Ready to Sign a New Apartment Lease?
Are you ready to sign a new apartment lease? If so, there are some things you should have done already. Take a look at this list of tips to make sure you have thought of some of these important points. It's a good idea to consider each of these before moving forward.
1. Take A Look At The Apartment Yourself
It doesn't matter what anyone else might have said, you have to go to the apartment and take a look for yourself. It's important that you confirm that nothing wrong with it and it's in a condition you are comfortable with. While looking into it, if you discover any problems, talk to the property manager or building owner to make them aware. They should take care of the issues before you rent the apartment. If not, it might be a good idea to find a different place.
2. Check Out The Apartment Reviews
Besides seeing it for yourself, it's also a good idea to learn what others have said about the apartment. Try to find recent reviews because those will best represent the current situation. As residents of the building change and the building ages, you can get a good feel for how well people have been treated and what management does for upkeep. This can be good information to have before you decide to rent.
3. Ask About Handling Maintenance
If something goes wrong with your apartment while you're living there, what do you have to do? Most likely you'll have to contact the property manager and request that they fix the problem or send maintenance staff. It's a good idea to understand the process before you ever need to use it. It's also good to ask this before renting the place because you might discover they don't have a maintenance person on staff and there is no real plan in place for handling problems. In that case, you might reconsider your choice of apartment. At some point, something is likely to go wrong and you'll want it resolved quickly.
4. Thoroughly Read The Lease
Don't ever sign a lease until you have thoroughly read through it and you understand the details. The are rules and understandings that must be followed when you live in an apartment. It's best to know these before moving in. For example, there might be rules about things such as visitation of guest, or whether pets are allowed, or if you can have a grill on your balcony. If you discover that there are restrictions on things that are important to you, then you might want to rethink living at this particular place.
5. Determine The Overall Cost
It's not a good idea to rent an apartment until you truly understand all the costs. What does the rent include? How about electricity, heat, water? All of these might be your responsibility, and in that case you should have an idea of how much these will cost each month in addition to your rent. But some apartments may include one or more of these expenses in the rent. Take the time to add up all the numbers so that you are confident in your ability to afford to live there. And, don't move in if the cost is too high or even if you can barely cover it. You want to have more than enough money left each month so that if an emergency pops up, you can handle it too.
Good luck with your new apartment!