Working in Kenwood, my own first place. (Cincinnati, Norwood: apartment, lease)

[TheKid17]

I will be moving down to the area and will be working in Kenwood. Curious to know where you would recommend. I don't know much about the area other than what I can find on the computer, but Blue Ash and Madeira seem nice, but out of my price range. The closer to work the better and the cheaper the better. I just basically need a place to crash that is clean and safe. $700 before utilities will be my max. I have some ideas, but it seems like anything under $600 is a dump with mold growing everywhere based on everyones reviews. I will only need a studio, but would be nice to have a 1 bedroom apartment.

[goyguy]

You MIGHT luck out in Deer Park, Norwood, or Silverton, in an older but clean "brick box" building. But something tells me you'd be better off biting the bullet and finding a roommate on craigslist.

[Fae31]

Any apartment you think to rent in Cincinnati no matter the area you should have looked at by a bed bug exterminator as most of the landlords will hit you with a bedbug addendum which states that " you" have inspected the apartment and have found it to be bedbug free " at the signing of the lease when your truck is outside with your stuff ready to be moved in. Problem with this is "you" aren't a qualified pest professional and most tenants because of these addendums don't report infestations. Most of these addendums only give you 48 to 72 hrs to "find an infestation" after that the bugs are your problem. The issue with that is it can take anywhere from a month to three months for you to figure out the previous tenants didn't "all leave" when their lease was up. If your neighbor brings them in, your still responsible to have the apartment treated as far as landlord is concerned. Sorry to be gross but its your first apartment you've got to protect yourself. There are lot of good landlords out there that take care of their tenants and their property, but unfortunately you have just as many who don't.

Terminex last time I checked does free inspections, other places charge between 50 and 200, but normally no more than fifty. Also look at bedbug registry.com put address in and it will show if anyone has reported bedbugs at the property or not. If you do decide to have the apartment inspected before you move in make sure you do it before you sign anything. Take it a step further have your belongings inspected just so you can show the landlord you don't have them. If the landlord refuses to allow your exterminator to inspect the apartment then definitely don't rent from that landlord. Remember fifty dollars is small compared to thousands and that's usually what it cost to get rid of them buggers. Best of luck to you!