Any tips on getting my first apartment?

[Navyshow]

Originally Posted by addakisson

Visit the apartment complex at different times on different days. Don't forget very early morning and very late night.

THIS! ^^^^
I remember many years ago, I was looking for an apartment and narrowed it down to two. One was close to work and very nice. So I took a tour and selected a pretty one bedroom on the first floor for the apartment close to work. I could not make up my mind between the two so I decided to check them out one night to see what the atmosphere was like for both.

It was raining and I remember walking up to the apartment close to work with my umbrella in the dark. There was blaring loud music from the apartment above the one I would have been living in and I mean it was loud, the bass was shaking the building. I could hear it as soon as I got out of my car.

I was so glad I did that. That eliminated that choice.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by cfbs2691

I say the opposite of this.
I've found private landlord's to be quicker to take care of their investment/property, and corporate run complexes are more expensive and raise the rents more than a private landlord who'd prefer to keep a tenant long term.

Have to agree. Before I bought my little house in San Francisco years ago, I rented a flat in a 3-unit building from a man who owned several apartment buildings in the city. The very few times there was a maintenance problem, he was there that day to fix it - even got me a new stove the next day when the old one died and couldn't be repaired.

He saw what good care I took of the apartment and never raised my rent in the 6 years I lived there, even though with rent control he could have raised it a certain amount each year. After a few years of this, I said, "Ed, not that I'm complaining, but you could be raising my rent every year," and he said that he had tenants that trashed his property to the point where when they moved, he had to do a lot of work before he could rent the place again, and "I want you to stay." And if I hadn't decided to buy a house, I would have.

I know that no corporate-managed apartment manager would do that. There *are* good landlords out there, though I know it was just dumb luck that I found one.

[gentlearts]

I wonder how she made out?

My ex daughter in law followed my son to where he lived after she graduated. She knew nothing about the city, so went strictly by budget. Big mistake. Every time she left her apartment, the gang of foreign looking men who hung around outside, stared at her. Finally, someone got shot in the laundry room.