How to find the best place to live in a new city

Moving to a new city can be difficult. One of the biggest questions most people face is "where am I going to live?" Avoiding bad neighborhoods can be trickier than expected, and even though lots of tools on the web can help you find listings of apartments and houses for rent (or sale), it is not always easy finding the right fit. Here are some things you can do to make your search easier.

Get an agent

Real-estate agents can be a life savers when it comes to moving to an unfamiliar area. It is their job to know the neighborhoods and the market. Generally, if you are looking for a place to rent, the money will not come out of your pocket. Instead, the agent will collect half of the first month's rent from the landlord. Most agents have a specialty: they either work on finding rentals or buying/selling. If you know the agent personally or through a referral, an agent who specializes in sales may make an exception in your case in the hope of you buying a house later.

One reason not to use a real-estate agent would be because you are looking for a more informal place to rent. Generally, real-estate agents don't deal with places where you'd have a roommate, or where the landlady doesn't wish to use an agent of her own. These types of living situations are generally advertised on Craigslist, but will not be found in the MLS (the listing system real-estate agents use).

Rent vs buy: rent first

While it may seem counter-intuitive if you know that this is the place where you want to stay for a while, you should rent for about a year first. In a lot of places (though not all of them) renting is going to be cheaper. Also, you are not going to be locked in for the next 15-30 years. Renting first lets you scope out the different areas of your new city and figure out where you'd like to stay long term. Most people find that they end up changing their minds about exactly where they want to live long-term after becoming more familiar with the neighborhood.

Keep out of bad neighborhoods

Nobody wants to live in high crime or high noise areas. Make sure to visit the neighborhood both on weekdays and weekends, mornings and evenings. While Google Street View provides a great tool for looking at what the neighborhood might look like, the images for it are generally taken during the day. You should also check the reported crime stats on a site like CrimeReports.com.

Most of all, make sure you can see yourself living in the place you end up renting for longer than you plan. Things change, and you might end up staying an extra year, etc.