More Americans Are Looking For Apartments
 

CHICAGO, IL - According to Apartments.com, more Americans are searching for apartments in 2010 than they have in previous years. Despite ongoing challenges facing the rental industry, Apartments.com and its sister website ApartmentHomeLiving.com marked the first half of the year with record growth. More telephone and email leads were generated during the second quarter of 2010 than any other quarter in the 12-year history of the company. Compared to the first half of 2009, Apartments.com has increased the number of renter email and telephone leads to its apartment community advertisers by 19 percent. In addition to the growing number of renters contacting the leasing office, Apartments.com family of websites have also seen a 14 percent uptick in traffic versus this same time last year.

       "The significant level of renter activity on our site throughout the first half of the year is a positive indicator of what's to come," said Kevin Doyle, senior vice president and general manager of Apartments.com. "Based on the growing number of renters engaging with the apartment communities on our site during these first few months of peak rental season, it's clear they are in need of an apartment and ready to rent. As we approach the height of peak rental season, it's important for apartment communities to be online and in front of renters where they are searching."

       In addition to searching online, it is apparent renters want easy access to listings on the go as Apartments.com has also seen record growth within its mobile sector. Compared to the first half of 2009, visits to Apartments.com via mobile devices increased 117 percent in 2010, and the number of consumers accessing apartment community information through text messages has increase by 250 percent. Apartments.com is also improving the mobile search experience by being the first Internet Listing Service to provide renters with convenient access to the "Check Availability" feature, allowing renters to view available apartments that they can reserve from the palm of their hand.

       While it is not certain that this year-over-year trend will continue, the data suggests consumers are in the market for a new apartment. This is further supported by national survey data fielded in December 2009 by Apartments.com, which revealed renters are planning to move earlier in the year. The survey reported a 15 percent increase in the number of renters saying they plan to move during the first half of 2010 over the same period in 2009, which is evidenced by the renter activity Apartments.com is currently experiencing on its website.


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How to Find a Good Roommate

       The best way to avoid apartment roommate conflicts is to pick the right roommate in the first place. It can be tempting to select a roommate on the basis of how friendly they are, but you're better off judging them on the basis of day-to-day living compatibility.  Below are some guidelines to follow when you are trying to find a roommate for your apartment.

1.    Decide whether you want to share a bedroom and bathroom in your apartment or not.

Don't share a bedroom unless you have to; the potential conflicts are multiplied with a shared bedroom and consequent loss of privacy.
Sharing a bathroom in an apartment is usually easier with a same-sex roommate.

2.    Locate a potential roommate (by craigslist.org, local newspaper ad, by asking your friends for a referral, etc).
3.    Once you have found a potential roommate for your apartment, meet with them, preferably at a coffee house or similar public place, and compare their living preferences and daily habits to yours.  Below are some interview questions to ask of potential apartment roommates:

Are they early risers or night owls? Light sleeper or good sleeper?
What is their typical work or school schedule? (Will it conflict with yours?)
What do they need to feel secure (locking the apartment windows, doors, etc)?
What temperature do they think is comfortable?
Are they neat or "relaxed?? Get clarification as this means different things to different people (and no one admits to being a slob).
What are their favorite/least favorite chores in an apartment? How to do they like to divide up household work (chore list, just do it when they feel like it, etc.).
When should the roommate worry if they are not back to the apartment at a certain time? Do you wait until morning to make phone calls or do you send for a search team if they're 15 minutes late from work or school?
Are they extra-sensitive to fragrances and/or odors? This may affect what you choose as cleaning products and you may have to hide your running shoes after going to the gym.
Are they allergic to anything? (Examples: peanuts, perfume, milk, flowers, mold, smoke).
Do they enjoy talking or do they prefer to be quiet all the time? Do they talk about feelings or keep to themselves?
Do they enjoy decorating, or do they not care about decorating the apartment? What decorating style do they have?
What kind of music do they listen to and, more importantly, do they particularly enjoy listening to it when it's loud?
How much TV do they watch? What do they watch?
Do they like to share some items like pots and dishes or do they prefer to have separate everything in the apartment?
How often do they invite friends and romantic interests over? (Are you comfortable with the crowd they hang out with?)

