What advice would you give your past self about moving into your first apartment?

28 comments

  3. Nothing really, I was pretty good about having everything I needed or the money saved up for it to get it. Digging deep I guess my advice would be hit the resale shops first for furniture, especially since most people’s first apartments they’ll need a lot of things and buying all brand new stuff is expensive.

  4. Hello past self…. You moron:

    Rent will go up every year…. Saaave!!!! 3 grand to save up for a down-payment on a house (apparently only 3% is needed in today’s modern world in my state) so the mortgage stays the same every month or possibly lowered if refinanced (currently trying to save money now after having lived on my own for 9 years in apartment)

    Neighbors are garbage… You will have to share a wall and they will be inconsiderate cunts… And i do mean untermensch cunts boom boxing in the car, you will be convinced you are at a concert in the parking lot or bang on the walls… Just save for a house dude.

  5. Well, i spent more on a credit card furnishing it than i shouldve to try and impress my now-wife. So. Probably shoulda just lived more poor, since i was, ya know, poor.

  6. Nothing, I loved it and was pretty prepared

    It’d be easier in the current day/age with all online stuff, but using stuff like meetup/local groups and putting myself out there more socially would prob be the biggest thing since I moved to an area I did not know.

  11. Take photos and/or video of the inside of the apartment. Landlords and real estate management companies like to blame you for issues or keep your deposit for issues that you didn’t cause.

  14. Meh, it really wasn’t that big a deal. I wasn’t worried then and never had major problems.

    My big advice is “make sure you have a plunger, an extinguisher and stain remover before you need them then chill out”

  15. Prepare for a wall of renter advice:

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    * You need less space than you think you do. Especially if you’re single.
    * If you can afford it, get a place with washer and dryer hookups. That will pay for itself quickly. And living without it will turn into a massive time sink and cost drain. Laundry these days is about a dollar per wash and a dollar per dry if you’re lucky.
    * Arrange your apartment visits and tours at the end of the day as late as possible. That way it is likely your neighbors are home and you’ll actually get to hear what it sounds like to live there.
    * Before you move in check the availability of internet tiers and services.
    * Try to pick a spot that encourages you to get out and walk to things. This is more important than you’d think and will pay for itself quickly if many of your errands can be done on foot rather than by car.
    * Pay attention to historic weather conditions for the area. Particularly flooding and fire. If the apartment you’re in is in a low ground area that floods out often you’re going to have issues. If your power company offers historic outage records check these too.
    * For minimal noise you want a ground or top floor on a corner or end apartment. Less neighbors equals less sound issues.
    * If you want a home gym in an apartment you need a ground floor apartment. Period. End of story. Otherwise you’re a structural or noise issue for your neighbors.
    * Invest in good headphones and earbuds. Not in speakers. Do not wall mount your TV if you have neighbors. The sound will travel up the studs and be an issue for them. Instead, get a nice TV unit and put it on felt sliders. Then put the TV on this. Less sound transfer.
    * Clean your apartment thoroughly before moving in, then again once you’ve moved in/as you’re moving in. This gives you a nice starting point and establishes how you want the place to feel.
    * Put together an apartment care kit. You’ll need the following:

    1. Batteries for your detectors
    2. Tools: Stud finder, hammer, screw drivers (or a screwdriver that accepts bits and a bit set including hex bits), drain snake, pliers, a few spare fuses (why wait for apartment maintenance when you can swap and have them replace your now burned out one)
    3. Flashlights for the bedroom and room you’re in second most
    4. LED bulbs for any light fixtures that currently have incandescent (this will help your bill)

