Teaching Our Kids About Renting an Apartment

A key part to money management and life management for young adults is renting an apartment. We taught our kids about the process early when each of them went away to a summer rental with friends. Young adults need to learn and understand the process of leasing an apartment and all the pitfalls they may encounter.

When our kids were finishing high school, they got together with some friends to rent an apartment in Ocean City, New Jersey, a beach resort about two hours from Philadelphia. It was our son's first real experience with renting an apartment and signing a lease. The process was very helpful in teaching him and his friends about contracts, leasing and other important personal finance issues.

Signing a lease
Since some of the kids were 18, they were able to sign the lease themselves, and would be responsible financially and damage-wise. The process taught all the young people involved the importance of reading a contract and understanding what they were signing. We helped them review the document, and ask the landlord for some clarifications. The landlord had a clause about no overnight guests, something we knew was unreasonable in a full-summer shore rental. We talked to the kids about it and they brought it up with the landlord, who agreed to change the language to allow for occasional overnight guests. The kids understood and agreed not to bring in permanent extra house-guests for extended stays.

Deposits
The kids learned about putting a deposit on an apartment and how you also have to pay first and last month's rent in advance. So even though the apartment was $2500 a month, the landlord sought $7500, as first month rent, last month rent and a security deposit equal to one month's rent. We negotiated and the landlord agreed to accept a $5000 deposit.

Budget
The kids would all have summer jobs, so we calculated their incomes, less food and fun, to make sure they could all afford the monthly rent. We explained that if one person didn't pay, the others would have to cover him to avoid breaking the lease. The kids learned to live within a budget, to make sure they had enough money for their rent before they went out partying.

Maintenance
Our young adults learned about keeping things maintained like the toilet and plumbing. They also learned having a landlord is a benefit in these cases, as homeowners must handle and pay for repairs themselves. We helped them with some basic skills so they could solve simple problems themselves, like clogged drains or dripping faucets.

Landlord-tenant issues
They learned to be responsible, that their actions had consequences. They also learned some good communication skills, to be upfront and honest, offering solutions, was beneficial when it came to dealing with the landlord. I tried to teach them (as a landlord myself) to look at things from his perspective, this was a business to him, he wanted on-time payment and compliance with the lease. We taught them to expect the same in return, fair treatment and compliance with the lease on his end too.

Lease termination and moving out
Our young adults learned the process of giving notice to leave an apartment and how that works. They knew they had to give notice 30 days before leaving and then work with the landlord to get their large deposit back. They learned about getting charged for damage and wear, which came as a surprise, they all expected to be handed a check when they left for the full amount of deposit they had paid upon move-in.

This process also taught him some negotiation, as they agreed to help patch and repaint the walls and the landlord gave them a large break on charging them against the deposit.

The experience proved a good lesson in the whole process of renting an apartment. Both our kids were able to get great first apartments using the experiences they had learned on the summer rental.

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