How To Land The Apartment Of Your Dreams

Anyone who has searched for a new apartment knows that they will probably view countless subpar apartments before finding one that they like enough to go after. Most people end up settling for the first one that's affordable, despite the tiny bathroom and carpeted living room. Every once in awhile though, the perfect apartment materializes in front of you and if you don't take the necessary steps to snatch those high ceilings, someone else on that 30-person applicant list will. 

Do Your Research

Make sure to do thorough research on the neighborhoods you're thinking about moving to, especially if you are moving to a new city that you aren't familiar with. That master bedroom may look like a dream in the advertisement, but what it may not show you is that it's an hour away from city center and the next-door neighbor has a living room furniture set arranged on their driveway. Make sure to talk to friends that may live in the area and if you don't know anyone that does, utilize the internet to figure out the best neighborhoods for your price points. In the end, it is always better to go for the cheapest apartments for rent in jacksonville fl in the coolest neighborhood, even if it's small, than the more spacious two-bedroom apartment in the boring neighborhood.

Show Up Early

If you see a listing that you really like the look of, but the open house isn't for another week, you may want to contact the landlord to try to get in to see it early. Open houses can be a pain for both sides, so if the landlord is willing to show you the unit early, there is a good chance they may be willing to rent it early too. Even if they can't show it to you before the open house, you have already made a good impression by showing serious interest before anyone else has. 
Show (Even More) Interest
Once you are at the open house, make sure to stay as long as possible. If you simply walk in, take a lap, grab an application and leave, you won't be memorable at all. Ask the landlord any and every question you can think of about the unit and the neighborhood. By engaging in lengthy conversations with the owner, you will be expressing how interested you are and the both of you can get a feel for what your relationship would be like as renter and landlord.

Be Prepared

Before you even begin applying for apartments, you need to find out what your credit score is and figure out how landlords read credit reports. They are looking for things like what other monthly payments you have, which is why they often require your monthly income to be triple the asking monthly price. They are also looking to see if you have always paid rent on time. If you show up to the open house completely prepared with your credit report, references and everything you need in order to fill out an application on the spot, the more likely you will snatch that dream apartment. However, not all landlords put much effort into checking prospective tenants out and if that's the case, that might be a good indicator as to the quality of living in that unit – if the landlord doesn't care who lives in that building, you should turn around and leave immediately.

Follow Up

One of the worst things you could do after an open house is to sit back and wait for the landlord to call, especially since the person has probably already selected their favorite prospective tenants by the end of the open house. If you are one of those favorites, sending a quick email to thank them and reaffirm how much you love the apartment could be the final nudge needed to score the unit. And if you aren't one of the favorites, you could become one after sending a note, especially if everyone else failed to do the same.