What Should a New College Graduate Look for in a First Apartment?

Learn what recent graduates should prioritize in a first apartment, including neighborhood, social life, commute, management, amenities and total cost.

For a recent graduate choosing a first apartment, Grant puts the most weight on the management company, the property's social environment and resident events, useful amenities, the neighborhood, and how new the building is. Amenities matter partly because they create repeated opportunities to see and meet other residents—not simply because they look impressive on a tour. The most consistently useful amenities are the fitness center and coworking/work areas. By contrast, traditional resident lounges and even rooftop or “sky” lounges often look great but may get surprisingly little everyday use.

Grant would put these near the top of the list:

1. Management company — A beautiful property can become frustrating quickly if it is poorly managed. HomeBase wants to understand who operates the building and how well the property is run.
2. Events and social environment — For a recent graduate rebuilding a social network after college, a property that actually creates opportunities for residents to interact can be much more valuable than one that simply has attractive common spaces.
3. Amenities that create interaction — Amenities matter because they give residents places to repeatedly see each other. A social apartment community needs social spaces that people genuinely use.
4. Neighborhood and area of town — The building should be in an area where the renter enjoys spending time. Location affects work, social life, restaurants, fitness, friends, and almost every part of daily life.
5. How new the building is — Grant gives meaningful weight to newer construction. Newer buildings can offer more current interiors, amenities, systems, and overall apartment experience.

Grant does not judge an amenity only by whether the renter personally plans to use it every day.

A strong amenity can have a second purpose: it puts residents around one another.

A good gym, active pool, coworking area, or resident event creates repeated casual contact. That is especially valuable for someone who just left college and moved to a new city without an established group of friends.

HomeBase therefore looks for amenities that function as part of the property's social ecosystem rather than simply filling space on the leasing brochure.

The gym or fitness center is one of the amenities Grant sees residents use consistently.

It has obvious practical value, but it can also become one of the property's most naturally social places because residents return to it repeatedly throughout the week.

A great fitness center is therefore worth considerably more than an amenity that looks impressive but sits empty.

Grant also sees coworking rooms, business centers, and work-from-home spaces getting substantial real-world use.

For young professionals—especially employees with hybrid schedules—these spaces can function as a true extension of the apartment.

They provide somewhere to take a call, work outside the unit, or simply change environments without leaving the property.

Among modern apartment amenities, Grant considers a good work center one of the most useful.

One amenity Grant thinks receives far more attention than its actual use deserves is the traditional resident lounge.

Apartment communities often devote significant space and design effort to them, yet Grant says he very rarely sees many residents actually using them during normal daily life.

There are exceptions—such as residents gathering on weekends to watch football or for a special event—but in Grant's experience, the typical resident lounge is often quieter than the leasing presentation suggests.

Grant sees a similar pattern with the increasingly common sky lounge: a top-floor lounge designed around views, entertaining, or small gatherings.

Even mid-rise properties may now include them.

They can look fantastic on a tour, but Grant rarely sees them heavily used in everyday life. They are a nice bonus, but he would not allow a dramatic sky lounge to outweigh stronger fundamentals such as the management company, neighborhood, social environment, useful amenities, and the quality of the building itself.

When comparing apartments, do not rank amenities by which photographs best.

Start with the management company, social environment, resident events, neighborhood, and building quality/newness. Then ask which amenities residents actually use.

Grant gives the strongest practical value to fitness centers and coworking/work areas, along with other shared spaces that genuinely bring residents together.

Resident lounges and sky lounges can be attractive extras, but Grant would never choose an apartment primarily because of them. The best first apartment is one where the building, location, management, and social environment all work together to make everyday life better.

When Grant tours an apartment community, he is often watching the people running the property before he studies the apartment itself. He looks at how the staff treats residents, whether they are responsive and friendly, whether residents seem comfortable approaching them, and whether the building and amenities are clean and well maintained. For the exact unit, Grant pays particular attention to what the apartment faces. He generally avoids highway-facing units, is cautious about units facing nearby bars or late-night activity, and prefers more private inward-facing locations for ground-floor renters who want an extra layer of privacy and security.

One of the first things Grant watches is the onsite team.

