fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3038 ]

[ SECRET POST #3038 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3038 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 036 secrets from Secret Submission Post #434.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

How do you do it? I am too incompetent and stupid for this.

Apartment hunting can be hard work! But fear not: many people have hunted apartments before you, and I impart their experience upon you! Here are a few things you will be wanting to look for while seeking a new home:

* parking
* stove
* doors
* non-oil-based lighting
* ceiling

Well, what kind of a budget do you have? Are you willing to spend money to pay a realtor a fee to do the legwork for you? That's one way of taking care of the problem? Otherwise, get yourself a copy of Nolo Press's Every Tenant's Legal Guide, which will tell you how to start your search and what kinds of questions you need to ask. Then Google something like "apartments for rent (yourpreferredlocation)" and see what you get.

Don't forget to check out your prospective landlord. Lots of areas have tenants' unions. Many states have court records online; if your state does, use this to find out if your prospective landlord has a history of tenants having to take him to court to get their deposits back, or of having to be forced to make necessary repairs to his units.

If you get a creepy vibe from a landlord or manager, listen to your gut!

Good luck!

If you don't mind knocking on a few doors, ask around the place if people would recommend it/are happy with it, how cooperative/responsible the landlord is, and other stuff like that. That's the most honest review you'll ever find.

Specific things to pay attention to:
+Does it have in-unit laundry? It's so worth it if you can find it.
+Is it near what you want it to be near? Shopping, groceries, gym, school, etc.
+Check the condition of appliances, storage areas (apartments run out of space fast), bathroom fixtures. Turn on the hot water and see how quickly it gets hot, and if it runs hot enough.
+Ask about repairs done in the past, and then look at them. Make sure they're not half-assed.

I'm with dethtoll; apartment hunting is hard!

Are you looking for a place with roommates, or a place to yourself? What's your timeframe?

I pretty much have gotten all my apartments through Craigslist, fliers posted in public places, newspaper ads, or the local queer newsletter. I usually work out my budget first (which for me is rent + util + $200) and then look for rent in my arena, preferably in the area of town I'm hoping for.

I tend to always be relegated to the cheapest housing available, so crap landlords are a given. My main goal is to find people I can live with. I feel them out, and if I don't feel the creeps after a half hour of talk or so, that's about as good as I can hope for.

--Rogan

I feel like it's hard to give advice about apartment hunting because a lot of it depends on where you live? But generally, I think the key is just finding and looking at as many places as possible and constantly keeping an eye out for places.

Like, what I do when I'm apartment hunting is I just search on Craigslist for all places in my price range around where I want to live, and then I bookmark it and just continually check it for new places to be posted 2 or 3 times a day. (There's obviously sites other than Craigslist, but ime they tend not to be that useful, because they just tend to be more expensive and much more restrictive and ridiculous about credit checks, application requirements, etc). Then call or email the person as soon as humanly possible to try to set up a time to look at the place. And bring whatever documentation they might want (particularly proof of income) when you're looking at the place, and then if you want to apply get your application in as fast as humanly possible.

And then other than that, just keep doing it over and over again.

Apartment hunting just sucks in general, though, whatever you do. So... just hang in there. I hope you can find a place that works for you!

It's hard. I've only been doing it for a few years now, and I feel like I always get it wrong too. I'd suggest if you live in or are moving are to a huge city where finding one is a problem (ie NYC), hire a realtor to do the leg work.

I'd suggest sitting down first and thinking of what you want out of an apartment, and what you'll be doing. Do you want a quite place, or will you be socializing a lot and need a place where people will be understand and not care/call the cops on you all the time? Do you need more than one bedroom, or could you deal with an efficiency/studio? What size kitchen/bathroom/bedroom/living room do you optimally want? Do you need or want an elevator? How far are you willing to commute? Do you need to be near public transportation, and if so how close does it need to be to your apartment? Do you need an on site laundry facility, do you need a washer and dryer in room? Do you want carpeting or tile flooring? Do you need a place that accepts pets or not, and if so what kind of pet will you need to accommodate for (is it big, or small, or exotic)? Do you want a apartment that has no manager on site, or one that has one part time or 24/7? Do you want or need a apartment with maintenance on site? (in my general experience, you are kind of sol without theses two) Do you have any special needs your apartment needs to accommodate for? What utilities are you willing to pay for, or need covered by the apartment?

