Finding a place one month in advance or not? (apartment, lease)

[atlanticview]

Hi, this is a question about about process, not about which area to live in. I'm starting a job in July (somewhat flexible). I have two options:

1) fly out at the end of may/beginning of june for two weeks to look for a place where the lease starts July 1

2) show up at the beginning of july, and take two weeks to look for a place before starting a job, so maybe a place where the lease starts July 15 or August 1

What do people think is better? In both cases I'll have two weeks to look, but the advantage of choice #1 is that I'll have an address to ship all my belongings too; otherwise I'll have to have friends ship my stuff via UPS after I have a place.

[LynnePatrice]

I would go for option 1. If you want to start your job July 1st, wouldn't it be better to get settled in before that? Give yourself a week or so to get used to things. Also, I think summer is harder to find a place, to the earlier you start looking the better I think.

[atlanticview]

The start date is flexible, so I could make it a little bit later (or earlier) to align better with lease start dates.

I think I wasn't clear: I have a trip planned for the last two weeks of June, so that's why I can't stay there the whole month.

[spodekmodek]

The most important thing to reconcile is whether you are ok with paying for a place a little early. I would come in to town early June and sign a lease for June 15th to July 1rst, since most landlords, if the place is vacant, want you to take a lease from between 2 and 4 weeks away.

[Cida]

Unless you have money to burn, it's far better to look as early as possible. It can be a lot harder than you think to find a place if you're on any kind of budget.

[atlanticview]

I guess my question is will there be more or less places available on the 1st or the 15th? How many weeks should I budget? Is it likely that if I get there on the 6th or the 7th to have found a place by the 15th?

[Carbro]

Assuming the tenant vacates on the last or next-to-last day of the month, it depends on how long it takes the landlord to clean the space up, make necessary repairs and paint, hopefully in that order.

Dontcha hate it when they paint first?

If I were in your shoes, I'd start looking ASAP. That way, at least you can expand your options, get an idea of what you can get for your money,and if you fall in love with a place, grab it. Otherwise, you may feel pressured to rent a less desirable apartment because time is running and your job flexibility is evaporating.

[atlanticview]

Yeah, I've decided to maybe push back my start date a week or so, and give myself 3 weeks to find a place instead of 2.

Thanks!