Is it reasonable to see the exact apartment before you lease? (Denver: apartments, leasing)

[harrison21]

Is it pretty typical in Denver for people to wait until they can see the exact apartment they'll be getting before they sign a lease? I always assumed people just did that everywhere-not seeing where you're going to be living before agreeing to buy it for a year seems pretty insane to me. However, some people are telling me that if I wait until it's fully available and the previous tenant has moved out (so you can tour the actual apartment), I'll never get a nice place as people pre-lease them in advance. I do see that tons of places offer leasing online, but that seems like such a huge risk to me. Even if you've seen the community in general, a model apartment or just the outside isn't going to tell you what your apartment will look like. I can't complain because I saw this exact unit and knew what I was getting for where I live now, but our model unit looks NOTHING like my actual apartment.

So far I only have a few places on my list that seem in a semi decent location, a reasonable commute to work, and within my budget. There's specifically only 2-3 places that still seem nice but are a little more affordable. Rent is much higher than I expected and I don't have as many choices as I thought I would. I have a pretty short window in which to move in for July (there is very little time before my job here ends and my job there starts) and I don't want to wait and then end up not being able to get into any of the places I want. Most places already have listings up for July and you can lease them now. I was originally planning to make appointments to see them as soon as they actually open up, and then making a decision. Am I being naive in thinking that will work?

[synapse]

I rented an apartment by figuring out what building I wanted to be in. Although the apartment I am currently in was unavailable to look at when I rented, they were able to show me the same floor plan on a different floor *and* the same view from a different apartment, so I could put the two together in my head. Worked out fine. It's mostly the building you're living in that's key - you can usually find a decent apartment in that building and can even move within that building once you're familiar with it, if it comes to that. I'd go with location and the building first.

[zenkonami]

i.e., is it possible they will be gone by the time they open up for you to look at? Possibly, sure. I don't, however, think it's at all unreasonable to want to see the actual unit you might be LIVING IN. I suppose that's not necessary for everyone and getting the idea is sufficient. Personally, I like to see the actual unit.

[cityfilms]

You want to know if the unit is blocked from traffic also. Traffic is very loud in older apartment buildings if your unit faces the road, because the windows are paper thin typically.

In addition, most apartments do not have air conditioning so you will have to keep your window open which will further make traffic noise unbearable.

I have an inside unit, so I think I pay more than other people in my building.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by synapse

I rented an apartment by figuring out what building I wanted to be in. Although the apartment I am currently in was unavailable to look at when I rented, they were able to show me the same floor plan on a different floor *and* the same view from a different apartment, so I could put the two together in my head. Worked out fine. It's mostly the building you're living in that's key - you can usually find a decent apartment in that building and can even move within that building once you're familiar with it, if it comes to that. I'd go with location and the building first.

This would be a big plus for me. It shows that the management has respect for the current tenants (90% do not). Which means that when you give notice to move out, there is a good chance that they won't be bringing prospective new tenants into your apartment on a daily basis.

[Snikt]

I've never seen a place where you can see your exact apartment, short of a new complex where everything is vacant. Best bet is to look at a similar floorplan and just check out the outside of the exact apartment you're looking at to check the view, traffic, etc..

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by Snikt

I've never seen a place where you can see your exact apartment, short of a new complex where everything is vacant.

When I lived in Denver I can remember being shown two apartments in Capital Hill where the tenants where still moving out. In both cases the apartments were filthy dirty with trash strewn across the floors. It really wasn't an appealing way to look at the units. Incidentally I didn't rent either one. I really don't remember the reasons. It more then likely had to do with other things, but the dirty conditions probably didn't help.

[harrison21]

Oh, I definitely meant after the tenants moved out! I wouldn't want to live somewhere that showed you where people were still living a) because I wouldn't want them to do that to me when I was moving out and b) that doesn't show you how well they actually clean the place between tenants. When I moved up here I just called around to places and asked if they had 1 bedroom apartments available, and then went to see the actual units in the ones that did. There was only one place I looked that didn't have any open- but I think our housing is not as full as Denver's. I am just afraid if I don't see it first that I'll end up with something old/run-down looking, not cleaned, lots of things broken, etc. I have a very short window in which to move in for July, and most places I'm looking already have units listed for that time frame (the exact apartment number) available to lease online. So you all think I just need to tour the community, see the building from the outside, and hope for the best?

Based on budget, commute time, and least not horrible reviews online (no mention of bugs, mice, crime, etc.) I have it narrowed down to only a few places that are affordable and still seem nicer/safer. I'm bringing a pet and I also for sure want a garage, and those two things add on a lot to the rent.

These places I've seen the outside and the neighborhood, and at least from the outside they seemed pretty decent:
Lambertson Farms in Thorton
Champions Park in Thorton
Links at Legacy Ridge in Westminster

Any ideas on those?

I also recently was looking at Addison at Cherry Creek in Glendale, but I have not seen the area in person yet. I just saw it had a lot of amenities but was really cheap in comparison to the other places (why?) and seemed to be in a location that might offer a bit more to do. However, I was a little concerned that they seem to have TONS of listings open for this summer- why are so many people moving out? I would have to look a little deeper into that one but it would save me some money.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by harrison21

Oh, I definitely meant after the tenants moved out!

In that case I can't think of any good reason they wouldn't show it to you. If they refused, I'd want to know the reason why.

[harrison21]

Originally Posted by KaaBoom

In that case I can't think of any good reason they wouldn't show it to you. If they refused, I'd want to know the reason why.

Well, I guess people are saying that people lease them before they're vacant/available to see, and if you wait until it's actually vacant to see if you want it, someone else will have taken it. For example, it will be listed like this:

xyz layout, available July 19th
abc layout, available August 1st

And then you can lease those now rather than waiting until July 19th or August 1st- but obviously you can't see them as someone is still living in them until that date.

In the above example, my plan would be to go see that exact apartment on July 19th and then sign a lease if I like it. However, people were telling me that in more crowded cities if you wait until that date, you'll never actually get anything because someone else will always pre-lease it. I was asking if that is the case in Denver or if it's pretty reasonable to wait until I can see the actual unit before signing a lease.