Renting? Not as easy as it sounds.

Apparently this is the best time to buy a house. Unfortunately not everyone can afford one or is sure about their future in a certain city and therefore are renting. Not to mention unless you are rolling in cash, you will probably be living in a standard apartment the likes of which can be found all over the city. It is not as easy as paying a deposit and moving in. Because apartment renting is a serious business which means apartment companies are neither forgiving nor compassionate.

A few things you should be careful of when you rent:

Check what is included in the rent.
Many places advertise the lowest prices in the locality. These steal deals may not be as good as they appear. Sometimes the rent is low, but the overhead is high. Water may not be included. If you live in a place where it snows, you may have to pay for your heating, which might not be the most energy efficient kind. These utility bills generally make up for that spectacularly low rent. Often they might exceed the savings. Not to mention you will feel the conscience pinch every time you feel like turning the heat up; so it’s either that or the cold biting. Before you sign anything make it absolutely clear what is included and what is not. Then prepare an estimate of what is not included without the help of the apartment leasing agent of course.

Concessions? Really?
Every apartment office will offer you concessions on rent, on the deposit and on every other thing. Obviously they are in this for profit so the concession doesn’t mean much. Its only a catching phrase that lures in many ignorant and impulsive people. If they offer you a 10% concession, the apartment is only worth less. Most of the concessions come with very cleverly worded clauses in the lease which gives the management new and exciting ways to tell you how they will take back this concession.

Research where you want to live before you even see the office.
There are plenty of websites available to help your research and rate apartments. Try to get information from a friend or relative who already lives there about the place. Gather as much information as you can and the narrow down to only the places you want to live at so that you can be ready and not fall for the “It’s gone, but here is a better deal” trick. I’ll explain how that works. You go to a leasing office, and are shown an apartment. You tell them you are still looking and leave. You come back the next day to sign an application… and the apartment is gone. BUT wait, here’s a better deal with only $50 more and this huge patio (that isn’t huge and you don’t need it.) or this one which is actually $50 less which is just slightly smaller (actually its 400 sqft smaller and is worth $150 less.). The original apartment really gone? Of course not. The office just pulled in a sucker and now rents the original apartment for $50 more to some other eager renter. To avoid this, research where you want to live before you go to the office. This way you minimize the time between looking and renting, and give them less time to show you a “better deal”.

Acquaint yourself well with the lease termination clauses.
This is the golden cow that leasing companies have been milking over the years. Literary geniuses are probably hired to write the termination clause to suck dry the hapless renter in every way possible. Don’t expect these to be on one simple page or section in the lease. They will probably be all over the place. Make sure you calculate what you are going to pay if you terminate early. If necessary get it in writing from the property manager. Most times they will have you pay a massive termination fee, which is almost like 2 months of rent. More often that not, they will have you return any concessions you got. This is scarier than it sounds. If the lease is worded saying that you have to return concessions based on the then rate of the apartment, your bank account will be hit by a truck. Here is how that works. You got a rate of $1200 and you were given a 10% concession meaning you paid $1080. Now if you terminate you end up paying the termination fee plus the concession. But the concession is calculated on the then rate of the apartment, which could be… yeah $1350. Which means you will pay back $120 plus $150 for every month you stayed there. Rest in peace. If you are doubting your living there for the lease term, make sure you have an exit that doesn’t kill you in payments.

Lease term over? Of course not.
Almost every place requires you to give a written notice X(30, 60 or whatever they feel like) number of days before move out. This is on the lease they give you. Now unlike what may make logical sense, you have to give this notice even for your move out for lease end. If you don’t, it will be considered as lease termination and you will end up paying all those things we talked about earlier. Not to mention unless you extend your lease in advance (generally 3-4 months in advance) you will be put on a month to month lease which will cost much more. So make sure you know your notice date, and then make sure you extend on time, or turn in the notice.

Security and parking.
Understand the security features available at the property. Is there a guard on duty? Is there restricted access? Or is it a non fenced, non gated, non guarded property on which anyone can walk into anytime? Check on these things before you rent. It will save you a lot of heartburn later on. What about parking? Is there enough parking for everyone? What kind of parking is available? Is it restricted? Find out all this before you sign anything.