What things should be taken into account when moving across the country to a new city? There may also be some "first time renter" questions here, since I've never rented an apartment in the US before and Tanzania is a very different rental environment.
I figure there must be conventional wisdom on this, since people have to move for work all the time, but I've found less information than I expected. This is a hypothetical question for now, but I expect to be in this situation eventually and I'd like to be better prepared. Basically, I'm looking for information on how best to do apartment research and on keeping down costs of the move itself. Assume I don't have any friends or family living in the city, as I likely won't.
Research starts online, obviously, and I've found plenty of information about the relative worth of different sites. I'm less certain about how to do the footwork to verify properties in person. Do people just operate out of a hotel until they can sign a lease and move in? I'm more concerned about budgeting time than money and not sure how long I should plan for in this regard.
So in conclusion, this is a pretty open-ended question. Answers to my questions or suggestions for things I'm overlooking are all welcome.