He pays attention to whether staff members are:

• Kind and respectful to residents and visitors
• Prompt and responsive
• Friendly when residents approach them
• Familiar enough with residents that people naturally stop to say hello
• Carrying themselves as though they genuinely care about the community

Grant especially likes seeing residents casually approach staff members, exchange greetings, and appear comfortable asking for help. To him, that is a strong signal that his clients are more likely to be taken care of after move-in—not just during the leasing process.

Grant also pays close attention to cleanliness and upkeep.

Amenities do not have to be brand-new, but they should look clean, cared for, and well maintained. He notices whether common areas are tidy, whether trash or cans are left around, and whether the overall property looks like the management team takes pride in it.

A beautiful brochure cannot make up for neglected common areas.

Grant specifically looks for a strong coworking or work-from-home area.

For recent graduates and hybrid employees, a good coworking space can be one of the most useful amenities in the building. It gives residents somewhere comfortable to work during the day without being confined to their apartment and can also create another natural place to see neighbors repeatedly.

Grant believes the direction and surroundings of the exact apartment can matter enormously.

He generally does not like units facing a highway. Beyond the noise and constant traffic exposure, Grant simply prefers locating clients away from that environment when a better-facing unit is available.

His practical rule is straightforward: if two comparable units exist and one faces the highway while the other does not, he will normally favor the quieter alternative.

A restaurant or bar next door can be a lifestyle advantage—but the exact unit should still be considered carefully.

Grant is cautious about bedrooms or balconies directly facing a busy bar, particularly one that operates late at night. What seems energetic during a daytime apartment tour can become disruptive when patrons are leaving around midnight or 1 a.m.

If another unit in the same building faces away from the nightlife, Grant will often prefer it.

For clients who want additional privacy or security, Grant is cautious about street-facing first-floor apartments.

That does not mean every ground-floor apartment is a problem. Grant is much more comfortable with a first-floor unit that faces an interior courtyard or another protected part of the property rather than directly facing a public street or sidewalk.

The important distinction is not simply first floor versus upper floor. It is what is immediately outside the windows and patio.

A renter can love the neighborhood and love the building while still choosing the wrong individual apartment.

After HomeBase is comfortable with the property, Grant wants the renter to evaluate the actual unit as a separate decision: its surroundings, privacy, noise exposure, condition, view, and convenience inside the building.

When you tour, spend less time being impressed by the model apartment and more time observing how the property actually operates.

Watch the staff. Watch how residents interact with them. Look at cleanliness and maintenance. Check the coworking and useful amenities. Then evaluate exactly what your unit faces.

Grant would generally choose a well-run, clean property with friendly staff and a quieter, more private unit over a more dramatic apartment that faces a highway, late-night bar activity, or an exposed ground-floor street location.

For a recent graduate moving to a new city alone, HomeBase looks for a building that makes repeated social interaction easy. The strongest signs are visible resident-event notices, people actually talking in hallways and using the amenities, and a leasing team that can point to a real, active event calendar. Grant considers weekly resident events an especially strong signal. He also prefers properties with common entrances, shared elevators, and concentrated amenities because residents naturally see each other more often. For that reason, Grant generally believes high-rises are better for meeting people than large, spread-out mid-rises.

Grant likes seeing event notices throughout the building during the tour.

That tells him the property is not merely saying it has a social culture; management is actively creating reasons for residents to get together.

A monthly event is common. A property offering weekly resident events gets Grant's attention because it creates far more chances for newcomers to make connections.

Grant believes frequent programming does more than entertain residents.

The more often people are brought together, the more likely they are to recognize each other, talk, form friendships, and develop a sense of connection to the building.

That social cohesion can also make residents happier with where they live and more likely to stay.

For a recent graduate arriving without an established social network, that is a meaningful advantage.

One of the best clues is simply to observe the building.

Are residents talking in the hallways? Are people using the gym, pool, coworking spaces, or other amenities? Do neighbors appear to know one another?

Grant sees those real-time interactions as a much stronger indicator than an empty amenity room that happens to look beautiful.

Grant also directly asks the leasing staff how often they hold events and what the schedule looks like.

A confident leasing agent who can describe a steady calendar of resident activities gives HomeBase another clue that social programming is a genuine part of the property rather than a marketing talking point.

Building design matters too.

