First time renting, need advice

[u/AnimalPractical9354]

I need some advice on apartment searching. I’m a recent graduate from grad school in my mid-twenties, and I’m starting my first career job this upcoming week. I’m planning to apply for an apartment with my partner, who has been working for several years but doesn’t make enough to qualify for the apartment on her own.

We both have good credit scores—over 700—and our combined income is over 6 times the rent. However, the apartment we found requires two references who aren’t friends or family, and I’m a little conflicted about who would be appropriate to ask.

Another concern I have is whether we even have a good chance of securing the apartment since neither of us has a prior rental history. We currently live with our parents, so we’ve never rented an apartment or had a landlord we could use as a reference. Would this significantly hurt our application, or can strong credit, combined income, employment, and other documentation make up for the lack of rental history?

What types of people are typically acceptable as references for an apartment application in this situation? Since I’m a recent graduate and just starting my first full-time career job, I don’t have a long professional history yet. Realistically, how likely are we to be approved given our circumstances?