by Lynn-Nore Chittom

Created on: May 25, 2010

Finding a great, affordable apartment anywhere's on Boston's North Shore can be a tricky, time-consuming process, but following these tips should make the process a little less painful.

The first step in any apartment hunt is to consider what type of place you are looking for.  Do you need a one bedroom, a two bedroom or a three bedroom?  How large does your apartment need to be to fit your furniture?  Do you need a place that is kid friendly or pet friendly? Does it need to be close to the train station or within walking distance of a park?  

If you have children it is extremely important to consider only l ead-free apartments. Due to Lead Laws in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, many landlords are not willing to rent apartments which are not lead free to any families with children under the age of six. And all structures built prior to 1978 could include lead paint. r

With these sorts of consideration in mind, the next step for finding an apartment in Salem, Massachusetts is to either contact a realtor or begin searching in the local newspaper, the Salem Evening News.  If you chose to contact a realtor, most of the hunting will be done on your behalf once you have told the realtor what sort of place you hope to find. Then he or she will begin to schedule times for you to view various properties.  Pursuing an apartment through a realtor can often lead to some very good finds and extremely affordable rates as the realtors are often contacted by landlords before they list their properties in local papers.  Landlords benefit from this arrangement by eliminating or reducing the time the apartment or townhouse sits vacant between occupants.  It is also possible to strike a better bargain with a landlord at this time for the same reason.

If you chose against using a realtor, the best approach for finding a great apartment is to search online at the Salem News classifieds. Listed by town, the Salem News classifieds begins with homes for rent and then goes on to list available apartments.  You can narrow your list by using the search engine on the left of the site and choosing the listing for Salem under the towns bar.  Be sure to check that you are not accidentally looking at dwellings in Salem, New Hampshire. 

If you do not find what you are looking for at your first visit, check back often as the site is frequently updated with new listings.

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