It is quite difficult to rent an apartment in America right away. It is best to have an acquaintance, or to find immigrants who are looking for neighbors on forums or in social networking groups in advance. There are such people in all cities. In a residential complex a good apartment to rent at once most likely will not be possible.
The most common requirements for a person who wants to rent an apartment in the USA are:
- An official job for the last 2 months;
- Salary for a family 3 times higher than the cost of renting an apartment. Correspondingly, if it is one person, his/her salary should be 3 times higher than the cost of rent;
- Good credit history (credit score). Each complex may have its own requirements, but definitely not below average. That is, if the credit score is less than 600, you will most likely be turned down or need to pay several months in advance;
- You must already have a US id and social security number.
They check everything against your social security. It has all the information about previous payments. So if you don’t have that, you have two options: rent with someone else, or find someone to sponsor you and sign papers that if you can’t pay the rent, they will take care of the payment.
What is included in the rent?
- A one-bedroom (they call it a one-bedroom) apartment (meaning it has a hall, kitchen and bedroom). The hall and kitchen are often combined;
- Necessary appliances: washer/dryer, stove, microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator;
- Fully equipped bath and toilet;
- Built-in walk-in closets with shelves for belongings.
On-site facilities most often include:
- Swimming pool;
- Gym;
- Club house, where there are tables, TVs and you can organize a small celebration, if necessary;
- Sports grounds. In different complexes are different. There are tennis courts, volleyball courts, or something else.
If suddenly something breaks at home, it is all fixed at the expense of the complex. You just have to submit a request and the next day a person will come and fix everything. It is very convenient.
You can find a good apartment in Orlando for $800-$900. In the apartment
you pay separately for electricity, water (depending on how much you use), garbage. This comes to $150-$200 per month. When you sign the contract, they take a lot of different additional payments: a deposit, which will be returned at the end of the lease, payment for paperwork. In some complexes it is $50, and in one complex we were told $200. Just for the fact that they will do all the paperwork. If you have a poor credit history, they may require you to pay a couple months in advance.