4.    Find out what your potential roommate expects to get out of their roommate (you!), and see how their expectations compare with yours. Some people want a roommate just as a way to cut the apartment rental cost, with minimal interaction; some want people they can hang out with. Make sure expectations match. Be honest about your difficult qualities when answering your potential roomie's questions about you.
5.    Look out for signs of whether the person is honest and safe. If you get any uneasy feelings, politely say that you don't think they would be compatible with you and end the interview.

Tips to Remember When You Are Choosing a Roommate for Your Apartment:

You are more likely to find the perfect roommate for your apartment if you advertise and let applicants come to you (versus responding to an ad yourself for a vacant room).
Don't give out personal information to potential apartment roommates before you have met them. It's safest to meet in a public place first, not at your home, and show them your home only after you have talked to them long enough to get a sense of their character.
 

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For Those Who May Need a Moving Checklist…

        Tonti Management offers apartments for rent in Jefferson, Metairie, Kenner, and River Ridge, Louisiana.  We offer studio, one, two, and three bedroom apartments as well as some townhome floorplans in many different square footages and price ranges.  Please visit our Apartments Page or our Corporate Apartments page to find the perfect apartment for you.  If you can’t find the exact apartment that you are looking for, please Contact Us at 504-889-6800, toll-free at 1-800-315-3365, or info@tonti.net.

       Now that you have found the perfect website to rent a new apartment in the Greater New Orleans area, all you have to do is move in, right?  Sometimes it’s not as easy as it seems.  Some renters dread moving and some people who rent are old pro’s.  No matter in which category you fit, below are some tips for moving that will help the experienced and the amateurs in moving into a new apartment by Tonti Management. 

45 Days in Advance

Find a new school for the kids
Find a new daycare for the kids
Find a new babysitter for the kids
Start gathering moving supplies
Inventory your belongings
Change your address with the USPS
Make sure your children's vaccinations are up to date
Find a new vet and pet hospital (if applicable)
Go to current doctor and vet for check-ups and get medical records for family and pets transferred to new doctors' offices
Find new doctors for the family
Locate the nearest emergency centers and their numbers

30 Days in Advance

Request auto shipping estimates, if required
Order electricity service
Order natural gas service
Order home phone service
Order high-speed Internet service
Order TV service
Put in your 30 day notice, if required
Take donation items to designated organizations
Schedule charities to pick up donated items
Have a garage sale (if necessary)
Obtain copy of school, medical, vet, legal, and various other records
Notify subscription & prescription suppliers of address change
Get your car serviced
Organize closet & attic items for moving
Pack knickknacks and other non-essential items
Make a "Moving with Kids" kit
Rent a moving truck
Hire movers
Schedule professional cleaners
Book flights or hotels if your move requires it

2 Weeks in Advance

Make sure all home services and utilities have been ordered or transferred
Schedule babysitter and pet sitter for moving day (if applicable)
Update your driver's license & car registration
Schedule final walkthrough with landlord, if required
Pack all but essentials
Map the nearest grocery store and hardware store to your new home
Get any medications for family and pets
Get storage quotes
Book friends to help you move

The Week of Your Move

Last minute errands
Withdraw emergency moving money
Load your moving truck
Pack your plants
Plan or order meals for move day
Conduct final walkthrough
Pack essentials   
 

After Your Have Moved In

Unpack
Ensure your address has been updated
Sign up for renters insurance

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How to Keep the Apartment Spring Clean Year Round

Take solace in the fact a neat house is easier to keep clean

       If you've successfully begun – or better yet – completed your spring cleaning for your apartment…then congratulations, you're in the minority. If you can see the floor of your rented place, if you've actually thrown items away and/or given them to your local charity, and you have indeed achieved "the illusion of clean," you've accomplished quite a feat. Most of us dream of spring cleaning but never do it. Why upset the "order" of things? After all, that might look messy to everyone else, but there's a method to your madness. If you were to rearrange your possessions in your apartment, you'd never find anything again. Think of the time you'd waste just trying to find things afterward.

        Sooner or later, you've got to clean up the clutter where you rent, and you'll feel better for it. But how do you keep it clean after you've finished the job? The fact that your apartment becomes messy so soon after cleaning only provides the allowance to never really clean everything thoroughly. Do you have to lock your family or roommates out? Crack the whip? What does it take to keep your apartment in order for longer than 10 minutes?

        Getting from messy to neat is the hard part, maintenance of your apartment is a bit easier.  Whether the apartment you are renting has 3 bedrooms or you are living in a studio apartment, keeping things clean and organized in your space can change the way you view your life. 

