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Home Deck

Find a place to call

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With your job secured, it's time to find a place of your own - a place to call home. But how will you search and what are you searching for?

​On this page, we discuss different approaches that you might use to find a place to live, either temporarily or permanently. We will also provide resources for things that you might not think about, like getting home or rental insurance or getting a personal loan to pay for the costs of moving.

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ON THIS PAGE:

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  • Explore communities and stay in hotels, motels, or short-term rentals

  • Find an apartment, condo, or house to rent

  • Paying for things

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Our goal is to teach you about what you need to know in order to find the best place to live for you!

Other pages you may be interested in:

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Hotels, motels, & short-term rentals

First things first: moving to a new place is a huge decision. Your move can represent a multi-year commitment to single location, so it is important to find the apartment, condo, home, community, and/or commute that fits your lifestyle, goals, and budget.

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Unless you have a friend in your new city to stay with while you explore new places, hotels, motels, and short-term rentals might be a great way for you to learn about your new city before taking a leap of faith and signing a rental or purchase contract.

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  • By staying in a hotel, you have quality backed by a brand.  Plus, you can earn rewards for free nights in the future:

    • With hotels.com, 10 nights lead to a free stay

    • The major hotel chains in the U.S. each offer loyalty perks:

      • Hilton Honors Points​

      • IHG Rewards Club Points

      • Marriott Bonvoy Points

      • Wyndham Rewards Points

  • Short-term rentals through vrbo or airbnb enable you to stay in a home, possible in the neighborhood that you will rent or purchase a home!

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Rent a house, apartment, or condo

If you are looking for an apartment, you may choose to work with a realtor or conduct your own search.

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Whether you work with a realtor or note, you may want to look at some of the top websites. 

 

Are you looking for a furnished apartment?  If so, you may want to look here:

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If you want to find the perfect place and decorate yourself, check out any of these sites:

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  • Apartments.com has (the last time we checked) over a million rental listings, so there is a good chance you will find an apartment there.

    • ​Apartments.com also owns the following domains: rent.com, apartmentfinder.com, apartmenthomeliving.com, and forrent.com

  • Homes.com​ or Realtor.com are also a great places to search. Both have with an intuitive search process and lots of photos.

  • Rental Beast hosts millions of rental listings, but does not seem to have the same coverage as the above sites. 

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Let's talk about working with a realtor.  What are the pros and cons?

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On the plus side, a real estate agent's job is to understand the market. She or he should understand the differences between neighborhoods, help you understand what is within (or outside of) your budget, and it is their job to represent you in negotiations. On the other hand, realtors will often charge fees for their services.  You can find a real estate agent through a number of sites, including: realtor.com's agent search.​

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If you're planning on purchasing a home, you will need to know the ins and outs of applying for a mortgage. ​Mortgage consultant  Mike Johnson shares his tips for obtaining this special type of loan in a guest blog post. 

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