2 Ways To Protect Yourself When Renting An Apartment
One of the most important things that you can do when renting an apartment is to take precautions to protect yourself from any potential complications or poor living conditions. Listed below are two ways to protect yourself when renting an apartment.
Bring A Checklist When Touring The Offered Apartment
One of the first things you'll want to do whenever you are being offered an apartment from a particular apartment complex is to bring a checklist with you when touring the offered apartment. The point of the checklist and the tour is to find any potential issues with the apartment and get the landlord or representative of the apartment complex to acknowledge and repair those issues before you move in. The reason for this is so important is that if you do just take the key and sign the lease for the apartment, any issues that you find after-the-fact can often be blamed on you and you may end up being responsible for the repairs and any fees associated with those damaged items.
Some of the things that you want to include on your checklist will be the ease with which all the doors and windows open, the effectiveness of the locks within the home, any scratches in the paint, and any damage to the flooring. As you inspect these areas, make sure to take any pictures of the damage for your own records. Once the inspection is done, make sure to have the landlord or the apartment representative signed the paperwork acknowledge what areas were damaged so that you won't be on the hook for any bills related to that damage.
Tour The Property In The Evening
Another way to protect yourself when renting an apartment is to tour the property in the evening. Going in and touring the apartment with the landlord or one of his or her representatives is not always going to give you an accurate picture of the living conditions at the complex, mostly because the tenants will usually be on their best behavior when the apartment management office is open. However, if you go in the evening when the apartment staff has left for the day, you'll be able to get a better grasp on how loud and potentially obnoxious the neighbors can be and this will help you determine if you can live with the amount of noise that is produced in that apartment complex.
Contact a real estate agent today in order to begin the search for appropriate apartments in your area and to discuss how you can protect yourself when renting a new apartment. Bringing a checklist when touring the offered apartment and touring the property in the evening are both effective ways of protecting yourself when you rent apartments.
