Moving can be a really stressful task, specially the first time and, like most people, you don't seem to know where to start with activities you are not familiar with. Luckily, the "big secret" for searching out apartments that meet your expectations, is actually having a solid plan. It doesn't have to be complicated so, I guarantee you a good moving experience if you follow these 5 simple tips for finding your ideal apartment in New York.

5 Tips to follow if looking for your ideal apartment in New York

Consider the essentials first

This should be your main task before even thinking about apartment hunting, since having a solid budget will grant you picking the apartment you want without having to spend money you don't have. Look for neighborhoods with affordable rents. To help you getting good options without too much looking you should have already in mind how big of a space you will need. Apartments in NY tend to be small, but if you want something above the average the cost may singnificantly rise.

Last but not least, you need to be sure all your documents are in perfect order. Imagine finding the ideal apartment and then lose it just because you weren't prepared. Since NY has high demand on apartments, specially during Spring and Summer seasons, that kind of disaster is very possible so, keep those 2 years of pay stubs, a landlord letter and your 2 last months of bank statements ready (these are just some of the papers you will need so, be sure to have every single one in order) in case you get lucky and need to close the deal.

Hunt for apartments like a Pro

If you go on the hunt for your ideal apartment you should optimize time and effort. To do that, it's highly recommended to use an apartment seach tool to find apartments in NY, so you get more and better options since going on foot by yourself will take time and, most likely, will cover only 3 or 4 options a day, remember this is a huge city, while you can examine tens of apartments for rent just by doing few clicks. It's not a secret that for most comercial areas we can simply go on the internet, type it and find basically whatever we are looking for, and since getting a place of your own is a very important labor, the more you cover, the better.

Have your apartment style in mind

Moving successfully to a city like New York is all of an achievement but, if you do, the best way to do it is getting exactly what you wanted in the first place to make your stay comfortable from the very begining, so having an idea of the style you are looking for is crucial. While doing your searching, make sure you carefully look at all the pictures for the candidate apartments in terms of structure and architecture (post-modern, Art Deco, Deconstructivsm, etc) that way you will invest your time getting your dreams apartment.

I also recommend checking if the place you idealize offers you a pet-friendly building, in case you already have or consider having one after moving, how old and functional the elevators are, specially if you find a high floor apartment, if it has enough natural light, which is very important so you don't feel like living inside a box, the list can go on. The important thing is to feel comfortable with all the elements your new apartment has to offer.

Prepare little "expeditions" to know your potential new neighborhood

Once your apartment finding ends you should consider to prepare 2 or 3 trips as recognition mission just to know how is the new neighborhood, how safe it is, how close is it to conventional stores, subway stations, etc. You could, also, make few questions around your new building to get some feedback from neighbours and people that frequents the area. It may look like a little too much, but since you are just trying to know a completely new area for you, getting as much information as you can won't hurt you.

Have as many boxes as you can

So you finally found your perfect apartment, you already have all your documents in perfect order, the price is on point but, you don't have boxes to start packing. At this point Murphy's law comes in action, you go out to get a few boxes in stores but they are out of it, so panic begins. Just to prevent you a headache, make sure you have as many boxes as possible. Start gathering a few every day once your apartment hunting starts to have enough whenever the searching ends, it doesn't matter if some are too big and others too small, you will find a use for every single one.

There are plenty of websites that offer the ultimate tips and tricks for moving out, so try checking as much as you can, just in case.