The coronavirus pandemic has affected the lives of millions of people all over the country. Stay-at-home orders, curfews, and social distancing protocols are in place. It might make you feel like you have to put your apartment-hunting plans on hold for the moment. However, if you are in a tight spot and need to relocate to a better place, you can visit apartments virtually.
You can still browse through and select the best Galveston apartments from the comfort of your living room. With the help of convenient and inexpensive technological hacks and the following pro tips, you will be able to conduct an extremely fruitful apartment search on your own.
1. Use online tools while you are apartment hunting.
There are many cool websites and mobile apps that you can use to explore apartment listings in all the areas of Galveston that you would like to stay in. These tools will help you search for apartments with specific features that you are looking for – such as a gym, laundry, etc. You can also modify the search parameters to find apartments that fall within your budget. As photos can get retooled and edited to hide flaws, you should insist on a video tour of the apartment. Property managers are indeed conducting elaborate virtual tours in these troubled times, and a video tour can be beneficial. If your apartment listing does not already have a video tour option, ask your landlord to provide one.
2. Do most of your work online.
It will help if you communicate with your prospective landlord via email, telephone, and video chat. It is always better to talk to the property manager in person, and you can do so with the help of video chat apps. If you find an apartment that you like, call or email the landlord and set up a telephone meeting or a video call meeting where you can hash out the details. A quick and easy phone call can let you know if your landlord is a respected or shady character. Since you will be conducting a transaction sight-unseen, it is best to avoid landlords of questionable backgrounds. Make sure you discuss pertinent topics such as sanitization and maintenance.
3. Request your landlord/property manager for references
Since your landlord will conduct a background and credit check on you before you sign the lease, you should do your homework. Request your property manager/landlord for some of the current tenants’ contact information so you can get their honest opinion. While you correspond with them, make sure to prepare a list of pertinent questions that you need to answer beforehand. Some critical items you will need to include are the maintenance level of the property, how responsive the property management is to requests, how the local nightlife/traffic/noise is, what the parking arrangements are, etc. By doing this, you can figure out what your life will be like living in this new apartment.
Things to keep in mind
One thing you should remember while hunting for apartments in Galveston is that the moving process is going to take time. It might also turn out to be a little chaotic. That is why you should plan everything out beforehand so that you can deal with any hiccups that you encounter along the way.