At AptAmigo, our goal is to help you find the best apartment for you. But, when you see five places in a single day, they can start to blur together. So, how do you keep it all straight and find the perfect place to live? An apartment touring checklist created by our rental experts will help you prepare and stay organized. After helping thousands of people move, we identified a few key practices that keep our clients organized and added them to this checklist.
Once you’ve found the perfect apartment, read our Ultimate Moving Checklist to help with your big move.
AptAmigo’s Official Apartment Touring Checklist
Stress is inevitable. Plan ahead and make it easier on yourself.
Leave your car at home (if you can). Taking Lyfts and Ubers between apartments will save you from the stress of finding parking in a big city, getting stuck in traffic, and navigating a new place. Plus, instead of driving, you’ll be able to review notes from the previous buildings.
Don’t get hangry. Leave room in your schedule for lunch. Trust us, making important decisions while hangry is never a good idea. You should also pack snacks in case the day runs a tad longer than expected.
Bring someone with you so that you can bounce ideas off of them and talk through all of your options. Choosing an apartment can feel like an overwhelming decision. Bring your friend, mom, roommate, or AptAmigo agent.
WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES. You will walk a lot, you will take stairs, and you will feel sad in heels. Don’t give yourself blisters and sore feet, moving is stressful enough.
Bring a tote bag. You’ll collect a lot of papers, notes, and floor plans from each building. Bring a bag and stay organized during this busy day.
Know what you want, and what to look for.
Know what you want and don’t want. Make a list of things you want, as well as things you disliked about previous apartments. Compare each building to this list as you go.
Bring a checklist. Use the questions below at each apartment building to record your thoughts. Add any additional questions or concerns that you want to consider at each tour as well. Whether you use print copies or digital files, remember to prepare a separate sheet for each apartment tour.
Bring a tape measure, and know the dimensions of your furniture. That way you can see if your favorite couch will fit in the living space. It will also help you visualize what the apartment would look like once you move in.
Take videos and notes. Lots and lots of notes.
Take videos, or at least pictures. Videos will give you a better feel for the space, plus you can talk to your future self about specific features that you like and dislike. Pictures offer a good alternative or supplement to the videos. Either way, you will want those visual reminders of what each place looks like later on as you compare the options.
Take lots of notes, like, more than you think you should. Empty units look similar, and they will start to blur together quickly. Or, even better: bring someone with you to take notes (like an AptAmigo agent), so you can focus on the apartment you’re seeing. Those separate checklists for each building that we recommended above come in handy here.
Know what questions to ask.
Use your list of wants and dislikes to customize the list of questions you bring to each tour, but the following questions will give you a great foundation to work with:
Is it pet-friendly? If you have a furry little one, don’t forget to ask about each building’s pet policies, about breed restrictions, and whether or not they require pet rent and an extra pet deposit.
Is parking included? If you own a vehicle, you’ll want to check whether they have parking available and how much parking costs per month.
Are utilities included? It’s important to verify which utilities each building will cover because that affects your monthly budget.
Will the apartment be cleaned before move-in? What repairs or painting will they do? Check whether or not the apartment will be cleaned before move-in. If a unit requires any repairs or painting, inquire about a timeline for those updates so that you feel confident the building will get the space move-in ready by the deadline.
What are the current rent specials? A lot of buildings offer “concessions,” especially during lease-up periods. They might waive application and move-in fees or give you free rent for the first month, but unless you ask, it might not come up during your conversations.
Is there a freight elevator, and do you need to reserve it? Moving requires lots of heavy lifting, so you should ask if the building provides access to a freight elevator, especially at high-rises, and whether you’ll need to reserve it.
Decision paralysis happens. Learn how to prevent it.
Try to see all of the apartments in one day. Scheduling all of your tours, 3 or 4 total, in one day lets you accurately compare each building while still fresh in your mind. When you see one or two buildings a day over the course of a few days, you run the risk of creating biases and forgetting important details.
Use the notes you took on your handy apartment touring checklist for each building to compare the same features across them.
Only compare two buildings at a time so that you don’t get decision paralysis by trying to compare them all at once at the end of the long day. When you see building #2, compare it to the first building and pick a favorite. Then, compare the favorite building to building #3 and so on.
For more tips on how to choose an apartment after your tours, see our article on How to Make a Final Decision.
Be ready to commit!
As soon as you pick your favorite place, apply ASAP. No unit will stay on the market for more than a few days, so don’t start looking until you’re ready to sign. Fill out the application the same day as your tour to improve your chances of securing your first choice. To give you an idea of how to time it, initiate your apartment search 10 weeks out from your move-in date, and set up tours somewhere between 8-4 weeks before your move.
Be strategic with your lease start date. Although unfeasible when moving from out of state, if you plan to move across town or a short drive away, overlap your leases by a week to space out the stressful move-out/move-in process.
Learn how to apply for and get approved for an apartment.
Now, Put This Apartment Touring Checklist to Good Use
We consulted our team of agents, who tour thousands of apartments a year, to create this list. It will give you an excellent starting point to work from as you prepare for your tours. But, if you have further questions, need assistance, or you’re just tired of apartment hunting, reach out to the AptAmigo team. We’re here to make your move a breeze.
Up Next: Do I Need Renters Insurance for My Apartment?
* The original version of this article was first published on March 26, 2021.
