10 Tips For First-Time Apartment Renters.
So, you are looking for your first real apartment, huh? Time to start paying the rent? Yea, it stinks, I know - I have been paying rent now for 13 years. And although I want to buy a house, in this market in my neighborhood, it’s just not going to happen! So rent I do, so I have a few tips that might help you out when you start to check out apartments to rent.
1. When you meet the landlord, try to act like a grownup. You might not want to wear your baseball hat backwards or continue smoking that cigarette - it could reflect badly on you. And oftentimes there are several people applying for any apartment, so you want to present yourself at your best…even if that changes once you sign the lease.
2. The landlord is probably going to ask you for a check to cover a credit check, so be sure to bring your checkbook. Also, when you get accepted, you will probably be asked for first, last and security, meaning that your new $1200 a month apartment actually will cost $2400 plus the deposit for that first month. Be sure to have the money in your account!
3. Talk to the neighbors if you get a chance. If only I had done this at a few of the places that I lived, I never would have moved in. Between finding out about the guy that sings love songs to his old girlfriend at 3am to the chain smoker in the apartment next door, you can learn a lot just by being friendly with one of the neighbors. Ask them what they think of the place, how the landlord is, etc. - get a feel for your new home before you sign anything.
4. If having a parking spot is important to you, ask if you get one. A lot of apartment buildings do not have specific spots for everyone, so you should make sure you get one if you want one. I pay $90 for mine each month, that’s how important it is to us!
5. You should never go over your budget. Most finance professionals tell you that you should be paying 1/3 of your gross income, so if you make $5,000 per month before taxes, your rent should not be more than $1,666. Of course, I understand this is not always feasible in certain markets, but it is a good percentage to try to stick to.
6. Clean up your credit. If you have delinquencies all over your credit report, I seriously doubt you are going to get approved for any apartment. Landlords want to get paid every month! Work on fixing your credit while you stay with a friend on the couch.
7. Read the lease. Seriously, read the lease. And then read it again. You wanted to play your acoustic guitar in the house? Make sure you can. Your parents come visit every month? Make sure it’s legal. This is a legally binding agreement you are signing - make sure you read it.
8. Once you move in, buy renter’s insurance. Our renter’s insurance is $22 a month for $35,000 worth of coverage. Not bad for piece of mind. When you live with that many other people in one building, you are trusting all of them to not leave a burner on or plug up the toilet - that’s a lot of trust. You need Replacement Cost Coverage renter’s insurance, which pays the actual cost to replace items that are no longer usable.
9. Make friends with at least a few neighbors. Stay away from the ones that you think will be knocking on your door everyday, but you need to know a few people in your building. Eventually, you could trade keys in case either of you get locked out, or you can pet-sit if one of you has a dog or cat. Also, you want someone to know when you are away, so they can keep an eye on the place. Trust me on this one!
10. Relax, you are in your own place now! Decorate as you see fit. Make it a home, not just some apartment you happen to rent. Enjoy!
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8 Comments so far
All good points–as a first-time renter myself. Our renter’s insurance costs about $10/month. Probably because our stuff isn’t very expensive so it wouldn’t cost too much to replace.
One more good tip is to stop by your place at night before you rent it. It may seem quiet and calm during the day, but you want to make sure nobody is in the habit of turning their stereo up to 11 from 8 pm to 3 am. You may not know it if you come by during the day when people are (typically) at work.
Steve
I have to agree with #3. I wish I could have spoke to someone about our neighbor before we moved in. He likes to stay out late Thursday - Sunday until 3am. When he gets home he likes to make a ton of noise which wakes us up. We’ve talked to the landlord, but she doesn’t really do anything. So tip #3 is definitely an important one.
I’ll add one more thing - whenever I’ve rented they usually make you fill out an application with work info, bank info, references etc etc. I put all the info onto one printed sheet of paper which I either gave to them or used as easy reference to fill out the application form.
I like your #1 suggestion - very good!
Mike
I’ve never read such a ridiculous set of ‘tips’ in my life!
#1 - ‘Act grown-up?’ For goodness sake, you ARE grown up, or you’re not looking for an apartment.
#2 - There is no ‘probably’ about it; you will need money - you can use either a credit card; check - even a money order or cashier’s check. Only an immature person would expect to rent an apartment without paying ‘money first’ - how dumb do you think these people are?
#3 - There’s no ‘if you get a chance’ - YOU MAKE THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE CHANCE…you do this before you even walk into the office to talk about being a potential renter. You drive by; you drive in (unless there is a security gate); you get references from the newspaper; real estate offices, and near-by neighbors within 3 to 5 blocks of the apartment complex!
#4 - Better put: BE SURE TO ASK IF THERE IS A CHARGE FOR DESIGNATED PARKING; WHERE THE SPOT IS, AND THE PROXIMITY TO YOUR POTENTIAL ‘NEW HOME’, AND DECIDE IF IT’S WORTH THE COST (should there be a charge).
#5 - Never go over your budget; again, are you talking to morons here? You should go to a real estate agent if you don’t know the answers; tell them your situation - they will work with you to determine what you can afford (if you’re not smart enough to know that yourself). More often, they will do this at no charge because of the ‘good-will’, and also they are many times involved with property management services to a variety of complexes, and it is in their best interest, to work with you BEFORE you step foot on any property.
#6 - CLEAN UP YOUR CREDIT IS THE VERY FIRST THING YOU SHOULD DO BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT RENTING OR BUYING ANYTHING….this should be listed as #1 - on the ‘tips’ list’….
#7 - Again, no one but a moron would NOT read the lease; take someone with you if you think you don’t read ‘legal terms’ easily - you can read it, but you don’t comprehend it, then it’s a waste of time….
#8 - Wow - at least that one is ‘right’….
#9 - Right, ‘trade keys’, so you can go on vacation and find your stereo missing….enough ‘traded keys’, and where to start? Oh yes, and your renter’s insurance won’t pay for the loss if keys are ‘handed out’ to family and friends. This is completely nuts….
#10 - Decorate as you please? Whoops - bet you didn’t read the lease; there are all kinds of rules about what you can NOT do in the way of decorating……
I actually came here thinking I could learn something MORE to give out to my grand-daughter in the way of ‘guidelines’….this is a joke.
You should write your own tips - why did you come looking for some if you already knew them all! Best of luck to your grand-daughter.
David Your article was a JOKE !! Youve got to be kidding me.
By the time I got down to the comments I was thinking that
I love when people have time to write comments but have nothing but negative things to say - must be hard to be that upset and angry all the time, sorry you have to go through it! Have a great day Matthew, if you are capable!