If you’re shopping for your first house or apartment to rent in Columbus, Athens or wherever, you have something in common with millions of other people who have had the same experience. There’s a first time for everything, including living in rental housing.
Your path into the rental housing world can be made much easier if you learn some of the pitfalls, shortcuts and tips for a first-time renter. It’s not as simple as just paying your deposit and first-month rent, then moving in. There’s a host of other things to consider, including the apartment/rental house search itself, move-in day, utilities, other fees you may have to pay, dealing with housemates if you’re going to have them, and the list goes on.
Following are some selected tried-and-true suggestion for how to make your first rental housing experience a grand success (or more likely, to prevent it from becoming an utter failure).
Tips for Rookie Renters
• Figure out your personal budget. A common metric for determining how much a person should spend on rent is the “30 percent” rule. It states that when hunting for a rental house or apartment, reject any option that asks you to pay more than 30 percent of your income. In recent years, researchers have called this into question, citing meaningful differences in people’s personal situations. For a middle-class family that has many more expenses than a single person, 30 percent of income is likely too much to pay. And if you’re relatively well off, you might be able to afford to pay 40 percent or more of your income and still have plenty of money left over. So before applying the 30 percent rule, take your own finances and situation into consideration. Bottom line, though, be careful about biting off more than you can handle financially. Consider using a rent calculator to help you decide what’s affordable and what isn’t.
• Select your ‘hood. Deciding where in Columbus or Athens you want to live is an exciting part of the first-time (or anytime) rental process. All those choices! However, it also can be scary. What happens if you screw up and move into an awful neighborhood. As with anything else, research, research, research can help you avoid moving into the neighborhood from hell. Things to take into consideration in addition to the appearance and reputation of a neighborhood include: How close is it to classes and/or work, and can you walk or will you have to drive or take a bus? Is it a student neighborhood, mixed student and townies, or all townies? If you’re the studious type or want to live in a quieter neighborhood, you’ll probably want to avoid a so-called “student ghetto” that has lots of parties and outdoor hijinks. Is the rental close to stores and restaurants? It can be a mighty advantage to have a grocery store within walking distance, though this might come with disadvantages such as more traffic and noise. And speaking of traffic, is the apartment or rental house on a busy street? You might want to avoid it if that’s the case.
• Do you want or need someone to share your apartment or rental house with? This is a crucial decision since 1) It can be nice to have company in your new home, or alternatively, it can be a pain in the ass; and 2) Having someone to share the rent makes it easier on your checkbook and may allow you to consider a nicer place than if you’re renting by yourself. Of course, the identity of the prospective housemate will carry a lot of weight in this decision; some housemates are better than others. Which leads us to the next tip…
• Choosing someone to live with. It goes without saying that finding someone whom you’re compatible with is a prerequisite for the housemate decision. While the notion that opposites attract works in some contexts, it’s not a great assumption to make when choosing someone with whom to share your rental. If you’re the outgoing, partying type, it makes sense to live with someone who has that same attitude. You can (and should) use social media to creep on prospective housemates; this can give you a pretty good idea of their approach to life.
• Is there a place to park your car? Many first-time renters jump into the process without considering this important factor. If you have to depend on on-street parking in your new rental, and the street is usually filled up with parked cars, this can turn into a huge hassle. Some cities, including Athens and Columbus, have 24-hour parking restrictions. This is good from the standpoint of opening up parking in neighborhoods, but bad from the angle that you’ll have to move your car more frequently than every 24 hours. If your home has a parking area or driveway that’s shared by two or more other tenants, this also can become a problem. Nobody wants to be asked to move his or her car at 6:30 in the morning so a housemate can leave for work.
• When you pay rent, does it pay for added amenities? Some apartment blocks feature lots of nice extras, including outdoor balconies, large kitchens, lots of greenspace, and even swimming pools, clubhouses and workout rooms. These add-ons can be great, but nobody gets something for nothing. They likely mean you’re paying more for rent. If you can afford it, great. If not, look elsewhere.
These are just a few of the many helpful tips for rookie renters. We hope this will make the experience in your first apartment or rental house a positive start rather than something you’ll look back on with regret.