Figuring out the best time to rent an apartment is tough.
If you have the flexibility to make a strategic decision about the time of year to search, choosing the right month could have a large impact on finding the perfect apartment.
Though there will be other factors, the ideal time to rent a new apartment mostly comes down to one question about your priorities: Are you looking for a dream apartment or the best price?
While all of these rental trends can have an impact on the cost of your apartment, there's nothing that's going to work miracles for you here. You're most likely to get a difference of about 5 percent between the peak season and low season.
You're not going to find two-bedroom apartments in Manhattan for $1,000 a month. When apartment hunting, set your expectations of the rental market appropriately.
If your main concern is saving money, you're going to want to look in the winter, especially from November to March. The holiday season leaves a lot of people with little energy or money, so fewer people are looking for a new apartment to rent.
Most people make their big life changes in the summer months (college students moving away from home, etc.), so demand and prices are highest then and lowest in the winter months. You're probably not going to have as much choice of available apartments since most leases are going to end in the summer. However, not wanting a unit to sit empty for months will make most apartment managers willing to take lower rental rates.
While prices are cheaper in the winter months, don't expect miracles. You're unlikely to find a big enough difference to justify making a move like breaking your current lease to move in the winter.
You're also likely to find the landlord is willing to offer you more concessions to get you to sign a longer or shorter lease. For example, the property owners of apartment communities could offer lower rent prices, skip the security deposit or offer a better deal on included utilities.
It's in their best interest for the apartment to come back on the market in the summer season, and they'll take an opportunity to do so if given the chance.
On the flip side, you're going to have the most choice when looking in the summer months, roughly between May and September. This makes sense when you consider that summertime is when kids get out of school, college students graduate and weather conditions turn nice for outdoor activities like moving.
Most people sign 12-month leases in the summer, meaning they also end around that time, so this is when the highest number of new apartments are coming on the market. The downsides are you'll have to act fast and face higher rent — there's a lot more competition with many other renters looking for the perfect place at the same time.
So, you know what month you want to move. Is there a better time in the month to start an apartment search? Absolutely.
Most leases expire at the end of the month and require notice 30 days before leaving. Start looking around that time, and you'll find apartments right as they're going on the market. If you want to move in December, start looking in the last couple of weeks of November.
You can also try looking in the middle of the month. Anything available then has probably been sitting empty for a little while, and landlords are probably scrambling to get someone to rent that unit. If you're willing to move in immediately, it could save you a fair amount of money in rental rates.
If you want to get really specific, the best time to check online listings is between 9 and 10 a.m. Why? That's when property managers are most likely to post new apartment listings for recently vacated rentals. You can strike while the iron is hot!
The trends regarding when to rent an apartment above are generally true, but depending on where you're moving, there are different peak seasons. For example, if you're moving to a college town or city with a significant student population, the best time to look is right after school starts in September, but you might not move into a unit until the end of the school year in early spring.
Whatever you do, timing is everything. There are better times than others to rent an apartment, and finding the right time can help you find your dream home or save a little money.
Just remember that the best time to rent an apartment is different for everyone, depending on what you're looking for and where you're looking for it. Happy hunting!