Sooner or later everyone who cant afford to buy has to rent an Apartment. Unless one just chooses to live with parents or relatives forever. Apartment Hunting is a numbers game. So the more Apartments & rooms for rent you look at, the better the chances of finding the perfect apartment - for the rent you wanna pay AND the number of bedrooms you need. Rentals are always negotiable so don't be afraid to ASK the property manager for exactly what you want. Now lets get into the factors to consider when renting an apartment anywhere:
Figure out WHERE you want to live. Its important when Apartment Hunting to Rent a place that is convenient for where you work and hang out most. Lots of Apartment Locators are great at narrowing down apartments a perfect distance from your work. Apartment locator companies can narrow down complexes close to your school, work, relatives, etc. There is a such thing as the perfect neighborhood.
Figure out how long you'd like to live at that apartment. If you're in school renting an apartment you're likely to want to live there a shorter time than if you're out of school and working.
How much do you want to spend on Rent every month? Make sure your Rent is not too high so that if some emergency arises you can still cover it. There are great deals everywhere for apartments so don't settle for the first apartment or rental you find. Look around or use an apartment locator service like Rent.com or ApartmentGuide.com. There are literally Thousands of free Apartment Locator Services - some around this very page.
How much space do you need? You want to be comfortable wherever you are renting. So if you have the budget for a studio or 1 bedroom don't rent a 2-3 bedroom luxury apartment. Stay within your budget and get the amount of bedrooms and bathrooms that you can afford. There are several things to consider once you take a look at the place so if you've never rented before, be sure to take someone with you who knows about Apartment Hunting like a parent or a good friend / potential roommate.