Create Set Spaces for Your Clutter:
       We're really talking about a few lifestyle alterations here. If you come home each day after work and toss your keys, your briefcase and your coat on the sofa, you've started a precedent that your roommates will follow. Your kids will dump their backpacks on the sofa, your spouse will drop his or her coat and bag there, and the dog will park himself on top of the mountain. You've got to remind the kids or roommates and the spouse that each time they arrive home, they're to bypass the sofa and head to the hall closet or their bedroom closets. You could purchase a coat tree if you want your belongings on display at all times. Your chances of getting your family to cooperate with your requests are probably greater with a coat tree, which is closer to the door than the sofa in your apartment, anyway. The point is that you've got to create an easy drop-off spot for your clutter.

Organize Your Mail:
        We're all "spammed" with paper junk mail, especially in your apartment mailbox. If you can throw it away before you even enter your apartment, that's best. If not, head immediately to the garbage can upon your arrival. Too many of us let those paper sales pitches collect in haphazard piles throughout the house -- on the kitchen table, kitchen counters, coffee tables or side tables, even the floor. A week's worth of junk mail represents a tree; a month's worth, a forest.

Recycle Your Newspapers:
        If you're being an environmentally conscious renter, and you're making an effort to save your daily newspapers, purchase a similar large-size container that the city uses to recycle newspapers at your local grocery store or hardware store. Place it in a utility closet or other out-of-sight place, and establish a family rule that at the end of each day, all newspapers are to be placed in the bin, finished or not finished.

         If you can avoid excessive amounts of magazine subscriptions, do it. Those "12 issues for $12" offers are tempting, yes, but in case you hadn't noticed, your local public library has a periodical room that contains a wide assortment of magazines from this month. You can literally spend hours in that room perusing the latest titles and saving yourself money and clutter in the process.

Other Tips for Maintaining Order and Sanity in Your Apartment:
        Designate one kitchen drawer as your "junk" drawer. This drawer is the place to deposit odd items like stray rubber bands, twist ties, paper clips and even coupons. Parents may want to give each of their children a "junk" drawer in their respective bedrooms. It gives them some freedom within parameters.

       Purchase clothes hampers for your kids or ask your roommates to keep a laundry basket to keep clothes from accumulating around the apartment. Keep bags and purses out of sight by hanging them on hooks placed on the inside of closet doors.

Use common sense and think consolidation, and you will notice how much better your apartment will feel when it is constantly cleaned and maintained.

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How to Understand and Use Rental Classified Advertisements

      So many decisions have to be made about renting your apartment.  In your own mind, you know in what type of apartment you are interested - "I want a 2 bedroom apartment with 1 full bath and 1 bath with just a sink and toilet.  It has to have a patio and be on the second floor.  I want a place with a pool..."and these are just the basics. 

      Imagine your surprise when you start looking at ads for renting an apartment and find out that the ads you are reading look like "Greek" to you.  Before you launch a search for the perfect place to rent, you will need to understand the terms in classified rental ads.  Below are some pointers which will help you in this process.

Number 1: Know that common abbreviations in classified rental ads include WIC (walk-in closet), F/P (fireplace), W/D (washer-dryer) and EIK (eat-in kitchen).

Number 2: Know that common terms in classified rental ads include walk-up (a multistory building without an elevator), studio (a combination living room and bedroom) and cozy (a descriptive term that usually means small, rather than snug).

Number 3: Know the definitions of rental leasing terms in classified ads, such as month-to-month lease, lease-option or lease-purchase.

Number 4: Determine the specific features that you desire in a rental unit - such as pool facilities, washer-dryer hookups or a month-to-month lease - and take note of the classified ads that mention such features.

Number 5: Check the classified rental ads for the date of availability, amount of security deposit, and application procedures.

Number 6: After reviewing the classified rental ad, compile a list of unanswered questions to ask the owner of the rental property.

Contact Tonti Management by phone at 504-889-6800 or toll-free at 1-800-315-3365 and ask pertinent questions about features not mentioned in classified ads before you make appointments to tour properties.  If you would like to reach a certain apartment rental office directly, visit our Apartments page, choose the apartment in which you are interested in renting and contact that office directly.  If the choices of apartments in the Greater New Orleans area are too overwhelming, feel free to contact our corporate office, and an agent will personally walk you through the process of choosing a Tonti Apartment.

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