As a father, it’s hard to see your child grow up and slowly stop asking for your help. Even if your child doesn’t think they need your help, they could certainly benefit from attaining it. This is especially true when your child approaches adulthood more and more. If your child has recently expressed interest in moving out, there are several ways you can help your young adult find their first apartment. This process also includes providing support in other areas of adulthood to ensure your child is ready to take on the world.
Apartment Searching
Searching for an apartment can be stressful, especially if your child is looking for one further away from home. As a dad, your kid’s safety and livelihood are extremely important to you. Keep this in mind while apartment-hunting but also be open to your child’s ideas. Utilize search filters while looking for apartments, such as location, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, price, and laundry availability. If your child is going to be living with a roommate or two, be sure they are included in this search as well.
Setting up Tours
Help your child schedule appointments for in-person or virtual tours, and accompany your child on tours. Inspect each apartment’s features, appliances, reliability, safety, and size. While you may know that kitchen cabinets can last up to 50 years, your child is likely unaware of important facts like this that are associated with appliances and features within an apartment. Encourage your child to ask landlords and real estate agents plenty of questions, and don’t hesitate to ask questions yourself, too. Being thorough during the apartment-hunting process is important and will help rule out unworthy listings, which will bring your child one step closer to finding the perfect apartment.
Applying for Apartments and Signing the Lease
You can also help your child with the application process. Depending on the real estate agent, housing company, or landlord, this process can either be very simple or very complex. Some will require a background check, a credit check, and a co-signer for the lease, while some will just require your child’s signature on the lease. Be sure the lease is carefully inspected before signing it. If it’s simple, your judgment may be enough. However, if the lease is complicated and uses extensive legal terminology, having a lawyer or other legal professional go over it before signing may be wise.
Making Necessary Purchases
Before moving in, your young adult is going to need to make a list of items they’ll need to purchase for their new apartment. This will likely include kitchenware, furniture, and decorations. Encourage your child to look in flea markets and thrift stores for cheap furniture, decorations, and trinkets that could be useful or serve as decorations in their apartment.
Building Furniture and Decorations
Another option when it comes to decor and simple furniture is building your own. You can certainly help your child create some fun pieces with items you may have laying around in your garage or shed. An old wooden pallet can be turned into a bench, wine bar, or coffee table. Old mason jars can be used as decorative vases. You can build your son or daughter a nightstand or a set of cubbies to display trinkets or store extraneous clothing or shoes. Videos are growing to become one of the most popular ways of consuming content, as YouTube has over 2 billion visitors every month. Utilize online videos to help you build some unique pieces of furniture or decorations for your child.
Moving In
As a parent, the move-in day may be more difficult than you’d think. Watching your child enter adulthood can be emotional. Offer support by helping unpack boxes, arranging furniture, and organizing belongings. You can also lend a hand in decorating their new home.
Adulting Tips and Tricks
Your child is moved in. How can you help from a distance? Provide support and offer advice on some basic “adulting” tasks and issues. When it comes to living with roommates, suggest having a discussion about noise levels, work schedules, and the cleanliness of the apartment. If your young adult works from home, they may be part of the 80% of employees who view the option to work remotely as a job perk. However, this positive thinking can quickly be squashed if your child’s roommates are overwhelmingly loud, dirty, and disrespectful while they’re working.
Aside from having honest adult discussions with roommates, it’s also a good idea to plan ahead when it comes to paying bills, buying groceries, preparing meals, and cleaning the home. Be sure your young adult is organized financially and keeps their roommates in the loop when it comes to paying rent as well as utility and Wi-Fi bills.
When your child moves out, your role as a father is different, but your parenting responsibilities are certainly not over. Your young adult will call with questions and concerns and seek advice from time to time, and your availability to help and provide all of the guidance you can will be essential. Use this guide to help your child find and move into their first apartment.
