How to Find Inexpensive Apartments in a City?
Have you just shifted to a new city with no contacts whatsoever, and are looking for a new apartment? Do you have a tight budget, and don’t know where to begin? The following tips will probably come in handy!
Research on areas – Every city has certain posh areas, certain affordable suburbs, and some extremely cheap areas. As a new person, your first step to getting a low-priced apartment should be to ideally research on these areas, and choose the places where you can possibly have an apartment. This will also depend on your workplace/ college etc., for which you have shifted to the city, because you wouldn’t want your daily work destination to be too far away from your home. It is obvious that posh areas will have expensive apartments, while you will be able to get apartments of the same size at much cheaper rates in other areas of the city. So narrow down on such areas, and get clarity on ‘where’ you want to live.
Get in touch with brokers – The next step is to get in touch with brokers or real estate agents, FROM the particular areas that you have shortlisted. It is advisable to not go in for brokers who claim to have properties for sale/rent in the entire city, because truth be told, they usually don’t have them. What they have instead is a big network of local brokers of real estate agents, who do the groundwork by hunting for properties for big brokers. The big brokers then charge a commission that has a certain percentage of profit for each of the local brokers or middlemen involved in the chain of the deal. So you will get your flat from one broker, who would have got the contact from another broker, who would have in turn got in touch with the broker of the actual property owner, and so on. Don’t waste money on this huge chain! Just get in touch with local brokers, who will charge commissions for only their services and nobody else’s.
Condition of the apartment – Do you want a painted and well-furnished apartment, or can you manage the painting and the furnishings on your own? Do you want the apartment in a fancy building with a proper society and facilities of 24 hours power-supply and water supply, or do you just need a house to dump your belongings because you will hardly be staying there? These are some questions that you need to ask yourself, as they will determine the pricing, and will help you narrow down to proper inexpensive apartments.
Therefore, a little bit of planning is all you will need to get a good low-cost apartment.
Read more details about Low-cost Apartments and Income Based Apartments.