Whether you’re a recent college grad or just starting college, moving into your first apartment can be daunting. Check out these great moving tips from our friends at MyFirstApartment.com.

1. How to Research a Neighborhood
   Neighborhoods are important, but choosing the best one has a lot to do with your personality and finances, and it’s hard to truly know until you move whether you’ve made the right choice. Growing to love a city takes nine months to a year, so as long as you make a decent neighborhood choice, you’ll be okay, and you can always adjust later, if you’re planning to stay long-term.That said, some research is definitely in order. If the new city is within a few hours’ drive of where you currently live, going there is best. Also, if you have friends who already live there, you can ask their advice and/or hang out with them when you visit the city. That’s a great start.

If you’re worried about crime, most cities’ police departments have statistics on their website, and if you do even cursory research, it’s unlikely that you’d wind up in a truly dangerous neighborhood, particularly if you’re wary of renting red flags (see below).

Online research of neighborhoods can also be helpful. Start by checking out all the local magazine and newspaper websites. They often do an annual review of the various neighborhoods, including rent levels and all kinds of other useful information. However, aside from the very biggest of cities (like New York City, where we have a listing of good sites), there’s often not all that much evocative reporting on each neighborhood’s atmospherics. For that you have to simply go and see for yourself.

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