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What to do if you can’t find an apartment you like

Jul 20, 2018
What to do if you can’t find an apartment you like |

Key Takeaways

Widen Your Search: Expand your search area beyond your preferred location to increase your chances of finding a suitable apartment.
Critically Assess Your Requirements: Reevaluate your must-haves and nice-to-haves to ensure they are realistic and flexible.
Be Flexible: Stay open to different possibilities and consider viewing apartments you might have initially dismissed.
Think Outside the Box: Focus on the overall floor space and potential of the property rather than just the number of bedrooms.
Manage Expectations: Keep your dreams realistic by researching within your budget and being persistent.
Verify Information Independently: Take your own measurements and photos during viewings and explore the neighborhood yourself to get a true feel of the place.
Sometimes hunting for a flat or apartment can be frustrating. You can picture exactly what you want in your head. Often you think you find it when you look online, only to be left disappointed in the flesh. But it doesn’t have to be this way. With so many apartments in London and such a variety of locations and areas to choose from, you will find the one of your dreams eventually - or at least get very close. Here’s what you should be doing when it seems to be getting tough.

1. Widen your search

If you have your heart set on one specific area, you’re always going to limit your chances of finding exactly what you want. While the location might be an important part of your dream criteria, it shouldn’t be everything. London is vast with unique pockets spread right across the city. Get out and experience a few more of them, build up your list of favourite areas and get hunting again.
 

2. Become your biggest critic

It’s not time to start being hard on yourself. But it’s the time to start looking critically at your list of requirements. You’ll no doubt have your must-haves and your nice-to-haves, but can you trim either?
Being too insistent on factors that your new apartment simply must have, will again make it much more difficult to achieve. Take an honest look at your budget vs. your requirements and ask yourself how realistic you’re truly being. You’ll know what to change when you go through this process.
 

3. Be more flexible

Don’t discount anything. Take a chance and go on that viewing you refused a while ago; and when you do go, be more open to new possibilities. It’s very difficult to know exactly what your dream apartment really is before you set foot in it. Take your time, look for unexpected things and don’t be too critical. A little flexibility can go a long way.
 

4. Think outside the box

How about looking at the floor space of the property, rather than simply the number of bedrooms? If you’re buying a flat, once you move in you’re free to make changes (although not structural) and use the space as you see fit. One big space could end up being closer to your dreams than a prescribed number of bedrooms.
 

5. Stop dreaming too big

If you’re spending your days dreaming of a penthouse overlooking huge green open spaces, you might not be helping yourself. Spend your time researching within your budget, look at the possibilities in different areas and be tenacious when something that could be it comes up.
 

6. Don’t always rely on what you’re given

When seeing properties, you’ll always go off the information given by the estate agent or seller, but you don’t always have to rely exclusively on this.
 
Take pictures on your first viewing and mull over them in your own time, take your own measurements on second viewing, and get out and experience the neighbourhood for yourself. Living in your dream apartment is all about how it feels to you. You need to give yourself the best chance to catch that feeling.
 

7. Don’t get desperate

There are so many different apartments and flats in London, there will be one that caters to your needs and ticks most of those “dream” requirements. You must always be realistic when it comes to your list of must haves and nice-to-haves, but don’t move somewhere you really don’t like just because it’s available. You want to be happy in the long run. Most of all, be patient and calm. You will find your dream apartment.
 

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