Apartment Hunting Guide for Couples

Apartment hunting is always a long quest that requires a serious approach. When you have your life partner supporting you all the way throughout this search, it’s much easier. However, there are some typical mistakes that couples do and we want you to avoid them.

We prepared for you a checklist of the most common issues that you and your significant other can run into while apartment hunting. Our team genuinely believe that these house hunting tips should help you make the right choice.

1. List Your Needs And Wants

Your apartment hunt is yet to begin at this stage, but you already have a chance to make a huge step towards finding a perfect place that will fit the needs of both of you. The best way to achieve that is to list all the needs and wants that you and your significant other have.

The best idea here would be to make your lists independently and then compare them together. This way you will not affect each other’s decisions and will be able to write down the things you really need and want.

Once you’ve compiled the lists, you can discuss them and cross something out, add something and create one ultimate list to understand what kind of apartment you’re looking for together.

2. Be Honest with Your Partner

Being honest here is crucial and this is not just about keeping your relationship strong. We’re talking about being able to discuss openly any issue that may appear during apartment hunting as a couple.

Unfortunately, sometimes people tend to hide how they actually feel about the place they found when they see that their partner really loves it. However, it’s important to keep the conversation open and let your significant other know that this particular apartment doesn’t really suit you.

Trying to make your partner happy sounds great and romantic, but you should make sure that both of you feel the same about the place you look at.

3. Apartment Location Is Paramount

The location of your future home should be the first thing to look at. Your perfect apartment should be:

• Close enough to your offices, so both of you wouldn’t have to experience a heavy traffic or long commute time every morning
• Close enough to a mall or grocery stores

Those who don’t want to pay too much for a place should consider moving to a less popular neighborhood. The key thing here would be having a great public transport hub in that area, so you could commute to your work and nearest stores without any hassle.

If you and your partner plan to have a baby soon, we would recommend you looking for a place with enough recreational zones and parks. In this case, it’s smarter to rent a place in a more quiet and family-friendly district of the city.

4. Review Your Credit Scores

Credit reports and background checks mean a lot to your potential landlord. As a tenant, you want to feel safe and secure about your payments and, trust me, any homeowner wants to feel the same.

In order to be sure that you both can pay rent on time, your landlord will request a credit report anyway. So the best way to be ready for that is to check your credit scores in advance. This will give you an understanding of how many options are out there for you and whether your competition for your next home will be hard.

5. Discuss What Each of You Can Afford

You should always remember that you have different jobs and salaries. There is a chance that what’s affordable for you doesn’t really sound affordable for your partner.

Discuss your budget prior to starting your search and, what’s more important, talk about the utility bills and other money issues. Knowing what you can afford is a required step, you won’t be able to proceed further and hope for successful apartment search without this.

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6. Define Who Will Be the Contact Person

You should approach the apartment hunting process seriously and make sure you won’t be smashed with an uncontrolled stream of calls and offers. If you give out both of your phone numbers, it will be a complete mess and you’ll not be able to understand what offers you’ve already reviewed and which one you missed.

The best way to figure this out is to decide who will be the contact person that will receive all the offers prior to sitting down and reviewing them together.

For example, if one of you has a vacation or works out of the office right now, he can manage the offers and get in touch with landlords.

7. Schedule Tours When You Are Both Available

Looking for a place as a couple is a tough process that requires both of you to take a look at the actual place, discuss it and make an informed decision.

If one of you visits the open house, there is a chance that this person will not be able to answer the questions that are important to you. Also, it’s always important to take a tour and see whether this property feel’s right to you.

That is why it will be smart to arrange the visits according to both of your schedules and visit the properties together. Another great option to consider is going on a virtual tour of the apartment from the comfort of your couch, that way you can make sure you’ll both see your new home.

8. Make Notes to Discuss Later

So we figured out that both of you should be present at the Open House and see the property yourself, what’s next?

Since each of you may have different complaints about this particular house, you will have to discuss it after and see if this place fits both of you or you should simply skip it and continue your search.

Make notes while taking a tour and list all the pros and cons of this place for you. When you leave the house, you’ll be able to discuss whether this place has enough benefits and what you did and didn’t like about it.

9. Get Ready to Argue

We know, you’re not like that… But still. You need to understand that all people tend to argue while making a big decision and it’s a normal thing to do.

Of course, you should keep it civil, yet both of you have a right to express your feelings and concerns.

So arguing about the place that one of you liked and the other one didn’t is okay, just remember that you’re in the same boat and both want to get the best apartment.

10. What About Your Pets?

Do you both have pets? It doesn’t matter whether you have dogs or cats, you’ll definitely need to have all the documents from the vets stating that your pets have been to the regular check-up.

It’s obvious that these documents help your potential landlord to understand how serious you treat your pets and whether you’re responsible or not.

11. Will the New Place Accommodate Your Belongings?

When two people are moving in together they sometimes neglect the fact that they are about to move lots of stuff into one tiny apartment. And when we say ‘a lot’, we mean A LOT.

You’re grown up people with lots of personal stuff including clothing, furniture, electronic devices, etc. Some of you may feel sentimental about some things and may want to keep them close to you. It’s not so bad when you or your girlfriend love to collect framed artworks, but it something you should keep in mind while looking for your new home.

12. Decide Whether You Need a Working Zone At Your House

Besides the regular home-related responsibilities and entertaining activities, we all have to work. And we believe that not many of you will be able to say that once they leave their office and go home, they don’t do any business-related activities at home.

Some jobs require you to be focused, so having a working zone or a small cabinet in your apartment will be a really useful and will help you separate your work and entertainment at home.

13. Focus on the Kitchen

Never underestimate the role of the kitchen at your place, seriously. This is a place where all the home magic happens.

This is where you’ll eat, have your morning coffee and drink wine with your friends in the evening. Kitchen is always a place where you spend a lot of your time and, trust us, there is nothing more pleasant than having a good kitchen at home.

14. Control Your Emotions During Open House

When we talk about open houses, we all understand that we have to keep it cool and avoid being tricked in order to offer a higher rent.

However, when we find a place that we really love, sometimes we simply cannot keep silence or stop smiling and jumping up and down yelling ‘We love it, we’ll take it!!!’.

So you have a responsibility to control the emotions of your partner and help him act cool as well.

15. List Your Three Best Options

Once you’ve visited all the places, you’ve got a few apartments in mind that looked very attractive to you. It’s possible that both of you have different apartments in mind right now and some of them could be liked by both of you.

So that’s where you need to sit down and compile a list of best options that you both liked and you both consider. The best way to find a perfect place for you and your partner is to communicate with each other openly and honestly all the way.