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Looking for an Apartment [Tips for not being screwed]
Horus
Los AngelesRegistered User regular
Los AngelesRegistered User regular
Ok I will be honest I am 26, and never looked for a place of my own. I commuted from my house during college and afterwards lived with my 40year old sister (save me from her please) for 4-5 years. So I do not have the streets smarts in how to approach apartment shopping.
I work at West Hollywood, CA and want something local to the place. I been looking at craiglist but I need to get myself educated before contacting people. So any tips, what questions to ask? How can I show I am a clean, organized, financially responsible ideal candidate
thank you
I work at West Hollywood, CA and want something local to the place. I been looking at craiglist but I need to get myself educated before contacting people. So any tips, what questions to ask? How can I show I am a clean, organized, financially responsible ideal candidate
thank you
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
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Ask to see the actual unit you will be living in, if possible, and inspect everything. Look for signs of insects or water damage. Also, go through the lease carefully before signing. Be prepared to pay a bullshit "application fee", which is usually like $50. Also a security deposit (usually equal to 1 months rent).
Apartments can look awesome but have cheapo appliances, and if you're picky then that's a big deal.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Look in, behind, and under the fridge and freezer for grunginess.
Look at all the electrical outlets. They should have three holes, not two. (Edit: and make sure there's enough of them.)
Look at the ceiling. Make sure there are no discolored patchs or areas where it's blistering or curved. Same for all the walls.
Take a look at the outsides of the other units. Do they look clean or is there junk everywhere?
Look for heaters and air conditioning ducts. Also look for a thermostat. If you don't see them, ask what kind of heating and cooling the place has.
Who pays for water and sewage? You or the landlord?
Do you have a car? Find out what the parking situation is.
Walk around the perimeter of the walls. Are there areas that feel unusually warmer or cooler? Those might be areas of poor insulation.
There's probably other stuff I haven't thought of.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
It's common for Water/Sewer (and sometimes Garbage) to be included in the price of rent. Figure out if you'll have gas or electric hot water heater and gas or electric stove. See what appliances will come with the place. Fridge, stove, oven, washer/dryer, dishwasher, etc. If you're by yourself, you probably won't need a dishwasher.
Always make sure you see the place before signing.
edit: This.
Also, having no rental history, you might be asked to have a cosigner.
While Craigslist is awesome, if you're not finding what you're looking for after awhile, you might consider Westside Rentals. I used them when looking for my last place in the LA area. Also, places that are privately owned and managed tend to have lower rent than those managed corporately - sometimes there is a difference in the kind of maintainance response you get and sometimes not.
I did that before I moved out. Not that I'm worried that I'm going to run head first into a Judge Judy show, desperate for laws and facts, but in reading them it gives me an understanding of certain processes that both you and the landlord must follow, eg where the deposit check must be kept, who's responsible for what and all that.
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
This. Because we did not follow Michigan rental laws, my old rental company tried to say that in addition fo the 1100 dollar security deposit, we owed 3200 dollars on top of that. So make sure you look that up and do EVERYTHING they say to do so you have full protection by your state laws. I am not saying that you will encounter a situation as bad as mine but in this time of economic hardship certain companies may try to get more out of you then they rightfully deserve.
Steam Me
Also, find out who the precise landlord is if you are subletting. For your first apartment, I'd suggest a managed community for a year or so. They take a lot of the iffy legal stuff out out of the question (using pretty standard leases and the like) to make the process and payment easier (and tend to have a more middle ground quality of place) though they have their own problems. Renting from a private landlord or subleasing can be disastrous at worst, or incredibly awesome at best. You really have to gauge the situation to figure out which, though.
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
-Read every single word.
-Under what conditions are you allowed to move out without any obligation on their part? As in, if you have truly terrible neighbors (let's say they deal meth out of their place and you want OUT) will you be allowed to break your lease early with no obligations?
-If you do decide to break your lease early for reasons that aren't your renter's fault, what do you have to do? In Texas, you have to give them X amount of notification and you pay $X, which is usually 1 month notification and one month's rent paid as a releasing fee so they can find someone new.
-If you decide to move out but find a subleaser, how is that handled?
-Basically think of every possible thing that could go wrong during your contract period and make sure that contingency is covered, in writing, in your lease, and both you and the renter have signed off on it.
-How is maintenance handled? Can you ask anyone who lives in similar units what their opinion of maintenance is?
-Can they give you a copy of their moveout inspection form in advance? This is a form that basically says "For X damage to Y part of the apartment, pay $Z." Also make sure they include a line in the lease that says they won't charge for "normal wear and tear" and then get in writing what constitutes "normal".
-Find out what the notification time is for saying that you're going to move out at the end of your lease. So for example, at the last place I lived, my lease was up in June. The notification time period was 60 days- so I had to notify them 60 days in advance that I wanted to move out. If I notified them in May, I would have to pay rent until July. Sucks, but that's how they did it.