Undoubtedly, if most of us had the choice, our commute would be no longer than from the bed to the refrigerator and then to a desk in the sitting room to start our work day. For many, this isn’t an option. But what’s the next best thing? We’ll tell you: finding a home as close to your place of work as you can!
We spend a lot of our lives working, but there’s no reason why we should spend extra time on a bus or ferry or walking a long distance to get from where we live to where we work too! Finding a home in close proximity to your workplace isn’t as challenging as it might seem. We’ve got all the best tips to help you minimize that daily commute and find a gorgeous place to live close to work.
Create your perimeter
Before you begin your search for a new home — be it a freestanding house, duplex, or apartment in a block — you need to figure out what “close to work” means for you. Do you want to be able to walk there in 10 minutes? Is a half-hour bus ride something that seems practical for you in your daily life?
Once you’ve figured out your definition of close to work, you can create a “perimeter”: this would be the maximum distance around your place of work that you’d look for a home. Think of it as a mental circle on a map that separates the area you should look in from the area that’s just too far away from work to be practical. Let’s say your job is in West Hollywood in LA. You could set your location to be in West Hollywood and search “rooms for rent near me” in your browser. A search like that will only display results in the immediate area, which will prevent you from slogging through a huge number of options, half of which probably aren’t even suitable.
We love the term “work smarter, not harder”, especially when it comes to house searching. Setting a Google alert — or an alert on any other browser that offers them — is a great way to take the hard work out of looking for a new place to live. All you need to do is set the search parameters that you’ll have after figuring out what areas will be suitable for you to live in.
You can plug several search criteria into the browser to help refine the results of the notifications you get. Be as specific as you can to get exactly what you need from the alert. Try something like “rooms for rent in West Hollywood”. If you want to factor in a price point, include that information in your search so that you only get results that fall into your budget.
Use every resource you can
There’s often a lot of demand for housing in areas with a lot of offices or industries, so competition can be fierce. You must access every resource you can to give yourself a leg up in your hunt for the perfectly located home. Look at property and room rental sites that advertise online and visit property agents in person at their offices, too.
This often leaves a greater impression and makes you more memorable to the agents whose job it is to fill rental properties. Some of these sites offer settings similar to Google alerts, so use any and all of the services you can find. Ask around: word of mouth is an excellent way to find a new home. A friend may know someone who is moving out or know someone who is looking to rent out a room or their second, unoccupied property.
Be persistent
It can take some time for the perfect place to become available. Finding a home that is right for you is a marathon, not a sprint, so prepare yourself to wait a while to find something that fits perfectly. Be persistent in checking all the resources you can access, and be prepared to check out a few frogs before you find the proverbial prince or princess. The right home in the perfect location is out there: you just have to persist in looking until you find it!
Know what to look out for
This goes hand in hand with our previous point. When house hunting or looking for a room to rent, you need to be smart and understand what qualities you are looking for and what might be a red flag. Be conscious of the neighborhood that the property is in and whether or not it looks safe. Ask questions about the neighbors: do they have kids who play loudly, or are they young people who might throw late-night parties?
This might affect your quality of life, so take careful note. Does the house come furnished? Does it have access to a laundry room? Is there an alarm system or a doorman? Apart from physical things like this, you need to look out for what’s on your lease agreement. Note whether or not you are responsible for fixing basic things around the house, whether your deposit will need to be increased year after year etc.
Wrap up
If you keep all of these tips in mind when you search for the perfect home close to work, you’ll be able to find exactly what you need. Remember to be patient and smart about how you look. Before you know it, you’ll be moving into your new home!
