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OK, So I'm getting an apartment for the first time

L

legoman666

Diamond Member
I'm a sophomore at the University of Cincinnati but I live at home because its free. However, its a 45 minute/30 mile drive to campus on a good day. On a bad day, its about an hour. So I'm looking at apartments near campus.

Right now I'm looking at just subletting for about 6 months. If the apartment lifestyle agrees with me, I'll stick around longer. It looks like I can get a decent place for ~$400/mo /w utilities included. Cheaper places are around $300. I can afford about $400/mo fairly easily.

I found a decent looking place that I want to look into more. It's $425/mo with all utilities included. I sent him an email expressing my interest and asked him to give me a call tomorrow. So my question is, what are things to ask the guy when I talk to him tomorrow? I have no experience with this.

UPDATE:

I went to visit the place at 4pm today. It's pretty nice. There are 6 other people in the house, 5 in the "apartment" below and 1 up on the 3rd floor with me. They are all grad students. The Landlady/owner is private and this is the only place she owns other than her house. She gave me a packet of strict rules about keeping the place clean and such, all looks good to me. The landlady seems nice, personal and very accessible, she's about 50-55 and rents out a room in her home and this whole house.

Coin operated laundry in the basement.
Free parking on the street, fairly easy to get a spot.
All utilities included.
free wifi.
no cable (I don't have a TV anyway)
room comes furnished
shower is in separate room than toilet/sink
about a 3 minute walk to campus
AC in the summer
There is an IGA about a 15 minute walk away and a Kroger ~10 minute walk. However I am going to keep my car there so that won't matter anyway.
no pets (good).
Hardwood floors

My room is fairly large, about 3 times the area of my current bedroom. I will be sharing a kitchen with 1 other person, there's a full size fridge, a gas stove/oven, microwave, toaster. All dinnerware is provided. (heh, she even says she stocks the toilet paper).

I'm meeting her tomorrow at 11 to sign papers and am probably moving in on Saturday!

A lot of the concerns you all mentioned won't even be an issue since utilities are included. What do you all think?
 
Oooh. That place is on MLK...

In the words of Chris Rock

'If a friend calls you on the telephone and says they're lost on Martin Luther King Boulevard and they want to know what they should do, the best response is ?Run!??
Click to expand...
 
That's the problem with Clifton; once you are off-campus you are pretty much in dicey areas.

There are newer student apartments on McMillian with a pool but depending on where your classes are, it may be a good 20-30 minute hike. There are some gated apartments close to University Hospital that are nice as well that are a little closer. I'm not sure how much has been developed around Calhoun or even on Clifton across from McMillian Hall that might be worth a look.
 
Originally posted by: RKS
That's the problem with Clifton; once you are off-campus you are pretty much in dicey areas.

There are newer student apartments on McMillian with a pool but depending on where your classes are, it may be a good 20-30 minute hike. There are some gated apartments close to University Hospital that are nice as well that are a little closer. I'm not sure how much has been developed around Calhoun or even on Clifton across from McMillian Hall that might be worth a look.
Click to expand...

Yea, I took some classes on main campus in the summer, they were only 3 days a week so I didn't bother buying a parking pass like I normally do. I parked on Glendora Ave usually. Every time I came back to my car, I was afraid it was going to be broken in to. Calhoun is a dump, they knocked down all of those buildings and they are still empty lots. I get ~2 emails a week from the UC police about crimes that occur on Calhoun.
 
The list could be long,and some of it you might not really be able to check. What comes to mind:

- neighbors (noise?)
- traffic patterns (noise?)
- parking (street? off-street?)
- snow removal in the winter
- utilities - cost
- Quality of insulation. Older buildings may absolutely suck in terms of insulation, not just in walls, but also the windows.
- efficiency and age of water heater and furnace
- Lead paint, though I suppose that it's only really a concern if you plan on sanding the walls
- Properly grounded electrical outlets; GFCI outlets near kitchen and bathroom sinks
- Leaky faucets. Check for bloated wood below pipes, or mold.
- Laundry facilities
- dealing with damages, and who's responsible for what
- sunlight coming into the apartment - if you plan on having any plants around
- pet policy (not just for you, but in case you might have dogs around that just won't ever shut the hell up)
- Proximity to possible hangouts for teenagers or college students - the closer you are, the more likely that your property will get vandalized regularly. That, and they just tend to be noisy, arrogant dicks.
- quality of security or locks
- proximity to stores and other such things
- availability of public transportation
- Shared water heater? Are you limited to 15 second showers?
- availability of high speed internet
- cellphone reception

And maybe more.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
The list could be long,and some of it you might not really be able to check. What comes to mind:

