Apartment

[tigger222]

I am looking into getting my first apartment. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what to look for and what to avoid.

[taxguykarl]

My advice is probably dated as Mrs. TGK & I have been in a house for 16 years. So take this as you will:

Pound the pavement in the area of interest.
I have only found one apartment through ads (pre-Craig's list, needless to say) all the rest had 'Available' or 'For Rent' signs in their windows. At best, I found area leads from ads and realtors--I checked the place in the ad or the one showed and walked around from there.

Pay attention to the attitude you get on the phone. One which I refused acted as though I was an inconvenience--needless to say, I took my business (which this is, let's not kid ourselves) elsewhere.

If you can, reconnoiter the area late at night--if you aren't threatened at that hour the rest of the day, the area's fine (your gut knows). Also note what kind of activity there is at that hour.

Pay attention to exterior and hallway maintenance. First impressions, you know.

Check the laundry area. See if there is a laundromat nearby. If there is a convenience store or takeout under the same roof, would you need to put on a coat to utilize them in the winter?

Check the cabinets, switches, and electrical outlets. Turn on all the faucets. Flush the toilet. Make sure they all work. If they don't work now, chances are they won't when you move in.

Wear white socks, take off your shoes and walk around the place (yes, even if it's carpeted). This will show how well the apartment is maintained.

Read the lease, before signing--Seraph can tell you the value of that. Also be mindful of who pays for what (heat, cooking gas, electricity, water).

Document every flaw and damage you see after you sign the lease and move in. That would have been useful for the one time I was stiffed on a deposit.

Before you move in (or after moving in only your things which will NOT touch food, come to think of it), bomb the place and spread some boric acid along perimeter baseboards, especially the ones along outside and shared walls. After that give a thorough cleaning.

I'll gladly add more tips as I think of them.

[notalwaysright]

My town is basically full, I only got my current place because another person's deposit fell through earlier that day, and I happened to be the next person to see the place. I guess my point is that I had a very limited selection. Hopefully your town is less crowded.

Some of the parking lots around here get terribly icy and they don't always plow or de-ice or anything. So I'd pay attention to hills and whatever might be a problem in winter. Take photos, lots of them. I didn't with my last place, and it was a mistake. Try to do a walk through with the landlord or property manager. See how they react if you point out something that needs work. My landlord had a checklist with many of the things taxguykarl mentioned, like electrical outlets and smoke detectors.

Try to think of things that will bug you. For example, you might not care which way the windows face, but I need lots of natural light, and it's a deal breaker for me. Even in my crowded town, I turned down a place because it was too dark. Other things that you might want to notice. Is your building smoking, what are the rules? Is there an official "quiet time" or laundry room hours, or is it a free for all? Oh, lease length options? My place is really strict, which I don't like. It a year lease end of story, no sublet option, or lease takeover, nothing. It's really useful to have an option to go month to month when you're about ready to move out, or at least for me.

[Pixelated]

Some good suggestions here. I absolutely second taxguykarl's idea of taking a trip or two at night past places that you like -- especially Friday and/or Saturday nights. If you are looking for a relatively quiet place, that will likely give you a good idea of whether you'll get that .

Also second his suggestions about flushing the toilet, etc. One unit I checked out years ago had a hole in the wall (from a door being slammed HARD into the wall) and a malfunctioning a/c unit. "Oh, we'll fix all that once you move in." I find that highly unlikely ...

Another time I went to look at a basement apartment (was returning to school so I was looking for CHEAP). This one place was kinda crummy but again -- student. What killed it for me was the bamboo curtain hanging on one wall. Um, we're underground, why is there a five- or six-foot-long bamboo curtain there? Well, it turned out that it was hiding a human-sized hole in the wall that led to a really unfinished part of the basement that could best be described with the word "crawlspace" (as in "I wonder what's crawling around in that space ...") AND the owner wanted references.

Another point to add to notalwaysright's comments about windows: if an apartment faces west, it can get damn hot in the summer. On the other hand, it will probably stay warmer in winter than, say, a north-facing unit. If it faces east, depending on the window coverings (vertcial blinds really SUCK here), you could get blasted awake at the crack of dawn by the sun shining right into your eyes. (I'm not an early-morning person so ... )

[taxguykarl]

I absolutely second taxguykarl's idea of taking a trip or two at night past places that you like -- especially Friday and/or Saturday nights. If you are looking for a relatively quiet place, that will likely give you a good idea of whether you'll get that .

I learned that trick in Chicago. If the only women out at 1:00 AM in a certain area are asking if you 'want a date' (a prostitute's come-on for the naïve) of 'got any [dope]', keep looking.
If all the activity you see is a cop asking what the hell you're doing. That's promising....unless they're doing a crackdown in that area.