Educate Yourself about Renting an Apartment!

This guide is to help you when you are renting an apartment. A lot of this stuff may seem self-explanatory but you'd be surprised what you don't already know. Also, feel free to print out the list of things to look for on your initial walkthrough so you can check them off as you go along.

1. The leasing office IS NOT your friend, they are a business. Businesses are in business to make money. Period. Yes, the people seem nice, but they are always looking for ways to get more money from you.

2. If you do not understand something in your lease, talk with a real estate agent that is not affliated with your apartment complex. Most agents will give you free advice and will answer all of your questions! My mother is a real estate agent and when I rented my first apartment, she helped me with all of the legalities. I call her with any paper the office sent me or any problem with the apartment. The people at the leasing office have tried to sap more money from me with their dirty tricks, fully knowing that my mother is an agent and I consult her on all matters regarding that apartment. Idiots.

3. If you have a problem, do not let the leasing office ignore it! The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

4. Pay early if you can, but always pay on time! Like utility companies, the leasing office's money is made on late fees!

5. Always ask for receipts! For every transaction you make with the leasing office, get a receipt! This way, if any question of payment arises, you have proof of payment what they did with your check after you gave it to them is their problem now. And make sure someone at that office signs it! It is NOT acceptable for them to simply Xerox a copy of the check, anyone can go to Kinko's and do that.

6. Do not drop your rent check off in the drop box! It seems silly, but think about it for a minute. The leasing office can say they emptied the drop box and your check was not in there. You have no proof you put it in there except your word. Go in when they are open and get a receipt!

7. If the apartment complex has a maximum income level, make sure you know what you are getting into, so stake out the place a little. Subsidized housing (the nice word for low income housing) can typically attract an unfriendly or rowdy crowd, not to be stereotypical. Research has shown that lower income areas attract more "visual crime" (vandalism, burglarly, robbery, etc). This does not mean that higher income areas are crime free, the crimes are just less noticable (for example: tax fraud). If you are from a different location, chances are the average income levels are different. So what seems to you as poverty level income, could in fact, be high for that specific area. Check the crime database and the sex offender registry on your county's website, especially if you are alone or have young children.

8. If the apartment you want to rent is near a university or other college-type school, be warned! Chances are there will be college students living there, too. If you don't know what college kids are like, let me clue you in: It's 3:30 am, you're still awake working on a presentation due in a few hours. All of a sudden you hear: boom, boom, crack! from the building across from you. The college kids in that building are absolutely tanked are throwing underwater firecrackers into the lake that separates your buildings. This is illegal, and annoying. You call the police, by the time they come the kids have stopped. When the police leave, you think all will be quiet.... wrong! They know someone from your building saw them and tattled, so they set off more firecrackers inside the stairwell of your building in defiance.

9. Sign up for online bank account access with your bank. From any computer with internet access you can now watch as your checks are cashed and can print out copies of those checks if need be.

10. If there is no pest control management contract for the interior of your apartment, either get one, or spray regularly. Even if you do not see any pests, they are there! Here's a list of the things around your apartment that attract pests:

• Cardboard attracts cockroaches! They love the adhesive that holds the flaps of the cardboard together. Throw out old moving boxes. Get plastic containers for cereal, pasta, etc.
• Dark, damp places attract spiders! Do not leave wet towels or other wet cloth items around the apartment. This can also allow mold to grow on your carpet, too! Be mindful that the same spray you use for cockroaches and ants may not deter all spiders from making webs. There are products on the market specifically designed for spiders. You can buy Spider-Not and Cobweb Eliminator from the Home Trends catalog or website.
• Food crumbs and sugar attract ants! Clean up after yourself, and put your sugar in a plastic container.
• Wood attracts termites and carpenter ants! Especially rotting wood! Throw out old Christmas trees (not on your doorstep!)
• Mice love dryer lint! It is fuzzy and makes excellent nests. Clean your lint trap and throw it out! Dryer lint is also HIGHLY flammable!
• Trash attracts a wide variety of pests. Flies, maggot, rats, mice, cockroaches, ants, etc love trash. Throw it in the dumpster, not on your doorstep!
• Set out traps or tablet to deter invasion! Be mindful of pets when placing any type of bait. Traps should be placed in places like: behind the fridge, under sinks, in pantries, in the bathroom, on the porch/balcony, storage closets, in the cleaning closet, and in washer/dryer closet.
• *If you already have bugs, set off a fogger or two! Take pets with you when you leave for the amount of time on the directions.

