How Much Rent Can You Afford To Pay For An Apartment?

Are you hunting for a new rental apartment, but not sure how much you should be paying? In fact, there are many factors that contribute when deciding how much rent you should be prepared to pay. The first thing is to assess your income and establish a budget. Here are some tips to consider when deciding how much rent you can afford...

Work Out Your Finances

The first thing is to calculate your income. How much do you bring in each year? Take into consideration your salary, dividends, interests, bonuses, and any other means of income in this regard. Most families spend 60% of their monthly income on food, housing, and transportation. On the other hand, financial experts recommend that you spend no more than 28% of your monthly income on housing. But this is only an arbitrary number since each family's situation is different than others. There are many families that spend more than half of their monthly income on housing and still live comfortably within their means.

Many landlords require their tenants to have an annual income of at least 40 times more than their monthly rent. For example, if your pre-tax annual income is $100,000, you should find an apartment for $2,500 a month or less. These are some of the common rules that you should adhere to when hunting for the best apartment in the area. Once you have determined the suitable rental cost for the apartment, the next step is finding the right one.

What Are You Looking For?

Finding the perfect apartment is not easy with hundreds of apartments listed on the market. Before you dive into apartment hunting, you should create a list of the most important features you require. Make sure that you create a list of everything that you want in the apartment. Consider the neighborhood, number of bedrooms, other amenities, and the square footage when hunting for the best apartment in the area. In fact, you should prioritize the list into three key areas - such as must-haves, nice to have, and the dream features that you would like to have.

In some areas, you can easily find apartments by looking at ads or doing a search online. In other areas, hiring a real estate agent is the best way to hunt for the perfect apartment. Real estate agents are skilled and experienced in finding some of the best apartments in the area. In fact, often time they have access to apartments that are not listed on the market. That way you can rent the best apartment available.

Of course, finding a good real estate agent is not necessarily an easy task. There are many factors to look for when hiring the best real estate agent in the area. Make sure to do your research properly when choosing the right agent for the task.

No matter how you go about finding the right apartment, always start with your budget. You must know your ability to pay the rent before any other decisions are made.