Or, if you’ve already moved in together and are beginning to feel the strain, gather your roommates together ASAP and discuss these five recommendations (and don’t stop until you work out answers to the following questions that you all can support!)

1. Decide who pays for what

In many apartment homes, landlords prefer a single rent check no matter how many tenants occupy a given unit. That means one of your group will have to take charge of collecting rent payments, depositing them into an account, and writing the combined rent check. You can set up a separate checking account for this, or one roommate can choose to be the payer for the apartment through their personal account, but this is a huge decision to work out ahead of time.

You’ll also need to establish how you’ll pay for shared expenses like electricity, gas, cable, and internet. Once again, if all of you will be splitting the costs, then you’ll have to get individual checks to the roommate making payments, in plenty of time for them to pay the bill! To make this process smooth and hassle free, consider setting up due dates and reminders either on your phones or in a central place in the apartment.

2. Identify the House Rules

Sharing space with multiple people can be a wonderful experience, but it can also become very stressful if there is no clear understanding of what’s acceptable behavior and what isn’t. Don’t just assume your roommates understand your preferences! It’s best to lay everything out in writing so that everyone can sign off on an agreement of shared living space. Some areas to include in your House Rules are:

• Kitchen Activities: set rules for things like food prep and clean-up, with a priority that no dirty dishes or open containers of food are left out. Nothing appeals to bugs and rodents more than food they can get to easily!
• Noise: identify designated quiet times for the apartment—including entertainment streamed in your room. Chances are, your roommates can hear it!
• Space: identify how to divide up space in common areas—kitchen cabinets, bathroom areas, closets, etc.
• Chores: list all the chores you want to split evenly, and set up a schedule. Those could include doing dishes after a common meal, vacuuming, dusting, taking out the trash, etc.

3. Establish a Plan for unexpected situations

What happens if one of your friends needs a couch to stay on, or one of your roommates wants to adopt a puppy (and your apartment allows pets), or if one of your roommates decides to move out? You can’t predict everything that will happen, but you can set up a plan to handle it. For instance, you could establish a monthly meeting (maybe when you hand over your rent check to your designated payer) and use that time also to go over anything that needs to be discussed, such as any decision that will affect your living situation.

4. Be prepared to compromise

Living with multiple roommates can be an amazing experience, but you should know going in that you and your roommates are all very different people, with different expectations and preferences. By talking out as much as possible in advance, you can head off a lot of problems and misunderstandings before they begin! But rather than thinking of these conversations as opportunities for you to ensure you get your way all the time, look for ways that you can accommodate others’ preferences. That will often make them far more likely to accommodate your preferences as well.

5. Most important of all: Communicate

Nearly every failed apartment-sharing situation has its roots in faulty communication. Don’t let yours be one of them! Set regular times for you to check in with your roommates (even the shy ones!) and make sure everyone is on board with the house rules as well as unexpected changes. Things WILL happen that will require you all to work together to maintain a happy living situation, so expect it! By keeping the lines of communication open, you and your roommates can handle just about anything.

The post How to manage multiple roommates (don’t miss the final tip!) appeared first on BRG Apartments Blog.

Not sure where to begin? We’ve got you covered with these three helpful tips!

1. Choose your top priorities before you start looking

It happens all the time—you’ve barely begun your apartment hunt, and you come across a place that you go visit on a whim. Then, you fall in love with it, and it’s available right now—but it really doesn’t fit your lifestyle! To save yourself the frustration of having to give up the “perfect” place to find the smart choice for you, establish your priorities up front, then do research online or via phone to get as many answers as possible, as quickly as possible.

Here are some of the most popular examples of apartment features that may matter to you:

• Monthly cost: This can include not only rent, but utilities, parking fees, and ancillary costs unique to each apartment community. Take a hard look at your budget and make sure you can pay for all apartment costs after you take care of your other life expenses!
• Location & Transportation options: Are you looking for a place near work or school? On a bus line? Near a park? What’s the most important location factor for you? If you have a car, what’s the parking situation like…and if you don’t, is the area bike-friendly or close to public transportation options?
• Size: Whether you’re currently in a studio apartment and looking to upsize, or moving from a house to a smaller space, size absolutely matters. What’s the perfect number of bedrooms for you, your stuff, and your family/roommates?
• Pets: First off, does the apartment allow residents to have pets? How many? And if it’s dog-friendly, is there a place for you to conveniently walk the dog?
• Recreation/Social Life: Is the apartment near great restaurants or a fun downtown area? Or, is it near parks and greenspace? Depending on your unique interests, it pays to do your research!
• Aesthetic appeal: Make no mistake, living in a beautiful home is a fantastic experience. What elements of your ideal apartment and apartment community are most important to you?
• Amenities: Do you want an onsite pool and fitness facility? A permanent staff in a centralized office? Lakes and walking trails? Create your ideal list!

2. Get Organized

Before you call your first apartment community or set up your first drive bys, get prepared. Create an apartment file where you store all the information you’ll collect about your potential new homes—and maybe a checklist or spreadsheet that lists the above categories so you can see which among your potential apartment communities check all the boxes. Then, only arrange in-person visits for the top contenders!

3. Ace your apartment application process

One of the best things you can do to help your apartment search go smoothly is to get all your paperwork in order up front. Especially if you’re in a highly competitive market, make sure you have your references and application items ready to go so that you can submit an application right away to your dream apartment home. Also, plan on carrying your checkbook with you—for apartment communities that require an application and security deposit before they’ll process your application, this can really speed the process along!

That’s it! Now that you’ve done all the heavy lifting of getting your apartment search, it’s time to start calling the communities that most fit your needs. Happy Hunting!

The post Choosing the perfect apartment appeared first on BRG Apartments Blog.