenses and prevent them from crossing the danger level. Whatever may be the danger level for you. After that, allocate your total budget into the different categories. So that you don’t put undue stress on your wallet like your class teacher used to put on your head just before your annual exams.

Gather The Essentials

You see, there are some essentials you’d need to pack for an easy-going move into your apartment. And nope, your homemade achaar may be considered as essential as by your mum, but that’s not something we’re pointing at. We’re talking about a pair of flip-flops, a few cleaning supplies, and your personal toiletries. So you can get freshened up with your favorite shampoo and feel right at your new home. Instead of running around an unknown neighborhood looking for it.

Complete The Paperwork

We don’t know when the paperwork bits are gonna come in, but whenever it does, make sure you’re on your feet during the whole time. Especially when it comes to the rental agreement. Because the idea of paperwork might cause your brain to fall asleep. But in this case, you gotta read carefully and run it by a senior so that there are no dodgy clauses in it. In short, that typical uncle who goes into a trance the moment they take up a document would be of great help here.

Move-in

Yep, you heard it right. Just move in. If you’ve covered all the steps above carefully, it should be as easy as you can imagine. But then again, there’s also Murphy’s law. So even after all that careful prep, if something is gonna go wrong, it’s gonna go wrong. But even then, you should be sure about not facing a major setback since you’ve basically covered everything else. 100 percent guaranteed.

FAQs on First-time Apartment Renters