How to Finance Your First Apartment

Are you ready to rent your first apartment? If so, you need to make sure that all of your finances are in order and that you are able to afford all of the expenses associated with renting before making the move to rent your first apartment. If you are looking into renting an apartment in Penang, property-listing sites like PropertyGuruMalaysia can start you off on the right path in your search.

When you carefully plan your finances, you are able to enjoy your rental and city life to the fullest. Read this list of tips and tricks before you even look for a place to rent.

Make a List of Potential Apartment Expenses 
According to FrugalConfessions,before you move forward with finding an apartment to rent, you need to make a list of move-in fees and regular monthly expenses to ensure that you have enough in savings to rent. You should expect to pay a lot upfront, according to the Apartment Guide. Grab a pencil and paper and make a list with the following items:

Application and Lease Signing Fees

There are several associated fees with signing a lease, aside from simply paying the first month’s rent. You will probably have to account for the following expenses:

●    Security or Damage Deposit: Your landlord will charge a security deposit to ensure that they are able to cover any damage to the property. You will receive this deposit back when you move out, provided there are no damages.

●     First and Last Month’s Rent: Your landlord will often charge first month’s rent when you sign the lease to make sure that you can afford the rent before you move in. Some landlords will also charge last month’s rent in case you eventually fail to pay rent.

●    Background Check: Most landlords will request a fee for a background check. This will cover any checks of credit history as well as calling references to make sure you really have a job and salary to cover rent.

●   Application Fee: An application fee might also be charged, simply to cover the work of reading through your application, regardless of whether you are accepted or not.

Regularly Monthly Costs

In addition to rent, you will also have a number of monthly costs, including:

●   Pet Deposit and Rent: If you own a pet or two, you will likely need to put down a deposit for each pet, as well as pay monthly rent per pet.

●    Parking or Garage Deposit and Fees: If you own a car and need a place to park, your landlord will likely charge you monthly parking fees as well as a garage deposit.

●     Renter’s Insurance: Paying for monthly renter’s insurance covers you in emergency situations, like fires.

●   Utilities: While some landlords include utilities in the monthly rent, you will probably need to pay extra for utilities like electricity, telephone, heating, air conditioning, gas, water and garbage removal.

Don’t forget any other fees associated with moving into your apartment, including hiring movers and buying furniture and decor for your new home.

Include Unexpected Fees in Your Budget

While it might seem like you have exhausted the list of potential expenses, there are always unexpected fees that pop up. For example, some utility companies require an introductory deposit. Additionally, some apartment buildings have extra processing and moving fees, like key deposits. Ask ahead of time about any additional fees and make sure to include them in your budget.

If your friends are helping you move in, don’t forget to reward them. This means putting gas in their cars and feeding everyone pizza after the move. Even if you are hiring movers, you should make sure to have packing tape, permanent markers, boxes and water for the movers as well. Include all of these moving costs in your budget.

Determine Your Monthly Cost of Living

Once you have determined the costs associated with renting and moving into your apartment, you should budget in any other monthly expenses you have, like paying off credit card debt or student loans. If you pay any of these debts or your rent late, your credit score will suffer, so make sure that you make enough income to pay for these monthly expenses. You should also make sure that you have an emergency fund saved up, in case anything unexpected, like an emergency room visit, pops up.

Seek Emotional Support from Family and Friends

Once you have determined your monthly costs, make sure that you have emotional support from your family and friends to move forward with this huge step of renting your own apartment. If you find that you need roommates to move in with you to help you cover the monthly costs, reach out to friends and find prospective roommates.

Determine Your Other Living Expenses

In addition to those monthly student loan debt and rental expenses, you need to take into consideration other living expenses, like transportation -- parking, car insurance, car repairs, vehicle registration, parking fees and cab fare. Consider biking to work to save money if possible! Also, take into account other expenses, like food, clothing and entertainment. Make sure not to overspend on the clothing and entertainment categories. While these things are fun, you don’t want to spend too much on them each month that you go into credit card debt or negatively affect your credit score.

Enjoy Your New Apartment

Once you have done the financial planning and determined what you can afford in terms of an apartment rental, it is time to go out and find that apartment! Consider hiring a rental agent, but only if you can afford it. You may need to be creative with your finances and take on either freelance work or a second part-time or full-time job to make renting an apartment work. But once you have determined how to make renting an apartment work for you financially, relax with your friends and enjoy your new apartment. You’ve earned it!