I think the biggest factor of all if finding something within your affordability. Most places want you to make two to three times the price of the rent. So personally, I know for me that eliminates a lot of places right off the bat.

Looking places up online is also a good thing and a bad thing. A lot of apartments put up false praise on rating sites, so it's generally a good idea to always go and look around. Trust your gut feeling on a place. If it looks shitty it probably is shitty. If you're on the fence about a place have a friend or family go look at it (without you) and get their opinion. I'd also try and see if they'd let you see the place later at night if possible. People will be back from work and kids will be back from school, so you can get a general feel of how loud the place will be and the people you'll be living around. Also if the show you a "show room" type apartment (one already set up with furniture and etc), ask to see what a non furnished one or they specific one you'd rent before making a decision. If they won't or hem-haw about showing you a different one that's major red flags. Some places will have one room totally fixed up, and the others will look nothing like it.

My last advice is go to the actual places you'd like to live and look around to find apartments. You'd be surprised how many places don't advertise online or even in the paper. Also to save money, usually Sunday's (sometimes Saturday if they have a early Sunday edition for cheaper) the best day to get the paper for rental ad's as they usually have a special section for them those days.

My last advice is go to the actual places you'd like to live and look around to find apartments.

I can't second this enough. There are a lot of places that don't advertise except with signs out in front saying "Apartment available."

WTF, if you are paying out half your income in rent, that place is going to be a millstone around your neck.

I'm a landlord, and no, I don't want to rent to someone who makes less than 3 times the rent, because that person is soon going to be giving me a pack of excuses instead of paying the rent.

Thank god my landlord isn't a piece of shit like you and I've had a nice place to live for the past four years even though my rent is definitely about half my income♥

As long as the rent is paid, it's paid, and it's no business of yours how much of their income it is. Not everyone is rolling in cash.

My point, which seems to have escaped you, is that usually when people rent a place that costs more than half their income, the rent is not paid. Excuses and promises to pay at such and such a date are made. The date arrives and there are more excuses. Eventually I have to evict the deadbeat tenant, which costs me time and annoyance, and I'm still out 2-3 months' rent. But evidently you think landlords should operate like a charity.

Wow, I've never heard of this. I've been at two different apartments and both times they insisted my monthly income be at least three times the amount of monthly rent. Mostly for the reason anon listed above me.

Anyone who takes more than that from a person's paycheck sounds a bit shady IMO.

Exactly: a decent landlord doesn't set a tenant up for an eviction. I've evicted chronically nonpaying tenants when I had to, and I'd do it again, but (as AYRT would be surprised to discover) I don't want to evict anybody.

You must arrange a feast to sacrifice on an altar to the gods of Real Estate.
Sleep with your shoes pointing east.
Bring stinky herbs to burn at every inspection you go to, to cleanse the apartment of your competition.

In all seriousness:
Having your financial info and all your details on hand so you can fill out an application on the spot can put you ahead of the queue. Check multiple advertising sources because not everything is listed in one place. If you're trying to rent, expect real estate people to be lazy as all hell - the ones I've met were all focused on making sales for the commission and they barely bothered to do the other part of their jobs, so you've got to be the one to call them and be very direct ("what day this week is best?" tends to get a better response than "when would I be able to view the property?").

I could give you tips all day (my family are property investment crazy), but it's best to get out there and go check out some places yourself to get a better idea of what the pricing is like in your area and decide what to put on your personal checklist.

If you mean literally, talk to a real estate agent? A company whose job it is to compile all houses/apartments on the market, and they'll take you around and show you different places.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #3038 ]

Apartment Hunting

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