11. Cover yourself! When looking over your apartment for the first time, do not let the smallest detail go unreported. This is how the leasing office gets to keep your deposit when you move out. Here's a list of things to look for:

• Damage to blinds and window treatments.
• Damage to carpet/tile/countertops. If the previous owner had pets, chances are there's probably a pet stain somewhere. There is a great product called Urine Gone. It comes with a black light and spray to find these pet stains and remove them. If your apartment was supposed to be pet free and obviously isn't with this product, you can break your lease or ask for a new apartment. Bleach damage will show up with the black light, too.
• Damage to conveyed appliances (the ones that come with the apartment: microwave, oven, dishwasher, fridge, etc).
• Areas of overspray where rooms have been previously repainted. Check corners, especially near the cabinets.
• Damaged areas that have been obviously fixed (spackled areas that were not sanded down smoothly, etc).
• Damages to doors and door frames, windows and trim.
• Check all electrical outlets for power.
• Inspect the caulk around the tub and grout in between the shower tiles! If it is peeling, cracking, discoloring, or missing, the caulk needs redone. This prevents water from leaking into the walls and rotting the wooden beams behind the dry wall. Over time this can make the whole structure unsafe.
• If you find any creaky, noisy, or soft spots in your floor or tub, this can be a sign of a structurally unsound beam. When it is located in the bathroom, it is usually a sign of long term water damage and wood rot.
• Check to make sure water handles work in tubs and sinks. Also check for leaks in those, and in the dishwasher line which is located under the kitchen sink.
• Check behind the toilet for water damage to linoleum or tile and the walls. Also check the toilet tank for rust on the chain which can cause the chain to break.

*If the leasing office has told you that your apartment has "NEW" anything, check it out! If it is not in pristine condition, tell them to replace it to make it new, or tell them you are going to look elsewhere for an apartment.

Another thing worth mentioning, buy a new toilet seat for the toilet. You can pick one up from Walmart for $10. You don't know what kind of germs the people before you had. It is a terrible feeling to feel like you are in a public restroom in your own bathroom everday.

12. Clean often! If you do not have time, hire a maid service. In apartment buildings, your neighbor's mess is yours, too!

13. If you smoke in your apartment, and the smell lingers, before you move out, spray the walls with a product called Kilz specific for smoke. You can buy this at any hardware store in their paint section. Put drop cloths down before painting to prevent ruining the carpet. The walls are usually white anyway. This way the leasing office cannot get your for smoke damage (they will make you to pay for painting walls, new carpet, etc).

14. Have the carpets shampooed yourself, and save the receipt! Doing this, you can probably get a good deal, but also the leasing office will have to give you the desposit back, if it was returnable.

15. The maintenace people can be absolutely unnerving. They have keys to every apartment and can come in anytime they like. I recommend you be present when they are in your apartment. If you cannot be there, if you have anything valuable, hide it! A good place for your jewelry boxes is wrapped in a towel or blanket and placed gently into your dryer. Just don't forget and accidently turn the dryer on! Bigger items like antique furniture, signed paintings or artwork, etc, just pray they don't know it's value... Which brings me to my next point: anything of significant value, make sure you have appraisals and at the very least pictures. It helps if it is insured too, however if the item is irreplacable, the insurance money does not ease the pain of the loss. Trust me.

16. Another security matter is sliding glass doors. If you have one, stick a security bar in the track. Even if you live higher up, you never know who might come climbing up one day while you're gone! There was a burglar who used a grappling hook to climb to higher up apartments because people would think they were safe high up. Even if they could break the glass and unlock the door, the security bar will not allow the door to slide open.

17. If a major problem arises because of something unsafe in the apartment, contact a real estate agent or a home inspector.

18. Read everything in the lease before signing it! Ignorance is no excuse to the leasing office!