Adulting 101: Finding Your First Apartment

Last week was the end of my junior year! Now I just have one more month of class and then I am off and moving into my first apartment! It is bittersweet moving to a new place away from home for the first time. What’s not sweet at all–apartment searching. I am finally finding some temporary apartments near my internship and boy let me tell you, it has been a process! Not only do you need to find something that is most likely in a cheaper price range, but also someting available for short-term leasing. After hours of endless searching, I am finally starting to find a few options! Since I know how long this process can take, I wanted to share some of the websites that I have used to make the process a little easier.

Places to search:

Airbnb. This is definitely worth a shot at looking at. Most people just think of this app for short visits, but you can rent out places for the summer on here!

HotPads. This website was super easy to find places for my needs. You can select your price range, dates, and if you are looking for a short term or long term. That way it is easier to find something for the exact time you need. HotPads also shows a map of all of the apartments that are good choices for you–that way you can see the best locations.

Craigslist. A lot of college students post their apartments for subletting on this site. But be cautious, Craiglist can be sketchy. Don’t do follow-ups by yourself!

Facebook groups. Search for colleges in the area that you are looking. An easy way to find a summer apartment is to join other college groups nearby to see if someone is posting about subletting!

sublet.com. Many college students directly post their sublets here!

local colleges. Check local college websites and see if there might be any summer housing on campus. This is often a good option for bigger cities as it is cheaper!

tips:

• Keep a document or book with your favorite apartments with their information in it and keep it updated! Send out emails to inquire if the apartment will work for you and check them off as you go–that way you know your options at all times
• talk to your career development center to see if you can get any type of internship/living grant. Anything goes a long way!!

Are there any other apartment searching tips or tricks that you have? Feel free to leave them in the comments below!