Grant likes properties where residents naturally share:

• Main entrances
• Elevators
• Lobbies
• Amenity areas
• Fitness centers
• Package or common areas

The more often residents cross paths, the greater the chance that strangers eventually become familiar faces and then friends.

Grant is much less enthusiastic about large mid-rise properties when they are spread across a broad footprint with numerous entrances, exits, elevators, and separate wings.

A renter may live in a large community with hundreds of residents yet repeatedly encounter only the handful of people who use the same hallway, garage entrance, or elevator.

In Grant's view, that dilutes the social opportunity.

High-rises concentrate residents vertically and usually funnel more people through the same elevators, lobby, entrances, gym, pool, and amenity areas.

That repeated exposure makes them especially attractive for someone whose goal is to meet people after moving to a new city.

This does not mean every high-rise is social or every mid-rise is antisocial. HomeBase still evaluates the actual management, events, resident activity, and building design. But as a general rule, Grant gives the social advantage to high-rises over large, spread-out mid-rises.

If you do not know anyone in your new city, look for more than an attractive apartment.

Look for visible event notices, residents actually interacting, amenities people genuinely use, a real event calendar, and a building design that causes people to cross paths repeatedly.

A weekly event schedule is an especially strong sign for Grant.

And when social life is a major priority, Grant generally prefers a high-rise with common entrances and concentrated amenities over a sprawling mid-rise with many separate entrances, elevators, and wings.

The best social building does not guarantee friendships—but it makes the opportunities to create them happen far more often.

Grant's simplest rule is this: choose a building in an area where it will be easy to make friends—and choose a building that helps those friendships happen naturally. For a recent graduate starting over in a new city, social life is not a minor extra. It is one of the biggest factors in whether the relocation actually feels successful. When two apartments are otherwise close, Grant's tiebreaker is social life first, management second, and neighborhood third. A newer building and a good price are positives, but neither should win the decision by itself.

Before signing the first lease, Grant wants a recent graduate to ask a very human question:

Is this an area where I can realistically build a great group of friends?

The apartment should put the renter around people with compatible lifestyles and make it easy to participate in the social life of the neighborhood.

For someone leaving college and entering a new professional city, that can matter just as much as countertops, square footage, or a rent special.

Grant does not want a new graduate to assume that friendships must come entirely from work, clubs, apps, or outside activities.

One of the easiest places to start meeting people can be right where you live.

A social apartment community gives residents repeated chances to see the same people in elevators, the gym, coworking areas, pool spaces, resident events, entrances, and other shared areas. Those repeated encounters can turn neighbors into familiar faces and eventually into friends.

That is why Grant wants the building itself to actively support the renter's social life.

When two apartments are both strong choices, Grant's final ranking is:

1. Social life
2. Management
3. Neighborhood

These factors often overlap.

A great neighborhood tends to attract people who want to be active and connected. Strong management can reinforce that by creating events, maintaining attractive common spaces, and giving residents reasons to interact.

But if Grant has to choose one final tiebreaker, social life wins.

Management is Grant's number-two factor because the management team can dramatically influence whether a property actually feels like a community.

A strong team can create frequent resident events, keep shared spaces clean and inviting, respond well to residents, and encourage the kind of atmosphere where people enjoy staying in the building instead of simply sleeping there.

In other words, management is not separate from social life. It can be one of the biggest reasons a building becomes social in the first place.

Grant likes newer buildings.

They often attract new residents at the same time, which can create an energetic environment where more people are looking to meet others and establish new routines.

But newness alone should not determine the lease.

A brand-new building with weak management or little social activity can be a worse choice than a slightly older property with an excellent community.

A good price is absolutely valuable.

But Grant does not believe the cheapest apartment automatically represents the best value for a recent graduate.

If a modest difference in rent buys a substantially better social environment, management team, or neighborhood—and the renter can reasonably afford it—that can be money well spent.

The goal is not to ignore price. It is to avoid allowing price to outweigh the quality of everyday life.

Grant's first-apartment formula is simple:

Pick the area where you can build friendships. Then choose the building that makes those friendships easiest to form.

If two apartments are close, rank them:

Social life first → management second → neighborhood third.

Use newness and price as supporting factors, not the deciding factors.

Your first apartment after college is more than the place where you sleep. It can become one of the foundations of your new life, so choose the place most likely to help you build one.