Before You Sign that Lease...

Signing a lease can turn into a huge nightmare if you are not careful. The first thing you want to do is take a look at how the landlord is acting. If the landlord is whipping you around the place, avoiding your questions and being very rude to you, perhaps you don't want to deal with this type of person as a landlord. You don't want to ask him or her to do something and get no response for several weeks. You need to know that when things break down you will get your problems fixed, which is the landlords responsibility. It's possible to find a nice landlord who answer all of your questions.

You will want to check out the neighborhood as well. If you have small children search around for registered sex offenders. If there are cops that live in the area this is a good thing. These cops will know what goes on in the area and they will not live here with their families. You will want to see who the neighbors are and how they act. You don't want to live next to bad neighbors who party at all hours of the night. There's nothing you can do but end the lease early which means you will need to pay the remainder of the rent until the lease is up.

If you've never rented before you want to pick a 6 month lease or a month to month lease. This means that you will need to give a 60 day notice before you move out. If you pick a 12 month lease and something happens you will be stuck in the lease. People can tired of apartment life very quickly and perhaps you will find a duplex for rent which is cheaper or nicer. Make sure that you know what type of lease you are signing.

Make sure to check out windows, toilets, tubs, basements and appliances. You don't want to move into a place and the toilet doesn't work or the stove isn't working properly. You want to check out all of the flaws as well. If the landlord gives you a sheet of things that are wrong with the place you want to write down all of the things that you find wrong with the place as well. You don't want to be held responsible for the stove breaking down or the carpet getting ruined in every room. You can take pictures of things when you move in so that you have proof of what is wrong with the place.

People rent places all of the time. There are many places to choose from. Make sure that you are getting a good deal and make sure that you can afford it. If you encounter some problems in a few months and have to pay a thousand dollars can you still afford to live in this apartment or duplex. If you are a college student will you need this nice of a place while you are in school? Perhaps you can use the extra money to pay for your college classes.