Renting an Apartment? Find out its Noise Level First!

Apartment renters will tell you that one of the things that they find hard to adjust to is the noise. Even if your loud neighbor is friendly enough that you can ask them to lower their radio (or voice), it won’t be long until he goes again, or some other Godforsaken noise does. When people can’t take it anymore, their usual solution is to just move out of the apartment.

If you’re actively searching for a new apartment for rent because noise forced you to move out of the last one, make sure that you don’t have the same experience with the new rental. Naturally you’d be foolish to think that a completely silent apartment exists, but you can find some with at least bearable noise levels. These tips will help you find the most ideal apartment (in terms of noise level, that is).

·         Find out if places like supermarkets, airports and railways are close to the apartment building; these places make noise all day, and no requests on your part will change that.

·         Don’t go searching for apartments only during the day; people would be at work or in school at these hours, so you won’t find out much about noise. View apartments during the evening, when people have come home for the day, to find out how noisy the building gets, especially the units you share walls with and are directly above and below you.

·         Inquire about the sound dampening capabilities of the walls that you have in common with neighbors. Find out if the windows are sealed and thick to keep traffic noise from seeping in, and if the door has a solid core (a hollow one will allow more noise to pass through).

·         If you find that the inside of the apartment building itself is noisy, particularly common areas like stairs and elevators, ask the landlord for an available unit far from these areas.

·         Knock on neighboring units and ask their opinion about the level of noise they experience day in and day out. While doing this, sneakily inquire as to the present residents of nearby units, such as any who have children, who work graveyard shifts and may be awake at night when you’re in bed, and who has a rock band that likes to practice everyday.

When viewing apartments for rent, make sure that you don’t just look at the unit; you can discover how peaceful or noisy a place and its surroundings can be if you listen, too.