- neighbors (noise?)
- traffic patterns (noise?)
- parking (street? off-street?)
- snow removal in the winter
- utilities - cost
- Quality of insulation. Older buildings may absolutely suck in terms of insulation, not just in walls, but also the windows.
- efficiency and age of water heater and furnace
- Lead paint, though I suppose that it's only really a concern if you plan on sanding the walls
- Properly grounded electrical outlets; GFCI outlets near kitchen and bathroom sinks
- Leaky faucets. Check for bloated wood below pipes, or mold.
- Laundry facilities
- dealing with damages, and who's responsible for what
- sunlight coming into the apartment - if you plan on having any plants around
- pet policy (not just for you, but in case you might have dogs around that just won't ever shut the hell up)
- Proximity to possible hangouts for teenagers or college students - the closer you are, the more likely that your property will get vandalized regularly. That, and they just tend to be noisy, arrogant dicks.
- quality of security or locks
- proximity to stores and other such things
- availability of public transportation
- Shared water heater? Are you limited to 15 second showers?
- availability of high speed internet
- cellphone reception

And maybe more.
Click to expand...

good list! This is what I was looking for, thank you sir
 
excellent list by Jeff. Other stuff:

Noise (loud neighbors) has been one of my biggest issues in apartment buildings. Best thing you can do is ask other tenants about what they've experienced. If by some miracle you're walking through a unit for rent and actually see, hear and feel your prospective upstairs neighbors, aka the 300 pounder and his 400 pound wife, tromping up the stairs and turning the key to the upstairs unit (where they'll undoubtedly play DDR nightly at 3AM), run away with extreme prejudice.

Maintenance -- do they ever show up after you put in a request? (again, ask around)

Old appliances (esp. 20+ years) make me nervous, I've been in a place before where they were content to just leave the old-ass appliances in and let them break down routinely, leaving maintenance to come a few days later and *maybe* deal with it. Huge hassle to call month after month about that stuff. Huge PITA when your A/C repeatedly goes out in summer.

Smells. Cig smoke. Cat piss. That shitty potpourri that some places will coat an apartment in to cover up the aforementioned cig smoke and cat piss. Your clothes and furniture will reek from it.

Personal observation -- hotness of office staff is generally proportional to amount of rent/month
 
water pressure. I'm big on checking out the water pressure. is this a private owner or management company? I've had good experience with Private owners (It's their investment, and in a college town, could be young, just starting out, so more receptive to taking care of things when need be).

If management agency, then check your local CL or other sites for reviews of them. A horrible company can make your life hell. Seriously, you will not believe some of the crap that the worst of them will stoop to, and with no incentive. We have some notoriously horrible companies in Chicago, *cough* Biel *cough*, but that could just be b/c it's Chicago.
 
Dead bodies. 😛

All kidding aside,

- water pressure (especially in the showers)
- hot water (how long does it take when warming up the shower and how long does it last)
- toilet flow (what's the fucking point of low-flow toilets if you gotta flush twice?)
- cockroach/spider/ant/rodent infestation
- gas ranges/dryers (I fucking hate electric)
 
Originally posted by: zinfamous
If management agency, then check your local CL or other sites for reviews of them. A horrible company can make your life hell.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

I have found a general method of checking their maintenance quality (if they repaint/recarpet often, which most places do) is to check the following:
1. How well the carpet fits the room. Did they remove the trim and place carpet? Are the pieces cut to fit closets. (The better the fit typically they better they are)
2. Painting quality. Did they remove fixture covers before painting or paint around them?
3. Caulk around the tub. Does it look neat? Does it pull up easily?

I know this is a small sample size, but the place that removed the fixtures to paint and professionally did the carpets was the best in terms of maintenance response time and quality of work for me.

-towing policy: for days you forget your parking sticker/have friends over
- water quality: hard water can ruin a lot of things (usually only problems in older/rural places)

IIRC lead paint shouldn't be an issue as lessors are required to inform you about potential lead hazards (although it is possible its a michigan thing)

Always visit the exact place you will be renting before signing!

Get everything from them in writing!

(Also, if the place is not in the best condition, it is good to photograph or video the place before moving in and after moving out. This can save you a lot of headache when it comes to the security deposit)
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
The list could be long,and some of it you might not really be able to check. What comes to mind:

- neighbors (noise?)
- traffic patterns (noise?)
- parking (street? off-street?)
- snow removal in the winter
- utilities - cost
- Quality of insulation. Older buildings may absolutely suck in terms of insulation, not just in walls, but also the windows.
- efficiency and age of water heater and furnace
- Lead paint, though I suppose that it's only really a concern if you plan on sanding the walls
- Properly grounded electrical outlets; GFCI outlets near kitchen and bathroom sinks
- Leaky faucets. Check for bloated wood below pipes, or mold.
- Laundry facilities
- dealing with damages, and who's responsible for what
- sunlight coming into the apartment - if you plan on having any plants around
- pet policy (not just for you, but in case you might have dogs around that just won't ever shut the hell up)
- Proximity to possible hangouts for teenagers or college students - the closer you are, the more likely that your property will get vandalized regularly. That, and they just tend to be noisy, arrogant dicks.
- quality of security or locks
- proximity to stores and other such things
- availability of public transportation
- Shared water heater? Are you limited to 15 second showers?
- availability of high speed internet
- cellphone reception

And maybe more.
Click to expand...

You forgot the most important one:

-Built over Indian burial ground?

 
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