The process of finding an apartment in any city can be complicated. Identifying the possible universe of apartments is just the first step. Once you've narrowed down your selections to the 5-10 ideal choices, how can you best compare the finalists?
Apartment Search Template
My answer, of course, is with a spreadsheet. Last time I moved, I created an apartment search template that helped me perform a side-by-side comparison of apartments by a variety of attributes. To me, it made it much easier to choose between the apartments.
Using the Template
The apartment search template allows you to compare up to eight apartments side-by-side. The current information in the template is just for illustrative purposes and does not reflect actual information. If you'd like to use the template, you can simply clear out the existing information in blue text and input data for the apartments you're targeting.
If you find that the side-by-side chart is too overwhelming, you can try to compare the apartments with the bubble chart. The chart, in its current form, compares apartments by monthly rent (x-axis), proximity to work (y-axis), and size of the apartment (size of bubble). In this case, more is not necessarily better and you'd actually probably want to minimize the monthly rent and work commute. As a result, your ideal apartment choices may be in the lower left-hand corner of the chart (lower rent and shorter work commute), while less ideal choices would be in the upper right-hand corner (higher rent and longer work commute).
Getting the Template
For a copy of the template, fill out the form below!
