about to rent my first apartment, any tips?

excellent advice!

yes, please do.. we don't want the loud assholes in our apartment complexes... apartments and loud bass don't go hand in hand.. if you want that kind of "freedom" buy a house. Personally I use headphones in my apartment as I'm considerate to others and they are considerate back and it's nice and quiet almost all the time.

fuck that blast that shit and drink beer every night!

Bomb the place for ants, roaches, spiders, etc - 2 X's, 1 time to kill them, a second time to know you killed them. I think combat is great. Air the place out for a good 1 - 2 days.

When you move in, change the locks, some landlords like to walk through and check out the place when you are not home.

Rent a 2 bedroom and rent out the other room, it will cut down on your expenses. Try to rent out the room, furnished, 3 - 4 months at a time, charge the other roommate the full rent or a larger portion of the rent. They are not on the lease, the room is furnished and they have the luxery of not committing to a long term lease. Plus if you ever lose your jobb you have a built in cushion.

make sure the landlord pays the mtg

Don't live downstairs, and stay away from the pool. Also dont sign a damn thing until you see the place youre moving into. Dont trust a "model" apartment, it's not likely the place you get is any comparison. Oh, and good luck OP

Top floor, people walking over you sucks.
Check hot water pressure / run time.
Check tub/shower to make sure it drains right.

Several other things, but they will strike you as you look.

Take pictures when you move in, and make a written list of defects. (and give the list at least to the apt mang.) This will help you keep your deposit. (or lose it if you tear it up lol)

Oh yea- change the locks. ; )

Where the fuck do you live?????

As an ex-landlady a few tips:

Always do a walk through with management and notice every little thing, stains on carpets, drapes, paint chips on door frames, and I mean everything, including ceiling condition.
Have the landlord document it and get yourself a copy right then and there. Be very picky what goes on the list so your not charged for it later.

Be sure to ask landlord what they do about noise complaints because you don't want to live with some noisy neighbor while the landlord ignores your pleas for quiet. If your a lover of quiet ask the landlords to put you around some of the quieter tenants. If your noisy tell them up front so they can stick you with the other noise'tards.

Check for bugs feces.

Also it might do well to come around and speak with a few neighbors alone without the managements knowledge to see how management treats people and how safe the complex is.

Just in case whatever the deposit is, don't really go in expecting any of it back. most apartments come up with 1000 reasons to never release a full deposit back to a tenant on move out.

Try to start out with a 6 month lease in case you find you have moved into hell, after 6 months move out to saner pastures.

ask for a blank copy of the lease beforehand and pore over it.


of particular interest are the early lease cancellation clauses. some places will actually NOT let you out of your lease until you pay a ridiculous fee of several hundred dollars, AND they have found another tenant to fill the apartment.

also look at the guidelines for visitors (some places can be real dicks about this), and make sure there is lots of nearby guest parking.

take note of their pet policy, in the event that you do decide to get a dog or cat later, you don't want management to be dicks about it.

Oh and I forgot to mention......seriously READ the fricken lease with ALL the tiny type in it.
If there is something you do not understand ask the landlord!

I can't count the number of idiots that rent apartments that do something stupid and get into trouble to find out there violation was clearly spelled out in the lease.

F**ing people never completely read leases.

Actually the guests that stay are a huge problem, all of a sudden the water bills and electric bills double and if a guest gets hurt on property they can try to sue for injuries.
That's why most apartments are "dicks" about how long guests can stay. It usually makes and apartment much noisier too when filled with freeloading guests.

As an ex-landlady, I never could figure out why so many apartments have such a bad attitude against pets, hell I have seen way more expensive damage and noise from children. Rarely do you ever get a dog that crayons all the walls, lol

I like this idea the best so far, although there have been many good ones. Also make sure you know your rights as a tennant. You can go online, and find it with a google search for your state. Just so you know, incase you need to arm yourself with something. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS ALWAYS. I am sorry to all the good landlords out there, I know you are not all this way, but there are some really bad ones, and they are basic criminals. That is why above advice is excellent, I would take it !

Oh and best of luck to you, hope everything works out good. :) Keep a positive attitude.

Dont rent, thats just throwing money away. Now is the time to BUY a house.

Buy 2 cases of water ASAP

As long as we don't get hit with hyperinflation, renting is the way to go. Much cheaper than owning a house.

Apartment rules only seem like "dicks" when some idiot hasn't read the full leasing agreement, or they show no consideration toward the peace of other tenants.

I actually used to keep a list of people that wanted to rent an apartment. Most stupid people think that everyone has to be equal opportunity apartments(EO compliant).
I will let you in on a little secret.
When managers don't care who moves in the places are usually shit with loud unruly tenants.

On my list of future renters, if they had loud uncontrolled kids, orange mohawks or looked like they enjoyed loud music, or a drug,drinking lifestyle when I ever had an opening I would just skip over them and call the next person on the list. I had little smiley codes for keeping track of who might be best for my 300 unit complex.
I eventually had it full of wonderful quiet and clean people.

So even if you like to dress weird or have a batch of loud kids running around your ankles that you can't control don't let a manager see it when you go there. Look decent, dress nice and show some manners so you won't get bumped to the end f the lists.

A landlord can not LEGALLY release private information about previous tenants, you should go speak to current tenants on your own if you want to check a place out.

Look for a place that does a criminal and credit check on everyone. spend a lot of time shopping around. I got a great place for $519 a month. Includes heat, water and trash pickup. And this place is very secure. Very low crime also. And it's built like a fort.

Like everyone else says, take pictures. Nail holes in wall, stains on carpet, loose ceiling tiles, floor tiles, anything that you could be accused of causing.

Once you've taken them, get a hard copy and mail them to yourself. Make sure the envelope has the date on it. Put it in a safe place, unopened. Then if you have to go to court over alleged damages, you can show the Judge the date and open it in front of him in court. Hard for the landlord to deny.

Look for bugs. Like Remember This said, roaches. And bedbugs if they provide the bed. Ugh.

Go to the police department and ask for a printout of all their calls to that address in the past 4 months, or 6 if you can get it. See what the calls were about and the result of them.

Good luck!

Ask if you need to move out, if they will allow you to clean your place to get your security deposit, or if they will require you hire professional services.

Hardwood floors, top floor apartmemt, make sure heat and water are included

Definitely. Landlords have been known to ping the cost of damage on a long string of tenants.

Get one With a balcony the faces south, gives you the option to get satellite or cable

First thing to do is to check out your neighbors. The worst thing to have is bad neighbors. I'm going through this now. I didn't check my neighbors out before buying a home and am now stuck next to the aholes.

Don't listen to people telling you to change the locks, that is usually a lease violation of the first degree!

Landlords MUST have access to change air conditioner filters and check that smoke alarms have not been disabled.
Since in most states it is a law that smoke alarms be working, good landlords usually go around and test them every 6 months or so.
Air conditioner filters are usually changed 2x a year also.

Some people think that just because they rent a place they own it, LOLOLOLOL! It's more like your just a roommate in a huge warehouse situation.

I'm an ex-landlady of a 300 unit complex.

One more word of advice for renters. Yes it may be nice to live on the top floors but beware and buy some renters insurance just in case your toilet, tub or sink overflows one day and ruins all the furniture to the 3 tenants below you.
You are going to be sued for damages, trust me.

Insurance also helps you if your stuff gets damaged or stolen too.
Renters insurance is not too expensive and people often try to burn down apartment complexes several times a year just being ignorant.