Chapter II: Hunting Apartments
You’re not going to see much law in this section, it’s mostly just practical advice. There are many different types of landlords and apartments. Some are good, and some are bad. The first rule is that size does not matter. A big complex can have a dishonest property manager just as easily as a guy who rents out the other side of his duplex for few extra bucks. Large complexes can also have abysmal repair records.
How can you tell whether the apartment manager fixes things on time and is cool about the rent being three hours late? Ask the people who are living there right now. It’s a good bet that they have some experience living there and they are likely to be happy to share it with you. Your landlord might ask you for a rental reference. Turn about is fair play when it comes to his present tenants. And don’t ask for an opinion in front of the landlord if you want a straight answer.
There are lots of great features about apartments. Off street parking is great, proximity to classes, on site washer and dryer, decks, etc. But the specifics are all up to you. In general, when looking for an apartment, the most important consideration is that you remember the first commandment that there are plenty of other empty apartments for rent out there and that there will always be plenty of empty apartments for rent. To reiterate the first commandment of apartment
hunting, I will put it in its proper form:
THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER EMPTY APARTMENTS FOR RENT OUT THERE!
If you ignore this first commandment, you are doomed to the hell of slumlords with scant chance of redemption. If you choose to ignore this commandment because you are ga ga over an apartment that you simply must have because of the beautiful view of the nearby park, do you and me a favor and quit reading this portion of the book and wasting our time but thanks for the purchase price. There is no such thing as an indispensable apartment. There may be apartment
complexes that are all full, but there are others nearby that are not.
You will find a place to live and a nice one no matter how late you get started looking. Don’t feel like you have to rent the first apartment that you see or like out of fear that the next group behind you will shark it from you, or that you won’t find a place for next year. In fact, you would do well to wait. If you are in the university area, the best deals are struck right before the school year starts.
Were I a university area landlord (and at the time of this writing I am), I would be asking for as much as I could get out of my apartment in March or April. At that point I have all the time in the world to get a good rental group in there. But as summer wears on and the place still is not rented for next September, I get nervous about making my mortgage payment when my present renters leave and I have no money coming in. I start thinking about that second job that I am
going to have to work at night so the bank doesn’t foreclose on my retirement nest egg. As I show group after group through and no one takes it, I start thinking that a hundred or so bucks off the rent per month for a year is nothing really when it comes to the long run. If the tenants want pets, well, a bit of extra dog damage is cleaned up easily enough. Why is it that you would bargain the hell out of someone from whom you are buying a used car, but you wouldn’t dream
of bargaining for a used apartment?
Remember as well that you are likely going to live there for at least a year. As a student, you have enough things to deal with besides having to come home to a place you don’t want to be. Home is the key word. This will be your home away from home. Take the time to be choosy and find a place that you can call home. If you want the quiet life of dedicated study, don’t live near students. If you want to have some serious parties, do not live near families, working
people, or older people.
Your next consideration should be concerning roommates but I’ll leave that up to you. Remember that the general rule of law is that you will be responsible for what your roommates do (as in setting fires and breaking windows) or do not do (as in paying the rent). Find someone with whom you are compatible and who is dependable around the first of every
month. Chances are you will be stuck with them for at least a year in a very small space. If you can’t get along with your roommate, that isn’t the landlord’s fault. So if you have any doubt about whether you will get on with that fourth or fifth roommate, best not to chance it.
Avoid the old switcharoo. What’s the old switcharoo, you ask? It’s when the landlord or the leasing agent at a large complex shows you their “model apartment” and promises that every other apartment in the building is just like this one with new appliances, a remodeled bathroom, new carpet, fresh paint, a loveseat and 27″ color t.v. to boot. They always pick the one that has the view of the lake or the park to be the model, rather than the view of the stinking dumpster
round back. And, of course, you’ll hear, “Your apartment is rented right now and we can’t get in to see it without giving the current tenant a week’s notice.”
One thing that you will notice about all model apartments is that no one is living in the model. The carpet is as new as the day it was laid down. There are no cracks in the window glass and the appliances work perfectly because they never get used. Landlords are banking on the fact that you have not purchased this work or have already ignored or violated the first commandment. They understand how to take advantage of college students who can’t wait to rent an apartment the day before yesterday. Landlords and their leasing agents will tell you everything you want to hear. This accommodating attitude will last only through the initial courting stage. Once you say, “I do, ” the honeymoon is over before it ever began.
If you fall for the old switcharoo, you will only get to see your apartment after you have locked yourself into the lease and by then it will be too late. The lease will say nothing about all the promises the landlord or leasing agent made when they showed you the “model apartment.” Landlords have a very short memory and unless you can shove a piece of paper under their noses with your and their John Hancocks on the bottom to remind them that new carpet was supposed to
have been installed before move-in, you are in the hurt locker.
If you heed our advice and insist upon seeing the apartment that you will be renting before making any deposit or signing any piece of paper there is hope for you yet. Becoming a Jedi Tenant is still a long way off but you have taken the first step.
When you are in the actual apartment which you will be renting and looking at it for the first time, it’s a good idea to someone with you who is outspoken and will not be living there, like your mother or some very outspoken friend who will spot every flaw and insist loudly that it be put in the lease that such imperfections be remedied.
What will the landlord say? “No problem, Mrs. Johnson. We’ll get right on that. We’ll have that taken care of before they move in. Not to worry.” But watch out. If those promises are not found in the lease, consider them gone with the next passing wind. We’ll tell you more about the Parol Evidence Rule as it applies to rental contracts in the next section.
Always remember that if the landlord isn’t giving you what you want, WALK. Walk away from that landlord and that lease as fast as you can and never come back. In the landlord’s eyes, he sees you as a giant checkbook that just sprouted legs and is walking out of his office. Empty apartments don’t pay rent. Giant checkbooks sprouting legs and walking out of offices are not good things in the eyes of a landlord. That landlord wants to see your rent check magically
float out of your apartment down the hallway and into his office every month.
If you have ever wondered what landlords dream about, there you have it. Hundreds of checks floating through the air and into the landlord’s bank accounts. Chances are that the landlord knows the tenant’s first commandment better than you:
THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER EMPTY APARTMENTS FOR RENT OUT THERE. And if he realizes that you know it, dreams of magical checks finding their way into his bank account suddenly disappear.
If you get up and walk out of a bad situation, you have already learned fast and well. Landlord’s are money-hungry by nature. Chances are they have a huge mortgage payment to make each month and they are counting on you to help make it. Once you sign on the dotted line, the chances of you getting out of helping to pay off the interest on that loan for the next year are Slim and None and Slim just left town with your best girl.
But some landlords will let you walk. Why? Always remember that some landlords are stupid. It’s not that they know something that you don’t. If you are a gift from heaven (a tenant looking to rent a five bedroom apartment in the middle of February) and the landlord won’t give you a break on the rent and addresses you in a rude and surly manner, it’s not because he has the inside scoop. It’s because he is a big fan of unrented property. He inherited the complex from
his parents and has no mortgage payment. Walk. Leave him to his own devices.
When looking for apartments, make a day out it, not the latter part of the afternoon. If you have to select an apartment in three hours time, you will be unhappy. If you have all day set aside, you can really see places and do it right. Bring a notebook and a pen so that you can remember addresses, phone numbers and rental amounts. If you are looking at renting an older structure, you may want to call various utility companies to see what the monthly utility payments
are going to be.
To sum up, The first commandment is THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER EMPTY APARTMENTS FOR RENT OUT THERE! Its first corollary is – WALKING IS A VERY EFFECTIVE BARGAINING TOOL, and good exercise to boot.
