What You Don't Want to Do When You Find a Place

Just a friendly reminder to readers of this site...

When it comes to landing that place you like, don't do anything that is going to result in a future headache for you and those you love. 

One.  Don't make yourself believe that there is no other rental place out there for you and you know you haven't looked for that long.

Sometimes the first few apartment or rental homes that you see are great, but these beauties might cause unnecessary issues for you and those you love later.  Consider the following: these dwellings are out of your league--you are short of cash, you have to come up with far too many ways to meet the security deposit plus first month's rent and utilities, the home is too far away from the job, and the property is available sooner than you have planned and your current lease isn't up yet.  All these issues and more aren't worth going through when you have plenty of time to keep looking.

Two.  Avoid the temptation to persuade your partner, roommates or others who will be staying with you to take the place.

If you see that your family or friends are really not sold on the rental, don't make them accept it.  You will find out the hard way how much of a burden the place might be for them especially if they have repeatedly told you, "I don't like all the trees in the back yard...The neighborhood is scary...Those neighbors are strange...These rooms are too small!  What's that strange smell?  I don't like this house!"

Three.  Hold off on signing anything.

Until you are one hundred percent sure of the lease, property, and other things, don't sign anything!  You will not want to face a potential lawsuit later if you sign the lease and then decide not to pay.

Four.  Tell only a select few about your new location or wait until after you have had some time to get adjusted to your place.

Unfortunately, not everyone is excited when something good happens to someone.  You may have visitors who are very critical and try to convince you to find something else after you have settled on what you really like.  Exes who have unresolved issues may drop by unannounced, angry relatives or bitter friends might be a nuisance to the community, and your family may not want guests when they are still organizing.  So avoid sharing your good news with everyone.

Five.  Keep away from your neighbor's wife/husband, property, parking space, and anything else that doesn't belong to you.

One of the worse things that a new resident can do to make his or her stay awful is to start acting too friendly toward a married couple especially if they aren't interested in friendship.  You can also rouse neighbors if you like to borrow things, play your music loud, and permit your children to run through through the property.  Don't rub your neighbors the wrong way by being too forward, too trusting  or too noisey.

Six.  Never assume that the leasing office has handled everything.

Follow up with everyone and everything from what you saw in the rental dwelling during your tour to your pool pass.  Ask about anything that concerns you and don't think that because someone said, "I'll take care of it." that it was done prior to your move-in date.  

To your success finding an apartment home that is right for you!

Nicholl McGuire