Current Events > I might live on my own and rent an apartment for the first time ever any advice?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I might live on my own soon for the first time ever and obviously renting for the first time ever. After finding an apartment I like, what is the process after I contact the landlord? Are there some shady shit landlords can add to a lease contract or is it all standard stuff that is in pretty much every lease contract? How can I prevent fake offers who would probably just take my info like social security number, name, birth date, etc. then they'd say something like sorry we have other offers and decide to take them instead? If we share an apartment with strangers, how can I prevent them from taking my mail? Anything else I should know?

You can rent a P.O. box at the mail office. If you are concerned about your mail. Take pictures of the place once you get it before you move in. Also give your landlord copies of the pictures. Landlord will knows you aren't fucking around. That way the landlord can't steal your deposit. As for telling if you have a scumlord. Use your nose. If the places smells don't take it.

No! Now get back in the basement
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R1masher posted...

No! Now get back in the basement

Get a job, you slacker!

Make sure you read your lease, last thing you want is to unknowingly violate it.

Be sure to have enough money for first month's rent plus any other things like deposits or pet fees in your account.

Fake offers are usually hiding on sites like craigslist. You can usually just go to a leasing office for apartments and speak directly to a person to make sure the listing is legit.
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Might be worth hiring an agent to make sure you don't get screwed
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Look up reviews for the apartments you're interested in and determine the majority's general opinion. Call the landlord and tell them what size apt you're interested, and Schedule a tour if available.

Make sure you're credit score isn't awful and have a 'proof of income'. Not all landlords will request this but if they aren't combined with cheap rent then theres likely some shady folks there and you should gtfo.
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Prismsblade posted...

Look up reviews for the apartments you're interested in and determine the majority's general opinion. Call the landlord and tell them what size apt you're interested, and Schedule a tour if available.

Make sure you're credit score isn't awful and have a 'proof of income'. Not all landlords will request this but if they aren't combined with cheap rent then theres likely some shady folks there and you should gtfo.

Oh yes totally forgot this. It's pretty common in my experience at least for apartments to require you to make a certain amount more than the rent. I think all of the places I rented required at least 2.5X
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MC_BatCommander posted...

Make sure you read your lease, last thing you want is to unknowingly violate it.

Be sure to have enough money for first month's rent plus any other things like deposits or pet fees in your account.

Fake offers are usually hiding on sites like craigslist. You can usually just go to a leasing office for apartments and speak directly to a person to make sure the listing is legit.

I will look for apartments managed by people who rent out multiple apartments since they most likely won't scam people but there are people who only have one place to rent out and these are the ones that could most likely screw tenants.

MonkeyBones23 posted...

Might be worth hiring an agent to make sure you don't get screwed

I probably will do that since its my first time. Once I know how everything goes I can probably do it in my own in the future. Usually these agents have connections to landlords right? That would make things go easier but if not they probably know what to look for.

BigB0ss13 posted...

MonkeyBones23 posted...

Might be worth hiring an agent to make sure you don't get screwed

I probably will do that since its my first time. Once I know how everything goes I can probably do it in my own in the future. Usually these agents have connections to landlords right? That would make things go easier but if not they probably know what to look for.

I'm not too familiar to be honest, but the agent I had for my first place did. I got a really nice place that was super cheap.
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bump

I'm in the same boat, dude. Here's what I've done so far:

-Determined my budget: How much am I willing to spend purely on rent excluding utilities? For me I'm willing to go up to $1700-1800 before utilities, but obviously I'd love to pay less.
-Determined my geographical preference: Where am I willing to live?
-Determined what's important: I want a 1 bedroom 1 bath that is safe (very low crime rate), pet friendly (I have two dogs that aren't house trained and pee/poop on pads), and doesn't have carpet (because of the dogs that pee/poop on pads) and am willing to pay top dollar for these factors.

After doing those three things I searched for apartment complexes that matched my preferences cross compared 17 different apartment complexes that I found using google, rent.com, apartments.com, zillow, and a couple other websites I can't remember. I cross referenced all reviews submitted for reach complex using each website and weeded out 10 of the 17, which leaves me 7 places I'm willing to move into. I've ordered the 7 places from most interested to least interested and am prepared to begin hitting up the leasing offices for walk through/tours of available units and figure out who I want to apply to.

Here's the documentation I've gathered in anticipation of the application process:

-Last 3 official pay stubs from my employer
-2018 W2s from my employer
-First and signature page of my most recently filed tax returns
-Scanned copy of my driver's license and SSN card
-Page of professional workplace recommendations to vouch for my character and work ethic in lieu of my lack of leasing history

I'm not hard pressed for time which means I'm not exactly rushing ASAP to move in somewhere, but I'd like to move in by the end of the month. I've submitted the online contact form to my #1 apartment complex pick and awaiting to hear back from them in hopes of getting a walk through scheduled this upcoming weekend. If me and my s.o. feel good about it, we'll likely begin the application process immediately. According to a handful of friends/coworkers who have rented apartments themselves with their experiences in mind, I should be prepared and hopefully luck is on my side in getting exactly what I want.

Good luck to you TC.
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