Exciting first apartment in the US

Dear NRIGirl! Let me give you some hints on choosing the place to live... Please note these recommendations are for people who are new to the USA.

Always remember the three important things when it comes to choosing where you live: Location, location & location.

First and foremost is the neighborhood safety. You may want to try http://www.city-data.com/ to get a detailed profile of a particular neighborhood by zip code.

If you travel for work, living closer to a train station will help. If you don't have a car, you may look to stay closer to a mall for easy access to various stores. However these are not the only things to look for. Here in the USA, the public school education is free and local tax dollars go to local schools. So the main thing people look for is good schools. You may check out the website http://www.psk12.com/rating/index.php to learn more about a specific school rating.
Here is a website you could access to find an apartment: http://www.apartmentguide.com/. You may list down a few apartments to visit. If you have young children you may want a place with play area, swimming pool, courts etc. You may want to check out their leasing policies, parking policies, hidden fees, etc before choosing your apartment.

Finally you have found your place - your very own first apartment in the US! This brings a huge relief as so long you might have been living in guest houses or with relatives or in hotel rooms or sharing a room with room-mates. But now the whole place belongs to you and your family! This is all yours!!

Lift up the window blinds to see the view from each room, look around to see how you can set up things in each room. Doesn't the kitchen smell great! Don't you love that hardwood floors?, the carpeted bed rooms? Isn't it a great sight to see the kids running around, claiming their spots? Don't you love your husband/wife who did this for you? Isn't your heart full of joy and gratefulness to God Almighty?! I am sure you are all excited and I am happy for you too!

Before the excitement fades off work to make it your home!! Wishing you the best!

Your Friend,
NRIGirl :)