Since 2020 has been a year of such upheaval, the prospect of renting a new apartment may feel like adding insult to injury. After all, it is yet more uncertainty and change. Chances are, you’re only thinking about it because you have little choice.
However, in another sense, now might be the perfect time to rent an apartment in Ohio. With the economy still stuttering, landlords are unable to charge the rent they once would have expected. You might get a good deal on a lease as 2021 begins.
It is also a nice opportunity to get a new start with the new year. The first of January is not going to suddenly erase everything that came before it, but it can serve as a kind of reset.
When you are looking to rent an apartment, there are some things you need to take into consideration. Think about the following.
Compare renters insurance
The owner of the apartment will have insurance on the place itself. But what about you? Your possessions are expensive and as vulnerable to fire or flooding as the apartment. The average person has a few thousand dollars worth of possessions in their technological devices alone. With furniture and appliances, that number shoots up.
Don’t leave yourself uninsured. For example, you can get renters insurance in Ohio at a reasonable price. Renters insurance covers your possessions and you can choose to insure for personal liability, so that you can claim if you accidentally cause damage to someone else’s property (like your landlord’s apartment).
You have a lot to lose by remaining uninsured, and every renter should compare renters insurance the moment they settle on a place.
Check out the workspace
Working from home is part of the new normal. Even once the crisis is over, we are likely to spend more time working at home than in the office. As companies have realized that working from home is not as difficult as it seemed, they have less incentive to hold onto expensive office space.
You may be going back to the office full-time, but even so, it is a good idea to choose an apartment that has space for you to work in. Not only is it important to have that space when you need it for your income, but it is also good to have space to do projects, admin, and the like.
Bring the outdoors in
Many people have spent more time indoors in 2020 than ever before. For people without garden space, this has been difficult to bear. Being stuck inside is bad for your mental health, and makes it more difficult to be productive.
Find an apartment which has some sort of access to the outdoors, even if it’s just a balcony. By making clever use of plants, you can bring the outdoors in as much as possible. However, you need that access to do so.
There are few things more important than fresh air, and this is one thing you should not compromise on when looking for a perfect space.
Negotiate fairly
Compared to the rest of the US, rent in places like Ohio and other Midwest states is not that expensive. Nonetheless, it may still be difficult to afford, especially in these trying times. For this reason, unless the landlord has specifically stated that they won’t negotiate, see if they can give you a better price.
If you negotiate fairly, the landlord will appreciate it and may well be willing to compromise. Many apartments are listed at slightly higher values than the owners actually expect, so that if the renter wants to negotiate, they do have wiggle room.
As long as you are respectful and don’t try to lowball them, the worst that can happen is that they say no. Then, if you are able to afford the apartment nonetheless and you think it is worth it, you can agree to the original terms.
Renting a new apartment in 2021 can give you a fresh start after a difficult year. Keep the above things in mind to ensure that you get the best apartment at the best price. Remember to prioritize things like fresh air that significantly impact your quality of life.
I worked in Toronto a for couple of years which is simply alive with high-rise apartments. We had friends who lived an a building that was 20 stories tall. Scattered around the city were water towers. Pumps kept the water towers full and, from there, simple gravity fed the water from the towers to individual homes. In my friend’s high-rise, gravity only worked up to the fifth floor. (This will vary from building to building, of course, as well as city to city). Apartments higher than the fifth floor got their daily water from electric pumps owned by the apartment complex itself. The backup pumps were gasoline. In a power outage, if the apartment complex ran out of gasoline for its backup pumps, apartments higher than floor #5 would get no water. Something you might ask about/confirm when considering a high-rise.
Hi Ron, That is a great point. How the water is supplied is an important consideration. Thanks for the comment!