Freelancing is a fantastic lifestyle to adopt if you’re looking to free yourself from the constraints of regular employment. However, it’s important to remember that freelancing does come with a few challenges that you need to figure out. One of the biggest problems you might face is actually finding someplace to stay.
Whether you’re moving for a career or just want to find a new city to call home while freelancing, you’re going to face a couple of difficulties when buying or even renting. In particular, it’s important to be able to show that you have sufficient income in order to purchase or rent a place. So in this post, we’re going to give you a bit of advice on how to find an apartment as a freelancer, but also how to prepare your documents and data to make applying for one a breeze.
Gather up your documents
The very first thing to do is gather up your documents. This can be anything from your tax returns to financial records or even client contracts. The more prepared you are with these documents, the smoother the process will be. We’d suggest compiling at least a year’s worth of financial documents as a starting point. This can include everything from pay stubs to invoices and even your PayPal records if you don’t use traditional banking to accept payments. We also recommend getting a record of your tax returns to prove you are self-employed, and also to show that you are making enough money to afford to pay rent.
In some cases, showing client contracts can also be a good idea to show that you are earning a stable income. This can help convince landlords better than irregular payment dates. It shows stability which is always a positive when attempting to rent apartments or even get a mortgage later in the future. Savings account information can also be helpful since it shows that you have enough money in reserve to pay for things like rent and utilities.
In short, it’s all about proving your income and showing that you make enough money to pay for the rent that the landlord is asking for.
What do you really need as a freelancer?
One of the benefits of being a freelancer is that you’re able to work from almost anywhere. This means that you don’t need to tie yourself down somewhere for benefits such as easy transportation links to work. However, these things can actually help a lot, especially if you’re able to pick and choose where you want to live.
For instance, if you work as a freelance writer and you love to get work done in coffee shops, then renting an apartment in a walkable city with lots of cafés and other temporary office spaces can be a great idea. Similarly, choosing to rent an apartment that has a high concentration of your ideal client profile can be helpful for growing your business. In other words, be pickier about where you want to find an apartment because the local amenities can actually be beneficial.