    * Get low maintenance, shade tolerant plants for your main rooms. These matter for making the space better for you mentally and physically. Snake plant (mother-in-laws-tongue/ sansevieria), Pothos (devil’s ivy) etcetera.
    * Buy what you need first and save to get the best quality you can. The better the quality the longer it lasts and thus you save yourself repeat purchases.
    * Invest in the things you touch first. Your mattress, your office chair (if work from home or you game a lot), your desk. These things matter more than decor or even lighting. You don’t often touch your laps beyond turning them on and off so you don’t need $200 lamps. You do need a chair that actually helps your spine stay in alignment and mitigates the impact of desk work.
    * Buy furniture second hand where possible. Specifically look for second hand office suppliers directed at businesses… they often have GREAT deals on super high end office equipment and if you’re at all capable of being social they’ll sell single items to you. A purchase is a purchase afterall. Even if it’s just a one off and not fitting out an business.
    * Monitor craigslist and facebook marketplace. You can get high end furniture and kitchen equipment here cheap if you’re willing to move fast on things.
    * If you work for a large company, check their benefits page. They often have crazy arrangements with other companies for things you may need.
    * Clean your apartment every weekend. Deep clean one room per month. This keeps how long it takes you to a minimum and keeps your place clean and healthy.
    * If you have windows that get a lot of sunlight that’s great! That’s also hot as it can get in the summer. If you don’t have curtains and your apartment lets you, put up curtains. Thick, heavy ones. In the heat of summer these can be closed to serve as insulation to keep the heat out. In the cold of winter you can close them at night to black out the light, sure, but also… insulation to keep out the cold.
    * Make darn sure the bathroom has good ventilation. Otherwise you’re going to be constantly fighting a mildew smell from that room and especially any towels you leave in there.
    * Ceiling fans have two settings. One for hot weather and one for cold. Learn how to operate these if you have ceiling fans.
    * Get an extending feather brush or the like and clean all your central air vents regularly. Otherwise you may get dust related sniffles.
    * Invest in a good vacuum. It makes a difference.
    * At least once a year, rent a rug doctor and rug doctor every carpet. If you have pets, do this quarterly.
    * Split your high draw electronics across multiple circuits. You can figure out which plugs are attached to which circuits with a five dollar socket tester from a hardware store and just testing each socket and each circuit on your breaker one by one. It’s an apartment. This isn’t going to be a time consuming task.
    * GET RENTER’S INSURANCE. Seriously. It’s often cheap as heck and your apartment is not going to be your friend if something goes wrong. Your insurance will cover your ass for things like alternative lodging and then they’ll fight the company that owns your complex. Your building managers, nice as they may be, likely work for an real estate investment company and they’re not going to pay a dime they aren’t forced to. Some insurances will cover your car if it’s on the grounds of the complex.
    * You’re never getting your security deposit back. Period. They’ll find some reason to keep part of it. Plan around this.
    * If you have to move within a region, check if the parent company running your apartment has other apartment complexes where you need to go. If you’re a good tenant who pays on time and has no complaints, they’ll often fast track you into the new place and just transfer your lease. Including your security deposit. This seriously cuts on fees and expenses for moving. Start this process with the managers of the building you’re in. Not the one you want to move to.

  16. Don’t get roommates. Live on your own if you can.

    Reason being. Roommates suck. Especially if they’re all dudes. No one ever cleans and the place ends up a pig sty. I hated having roommates, once I lived on my own, years later, I loved it. No cleaning other peoples shit cause they’re too fucking lazy and gross. Didn’t have to share space with anyone. It was wonderful.

  18. You won’t need nearly as much stuff as you think you will. A lot of the junk you carry around could disappear and you’d never notice it’s gone.

  21. Find a place with central air. The wall unit in the living room won’t do shit at the height of summer, and you won’t be able to sleep in a stifling bedroom.

  22. Make sure the problems are fixed before you sign the leese. Landlords will not fix anything.

  24. “Look, I’m not going to tell you to stop vaping because that’s something you’re going to have to figure out and come to on your own, but I will say don’t vape in your apartment. When you move out you’ll realize that all that vapor stuck to everything and a thin layer of dust stuck to that and you’re going to have a ton of cleaning to do when you move out.”

  26. Location is most important. Find the nicest neighborhood.

    When I lived in Philly, that was key. Most of that city is pretty sketchy.

    Doorman is also important. Make friends. And TIP your doorman whenever you can.

  27. * Read the fine prints of the lease
    * Invest in a telephone shower head
    * Label your food (lived with 2 other guys at the time)
    * Keep tabs on how much money goes around for shared expenses

  28. This didn’t happen all that long ago for me, but still.

    I would tell my past self that the water old water heaters have a habit of leaking from the hot water vent – don’t know the English word, it’s the part where you can turn on or off the flow of hot water exiting the water heater, I think. – and that you need to check it every now and then, as it is your job now that you have your own apartment that has its own water heater unit.

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