This is a guest post from Jake at RocketLease.com.
After moving nearly every year since I turned 18, I’ve had the opportunity of living in a wide variety of apartments, both by myself, with roommates, and now with my lovely girlfriend. In addition to renting apartments both big and small, dirt cheap and reasonably expensive, I’ve also rented in a number of big cities, most recently including Seattle and Boston.
Simply put, I have a lot of experience as far as apartment living goes and I’d like to share some of that with you guys today.
The Best Apartment
I wanted to start things off by talking about the best apartment that I ever lived in. It’s actually a bit surprising, even to me, that this was my favorite. It wasn’t the nicest, it wasn’t the most conveniently located, and it definitely wasn’t the biggest. But it was run by a family realty company and had all the charm that I was looking for at the time.
The best apartment that I ever lived in was located in a city just outside of Boston. It was a small studio apartment that I was living in with my girlfriend. What I liked the most about this apartment was that the landlords were just so nice and understanding. They responded super promptly to maintenance requests, weren’t sticklers about getting rent on the 1st (though if it was past the 5th they got worried), and kept the place in all around great condition. Better yet, the apartment was located close to a bus line to the city, had a window with a great view of a small forested area, and all of the other tenants were quiet and very friendly.
The Worst Apartment
On the other end of things is the worst apartment I have ever lived in. Once again, there wasn’t anything supremely terrible about it, rather the circumstances of my living there were just a little iffy.
The worst apartment that I ever lived in was located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle. For one thing, it was way too expensive for how small it was (but that’s what you get living in the city, I guess). The two things that really made my time there suck, however, were a) the landlord and b) my roommate. I desperately needed a roommate and decided to move in with a relatively new friend. Needless to say, things turned out bad as he had guests staying on our couch constantly, played his music way too loud, and ended up not paying his share of the rent for three months in a row. Our landlord, while he did redeem himself by being a good sport about my paying my roommate’s rent a little late each month, did little to help fix maintenance issues that were all too apparent in our apartment.
How I Make Sure That My Apartments Are Awesome Now
Luckily, and not to sound like a whiner, my best apartment experience, worst apartment experience, and all those others in between have taught me a lot about renting. Today, I am confident that I will never rent an apartment I dislike again.
The way I make sure that my apartments are awesome is simple. First of all, I screen my prospective landlord. Instead of just resigning myself to the idea that a landlord is a landlord, I now search for their name and their rental business online, try to get a feel for their personality in person, and ask for landlord references before signing a lease. I do these things to make sure that I am renting from a landlord that is responsible, courteous, and a good person all around.
Secondly, I make sure that I’m not in a rush while I am apartment hunting. The main cause of my worst apartment experience was that I was desperate. Instead of choosing a roommate that I knew I was compatible with, I was rushed into choosing a nearly random dude. Having at least two months before I need to move in, and enough cash to cover first month’s rent, last month’s rent, and a security deposit, helps give me the peace of mind I need to find an apartment I truly like rather than just any one that will do.
What about you? Feel free to share your best and worst apartment experiences in the comments below or send us an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.
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