2 Important Factors To Consider When Renting Your First Townhome
Whether you are moving out of your parent's home for the first time or leaving your college dormitory, renting your first place can be an exciting accomplishment. Unfortunately, moving into your first place where you will be responsible for rent, utilities, and furnishing can also be overwhelming without proper understanding and preparation. While apartments and even homes will be available to rent, a townhome does offer many benefits. Here are a few things to consider when renting your first townhome.
Location
Location is one of the most important factors to consider when you are looking at any type of real estate. When looking at different townhomes for rent, make sure to focus on the location.
You will most likely need to work, so your ease of commute should be a factor. If possible, opt for a townhome that is within walking or biking distance to your place of employment. If walking or biking is not possible, your new place should at least be within close enough proximity so you can drive to work without an excess amount of time or mileage.
The actual neighborhood should also matter. You do not want to invest a lot of money into transportation costs, so the neighborhood should have grocery and drug stores, dry cleaners, take-out restaurants, and banks. If you spend a large part of your free time out with friends, your townhome should be in an area with many restaurants and places you enjoy frequenting.
Roommate
Splitting the cost of your rent and utilities is a huge benefit to having a roommate. However, there are other reasons why you should consider a roommate when renting a townhome.
Having a roommate means there will be another person in the townhome, which can make you feel safer when you are there. In addition, this other person can make you feel like your townhome is safer when you are NOT there.
A roommate not only will help split up the rent and utility costs, but this person can also help you split up chores. You and your roommate can work together to keep your rental clean and orderly, saving you time and energy for other things you want to do.
Never assume your townhome community permits roommates. Before renting a larger townhome with one or more extra bedrooms, ask the community if the roommate can join you on your lease agreement or they can reside in the townhome with you.