How To Rent An Apartment In New Orleans: 5 Winning Steps

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Keisha Smith is a Contributing Writer who attended college at Southern University A&M College in Baton Rouge. She is currently writing a book on south Louisiana culture.

Here’s How To Rent An Apartment In New Orleans

If you want to rent an apartment in New Orleans and don’t know where to start, here are the steps:

The average rent in New Orleans, Louisiana is $1,401, according to a RentCafe report. But price is not the only thing you should consider when you begin shopping for a place to rent.

First thing you need to do before you rent an apartment in New Orleans is find one that fits your needs. To do that, you can use a number of online services to help find a place:

If you don’t already know the specific areas of town like Uptown, the Garden District or Elysian Fields. Join NextDoor or Facebook Groups to get a feel for the areas that you want to live in.

Midtown New Orleans apartments have gone up 6% over the past year, according to the report mentioned above. The average square footage for a place? 893 feet.

Once you make a list of New Orleans apartments you want to check out from one of the services above, you can begin to make appointments to visit.

You’ll want to pay special attention to the amenities that each apartment offers. You may put a big emphasis on on-site laundry facilities, a pool, a courtyard, lounge and other things.

1. Get Your Finances Together

Before you begin to schedule visits, you need to have your financials in order. Landlords don’t just let you move in, you’ll need a credit check. The idea behind this is that you have to show income stability.

Get a free credit report at annualcreditreport.com, the only authorized website for free credit reports from the three major credit bureaus Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

When you get the credit reports, go over them with a finetooth comb to make sure they’re accurate.

If you see a discrepancy on your credit report, here’s how to dispute it:

Not only will you need to have your first and last month’s rent in your account (as we’ll get into), but you’ll need to have more money on hand for some incidentals.

Landlords and property managers now look at your total monthly housing cost, not just base rent.Do the math:

Rent + utilities + renter’s insurance + parking + pet fees + internet should be no more than 30–35% of your gross monthly income.
Average U.S. rent for a 1-bedroom in major cities (Dec 2025): $1,750–$2,100 (Zillow Rental Index).
Many landlords now require your gross income to be 3× the rent (some 3.5× in hot markets like Austin, Miami, or Denver).

Pro tip: Get a free “rental résumé” from services like Rhino or TheGuarantors if your income is slightly below the threshold — they act as co-signers for a small fee.

2. Check Your Credit (Early)

Pull your free credit report (annualcreditreport.com) and freeze it if your score is below 650 — many big management companies use automated denials.
Most landlords now use online screening tools (TransUnion SmartMove, Experian Connect, or Avail).
Fix errors now; it can take 30–60 days to update.

New in 2025–2026: Some states (California, New York, Colorado, Illinois) cap application fees at $20–$35 and require landlords to accept reusable screening reports. Use services like Rental Kharma or Self to turn on-time rent payments into credit boosts.

3. Visit The Apartment

When you visit the apartment, make sure you the age of the building and style is to your liking. Feel the walls so that you can gauge whether they’re thin and well built.

Look out for loud neighbors and other things that may affect your ability to have a good night’s rest.

If you like what you see, make an offer.

4. Negotiate Your Rent

You don’t have to accept what the landlord offers. See if you can negotiate. If you sign a two-year lease rather than one year, you may be able to get a better deal. You won’t know what’s capable until you ask.

If the leasing agent can’t make any concessions, see if you can get the hookup on parking or a one-month discount in lieu of a move-in special.

5. Sign The Lease Contract

When you sign the lease, you may need to have a list of references. These should be people you’ve contacted ahead of time who will have only good things to say about you.

Their input will be what decides your worthiness.

Before you sign your lease, you need to know what to expect as far as charges and fees. Here are some of the charges you may be asked to pay:

Rental application fee
Security deposit
Last month’s rent
Move-in fee or finders fee

Depending on where you rent your place and your specific circumstances, you may also be asked to pay a pet fee or even parking space fee.

Once you pay what you owe, your landlord or leasing agent will hand over the keys to your new apartment. Remember to keep it down and always be considerate of your neighbors.

What if you have bad credit?

How To Rent An Apartment With Bad Credit

The first thing you need to do is look for apartments that don’t do credit checks on potential tenants.

You’re also going to want to entice the landlord by offering to pay more upfront or even every month.

So, to recap, if you have bad credit, the way to rent an apartment is:

Find apartments with no credit checks
Offer to pay more upfront
Negotiate for other amenities you want

You might also want to offer to fix small things so that you build up a good relationship with the landlord. This can be very valuable when it’s time to renew your lease, if you choose to do so.

Final Word

Renting an apartment takes some time and effort on your part, but it can be done. Look at the bright side: Once you get a comfortable and safe place, you will never regret it.

New Orleans is one of those cities that you can get lost in once you take the time to explore it. As the former capital of Louisiana, New Orleans is one of the most eclectic and eccentric cities in the world.

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Keisha Smith

Keisha Smith is a Contributing Writer who attended college at Southern University A&M College in Baton Rouge. She is currently writing a book on south Louisiana culture.