What You Need to Know Before Renting a House or Apartment

Whether you are renting your first studio apartment or a large suburban residence, there are questions that every potential renter should ask BEFORE signing that Real Estate lease.

While renting a single family home or townhouse has some additional responsibilities for the renter, many of the questions you need to ask will be the same.

1. Make sure you understand exactly what your maintenance and repair responsibilities are. Are minor repairs your responsibility? What is a minor repair? Pest control? If you are renting a house, is lawn care and basic outdoor maintenance your responsibility? Remember to factor those items into your projected budget so you are certain you can afford the property before you move in. A $1200 a month house becomes less affordable if you need to pay for pool, lawn and other maintenance.

2. Make sure you understand who is responsible for the utilities, what is included in the rent and what is not. If the landlord is paying any or all utilities ask for some assurance that the bills get paid. More than one tenant has been stuck with no water when a landlord failed to pay the water bill.

3. Make sure you are dealing with an authorized agent/ owner and that the property is not in foreclosure. This should not be an issue but the current foreclosure epidemic has resulted in a number of scams. People are actually renting out houses they don't own or are about to lose in foreclosure. A simple online record search of the property address can tell you who owns the property and if there is a foreclosure action pending.

4. Make sure you determine if there are HOA rules and get a copy of them. If you don't you may find yourself running afoul of regulations barring such things as leaving your bike on the balcony, having an "illegal" grill, parking violations etc.

5. Make sure you know who to call in the event of needed repair or emergency and who has the keys and access to your home. If a pipe breaks at 2am, you should not need to wait until next Wednesday to get someone there. And, who has keys to get in and make those repairs? Will anyone be showing up unannounced, such as the exterminator etc.

6. Make sure you document, in writing any damage, destruction or state of disrepair of anything in or around the property BEFORE you move in. You don't want the landlord to hold you responsible for items that were broken before you moved in.

7. Lastly, if a neighborhood seems even slightly "rough" or "iffy" drop by the local police department. They can tell you what kinds of callouts they get for a particular apartment complex or street. This would include how often and what types of disturbances.

This is not an exhaustive list. It does cover most of the issues that might otherwise make your tenancy a nightmare. It is not easy to find the perfect apartment. I hope this article helps you succeed in that search.