Looking for the right apartment can be both an exciting and daunting evolution.  If you’ve been there, or if you’ve ever picked up one of those free “Apartment Hunter” guides that they hand out, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  Part of it can be scary when you’re faced with all the factors that you have to consider in making your decision.  But the flipside of the token can also be quite fun when you think of all the possibilities for your new living establishment.

But what is it that you should be looking for when finding the right apartment?  For a large part that depends on what is important to you personally.  With that said, here is a list of 5 of the factors that you should consider when in the search of the perfect apartment.

1.    WHERE TO LOOK
As I threw in up above, Apartment Finder handout guides are a great place to start.  You can usually pick one up outside of your local Super Market.  They’re regionally based and will give you complexes around your city.  These are paid for by commercial developers, and that’s exactly what you’ll find in them… developments.  These are great if you’re looking for that type of apartment.

Additionally, you can use the web to find an Apartment Finder.  Just Google “Apartment Finder” and your city. You’re going to find more than your fair share of apartment based websites.  Popular ones are ApartmentFinder.com, Apartments.com and ApartmentGuide.com (pretty self explanatory I suppose).  But again, the drawback here is that these are typically ‘development’ based.  Craigslist.org is a great place to find less commercial and obvious options, such as older buildings, loft apartments, or rooms to rent and shared living experiences.

Another great place to find non-development apartments is your local newspaper classifieds… assuming of course that your city still has a newspaper.

2.    LAUNDRY
Have you ever had to lug 2 hampers full of dirty socks and undies down 3 flights of stairs only to throw them into your car, drive 2 miles to a dingy Laundromat only to have the change machine not take your $10 bill?  I have and trust me when I tell you that it royally sucks.

Having a washer and dryer in your apartment or complex can make the difference between happiness and misery.  If you’re lucky enough to have that luxury then figure that it’s worth about $50 a month in additional rent.

If you can’t find a place with this option then it is truly beneficial to take a ride from your prospective apartment to see how far the closest Laundromat is.  But don’t stop there.  Try to see if you can go there at night when it’s dark and cold because there will be a time that you’ll have to do that.  Try and go on a weekend morning too and see if you can get a machine, because you’ll face that horror story at some point.

3.    PROXIMITY TO WORK
Ok, so skyrocketing gasoline costs have subsided somewhat.  But it’s still not cheap to drive to and from work every single day, unless of course you own a Prius.  But in that case, what you make up for in gas expenses you pay for in funny looks while on the road.

Taking into account how far it is to work is an obvious factor for most renters.  But what you need to consider isn’t just how many miles it will take you to get to and from work but also ‘how long’ it will take you?  Your beautiful new apartment might be ½ a mile from the highway onramp, but that’s not going to help you if that particular highway is notorious for being a congested nightmare.  If you know someone you work with who lives close to where you’re looking, ask them how the commute is.  If you’re response is prefaced by a sigh, you can bet you’re not going to be happy.

If you don’t have someone who you can ask, try plugging the route into Google Maps or a GPS if you have the luxury (maybe in your Prius!)  You might find a route to shave time off the commute.

4.    ARE YOUR INTERESTS CLOSEBY?
This one kind of depends on what type of person you are and what kind of stuff you’re into.  For instance, if you’re young and vibrant with a bunch of friends and your idea of “getting home early” on a Friday night means that you’ll be in before dawn then you definitely want to know where the local bars are.  What is it going to cost you to get a Taxi to take you back to your place?  If you’re talking $60 bucks each way then it doesn’t really matter how close you are to work now does it?

If you’re a homebody and you’re idea of “past your bedtime” means that you made it all the way to Conan O’Brien, then you could probably care less about how far away the  bars are.  But you will want to know how far the closest Blockbuster Video is.

Maybe you go to your Nana’s every Sunday for dinner, or you have a pet and you need a relative to check in on your Pookums when you go out of town.  It’s not going to be convenient when your relatives are more than a half hour’s drive away.

The point I’m making is that when you choose your pad, you should really take stock of what is important to you and make sure that’s represented close to where you’ve chosen to sign a lease.

5.    FOOD!!!
You might think I’m kidding about this, but trust me when I tell you that I’m not.  Let me tell you a little story about my favorite apartment.  When I was dating the woman who would become my wife, we decided to get a place together.  I lobbied for an apartment close to my family and minutes from work for both of us in a nice neighborhood.  Her preference was to find a place in the city she had lived her entire life, a city I detested.  After a long search, we ended up finding a nice place in her city.  At first I was devastated.  I had caved and regretted it. The place wasn’t listed anywhere and we only heard about it through a friend of her families, the commute was hellish, our location was less than desirable and it seemed like a 20 minute drive to anywhere I wanted to go.  But I found out something about this little city I was living in… within 5 minutes driving distance there were no less than 20 incredible places to eat.  Some of the best Chinese take out I’ve ever had, 3 amazing pizza joints, awesome diners and too many Italian restaurants deli’s and pastry shops to count.  Turns out this city was settled by Italian immigrants years ago and they all loved to eat.  So did I!  We stayed in that apartment for 5 years and just bought a house about a ½ mile away.  Maybe food isn’t nearly as important to you as it is to me.  But I can tell you this from experience,  even when you’ve had a bad day, a good Cannoli can make it much better.

The point of this article is that there is a lot of thought that goes into finding the right apartment.  These are just 5 of the things to think of.  Granted, they are 5 of the most important things, but they’re not the whole kit and kaboodle.  There are other factors to consider such as who your landlord will be, how thick are the walls, are the appliances new, etc.  But if you can satisfy at least a couple of the items on this list, I’m guessing that the rest of it will probably fall into place.