Finding and deciding on a place to rent can be a daunting task. There are so many "what if?" questions that can arise that it can be difficult to know where to begin. After twenty years of renting, I think I have encountered every single one of the possibilities that can come up! Luckily I am here to give you answers to those what if questions and see if I can help you avoid a few catastrophes.
Compare Prices In A Larger Rental Area
I love that there is an app for everything these days. Every time we would have to move, I immediately began searching all of the apps for the area we were going to next. I am originally from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which is coastal Virginia chopped up into seven cities. The seven cities are Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, and Newport News. If you are in any one of those cities, you can live in any other of those cities and only be 45 minutes away at the most (unless the bridge is jammed, but that's a story for another day). So, if I were moving to Norfolk, I could search for Norfolk, VA rent prices as well as any of the seven cities of the Hampton Roads area to find the best price and area. Apps like Zumper make it easy to see what schools are like in your area, what the median rent is, and you can even see satellite photos of the area. Always remember to look at the surrounding areas of where you're moving, you might be surprised with what you find!
Invest In Renter's Insurance
Someone once told me with a straight face that buying renter's insurance was asking for something bad to happen. Here's some breaking news: bad things happen regardless. No one thinks they need insurance until they do and they don't have it. No one likes to learn this lesson by losing everything they own in a fire that wasn't even their fault, and you shouldn't either. Buy the insurance, if anything, for peace of mind.
You Have Options For How Long You Rent
I thought that all rental leases were for a year for far too long. You actually do have options to rent by the month, 6 months, or even longer than a year. In some places, it is actually cheaper by the month if you sign the lease for longer than a year. Everyone likes to save on rent so don't forget to explore those options when looking for your next rental!
Do you have any tips to add?
Hi Stephanie, thanks for these tips. I'll be moving to Los Angeles soon and will be renting an apartment there.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to have a bit of knowledge how best to approach it. I'm talking about reneters insurance....
These are excellent tips. I remember when I was first starting out in the world. Renting was so confusing to me. There's a lot to know!
ReplyDeleteThanks for these tips! Renter's insurance is soo important!
ReplyDeleteI agree on having a renter's insurance. Currently, while our home is renovating we decided to rent a house, and we are thankful that our agent/landlord isn't fussy.
ReplyDeleteThe tips are important. I trace back the days when I had to rent a house away from my country and then in my country as well. It was sometimes tough. I hope I knew the things you had shared, it would have been easy for me as I was quite young at that time.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I heard about Renter's Insurance. I learned a lot on this post. Thanks for publishing it. It gave me more idea.
ReplyDeletethank you for these tips. :) i don't know about the insurance thing, but thanks for giving me an insight!
ReplyDeleteI live in NY and it's required for renters to have insurance. The process of renting is also quite involved... I'll leave that for another conversation. :)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth O
Very interesting advices. I guess a long term lease isn't too bad. The rental price is frozen, and this is a plus. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete