I have a decent amount of money saved up, and I think I might be able to get away with making a break for outside my parents basement and my yeehaw hometown. I figure that I’m not going to get any younger now’s my chance to make some experiences in my 20s and do a hell of a lot of catching up.
For opsec reasons, I won’t say where I hope to move to but it’s going to be a HCOL area. Yeah, seems dumb but worth it if it means being surrounded by like-minded people and people who wouldn’t want me dead. As I’m going about this process I have a bunch of questions to help bring this goal into reality and help me stay successful in starting my life in earnest.
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What are some things to look out for when looking for an apartment?
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What are some important things that are rarely mentioned in “first apartment lists” to help with quality of life?
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How do I find roommates? While I would probably be my happiest in a studio, I think there’s an advantage to roommates in both housing costs and holding me accountable to not being a total slob.
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How do I build a support system literally from the ground up? Or would I be in a more advantageous place if I looked at places where I had at least a friend or family member near the city? How do I make friends, and n*twork (I hate that term) to help with job prospects?
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What can I do to better help myself get noticed for the better by employers? The reason I am in this mess in the first place of wasting most of my 20s is both depression and the fact employers ignore me. The job market is saturated and I still want to do this anways. Are there some skills I can learn and if so, how do I prove it?
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What are some HCOL survival tips? Yeah, I get it, I’m going from zero to one hundred here but I’m hoping to rely more on public transit so cars aren’t an issue, but what else can I do? I will gladly be broke in a place with actual things to do.
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Are there any pointers I haven’t touched up on that you think might be helpful?
Thank you so much, this is a bit nerve wracking but I think I’ll feel better by hearing very human responses from people of varying age groups.
EDIT: Yeah, the “move out with no job lined up” was dumb and I should have known better. Changed to a better question.
If you can do it without roommates, do that. I don't care if it's a sibling or your best friend. They will fuck you over somehow.
Landlords aren't good about fixing things so having a few tools goes a long way.
Think about getting a place near public transportation in case something happens to your personal transportation
Getting a place without a job is a tough one. They're going to want proof of income
A lot of places don't have laundry machines. That can be a pain because going to the Laundromat is crazy expensive. If the place has shared laundry, you're better off sitting right there while you are doing your clothes. People will do rude shit like open your dryer and not restart it or they will just straight up take your wet clothes out and use your machine without setting you up for getting your laundry finished.
There is normally next to zero recourse for if you have a problem with your landlord or another tenant. You can take them to court, but some states are very landlord friendly and will chuck you out on your ass for no reason. Even if you win the case, don't expect them to renew your lease.
They will always find a way to keep your security deposit.
It's illegal (at least here) to ask for first and last months rent and a security deposit, but if you call them out on it they just won't rent to you.
Renters insurance is pretty cheap. It's worth looking into.
Try to get a top floor apartment because if not, the people upstairs will be crazy loud walking around all the time.
Landlords like to pretend they are cool and reasonable, but the second it suits them, they will default to "I own it, so I can show your apartment to whoever I want". In my experience they are supposed to give you 24 hours notice before coming over/in but they never do it. If you raise a stink about it, refer to the "they will just not renew your lease for being a pain in their ass" thing.
Not trying to be a downer, but they hold all the cards and landlords are terrible by design. You might get lucky though
Good luck! And that's not sarcasm