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You’ve just left home for the first time and moved into your college dorm to begin your life as a Freshman. Starting this new life can be both exciting and stressful for students in their first year on campus. Just when you begin to learn how to juggle classes, books, tests, and finding time in your busy schedule for leisure, you find out its already time to find an apartment for next year. How does this happen you ask? The demand for living space in areas surrounding a University are so high, that apartments are leased a year in advance or more. We know it is difficult to grasp, but there are ways to best prepare yourself for the leasing season. Here is a list of tips and helpful questions to ask yourself when searching for an apartment to fit your needs.

• Be Proactive in your search for people to live with. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and try to meet other students who are looking for roommates. This helps to share the rent on an apartment. Many websites and student social media groups tackle this type of thing if you just do a simple online search. You can also take advantage of the bulletin boards around campus; they sometimes post contact information for students trying to get a group of roommates together.

• How many rooms will you need? Talk with your potential roommates and see if they prefer having a room to themselves. Sharing a room can keep rent costs down substantially.

• Location is an important factor to consider when looking for an apartment. You will want to find an apartment or house where you can walk to any part of the campus. You don’t want to spend hours walking to campus and back several times each day. If you start your search early, you should not have a problem finding a place close enough to any class or activity you have.

• Get your parents involved, as you will most likely need a cosigner to lease an apartment as a full-time student. Discuss your ideas with them and see if they can help you do a little research as well.

• Use the search engines to your advantage. No matter what city you live in, a simple google search for “apartments for rent near me” will bring up a wealth of useful information. Visiting a company’s website can answer many of the questions you might have about the properties they own.

 If you do a little research to prepare yourself, it should be easy to find the perfect apartment. Use this guide to start your journey and make the searching process a lot smoother.

So you signed your first lease to an apartment! Or maybe you have lived in apartments before, but you are moving to a new place. What better way to know you will have a smooth transition than to know you are fully prepared and ready to take on any challenge that comes with living on your own!

Prior to Moving:

Before you even step foot into your apartment, there are a few steps you need to take. The first is picking your apartment! Maybe you chose your space based on location or price. Maybe you needed a parking spot, or a big enough living room to have all your friends over for Football Sundays. Regardless of the reason that you chose the apartment complex, the thing that matters is that you chose the best place for you! The next important thing prior to moving in is setting up any utilities, bills, or other necessities prior to your move so that your first twenty-four hours go smoothly. Are you responsible for setting up your own electric, cable, internet, water or trash? Make sure you contact the local organizations necessary to get set-up BEFORE moving. Many of these organizations are only open during regular business hours, so you need to plan these activities before moving. If you are moving during a busy time of year, such as at the beginning of a college semester or academic year, then you want to make sure you schedule any activities to happen when it is convenient for you and not the other way around. The final thing you want to make sure you plan prior to moving is your furniture situation!

One of the most convenient ways to furnish your new apartment is to check with friends and family first! You will be surprised just how many resources your family has stored down in the basement. Looking for an extra couch or some silverware for the kitchen? Reach out to your extended family and ask them to donate to the cause. Between your aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins you may be able to fill the bulk of your furnishing needs.

Moving Day:

Happy Moving Day! You are so excited to rush into the new space and start filling your closet with all your clothes. But before you do that, you should consider one more planning tip. One of the biggest mistakes you can make on moving day is not to prepare a moving bag! In a reusable grocery bag, you should pack a roll of toilet paper, hand soap, trash bags, bottles of water, snacks, and multipurpose cleaning supplies with paper towels! No matter how clean your apartment is when you first move in, it always helps to bring cleaning supplies with you to help wipe down dusty furniture or appliances that may have not been touched in weeks. And between carrying your stuff up into the apartment you will be happy you brought a bag of refreshments. And between carrying boxes of stuff, and loads of clothes, you will not want to stop what you are doing to unpack boxes looking for those key essentials. So do yourself a favor, pack a moving bag filled with day-of essentials. Also, bring a piece of paper with all of the utility names and numbers, with account information written down and easily accessible! If you set up your services, and once moving you find that there is a problem, you know which company to call for each utility for easy fix.