Paying to reserve apartment? (Pittsburgh: rental market, eviction, credit check)

[francisco1844]

My wife and I are working the web and phones in preparation to move in January.

Have found several apartment buildings asking us for money to "reserve" a place for us to see.

My favorite was "aparments are moving fast so you have to reserve one so you can come see it".. If they were moving fast, no building would rather reserve than to outright just rent it.

Is this a normal practice in the Pittsburgh area or we have just been calling bad places with greedy management?

[escilade18]

Originally Posted by francisco1844

My wife and I are working the web and phones in preparation to move in January.

Have found several apartment buildings asking us for money to "reserve" a place for us to see.

My favorite was "aparments are moving fast so you have to reserve one so you can come see it".. If they were moving fast, no building would rather reserve than to outright just rent it.

Is this a normal practice in the Pittsburgh area or we have just been calling bad places with greedy management?

Whenever I was looking over the summer I have never had one landlord ask for a deposit to just see the place. I will admit that I wasn't looking at any expensive places , but I imagine that your best bet would be to stay at a hotel in the area and look at all the places without having to pay for a reservation

[Love2Golf09]

Where is this at? If you're looking in the city, then a local screwball landlord might have this policy. I've never heard of this before. Probably the worst aspect of Pittsburgh right now is the extremely tight rental market. I would be extremely weary of this practice from landlords. Are they keeping a percentage if you do not take the apt? Heck, I remember a few years ago when few, if any, landlords actually charged an application fee. Even today, few landlords or management companies do a decent credit check. They basically check your judgements and eviction notices and that's it. In NYC/NJ, it's like dealing with the mafia. Some of those morons want a pound of flesh to move in, along with first month, last month, and security deposit. Insane. Fortunately, many places in Pittsburgh still allow residents to move in with first month's rent and $200 security.

[francisco1844]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

Where is this at?

A few places we called asked for relatively low fees to "reserve" an apartment for us, but the one asking for nearly $300 (with $200 refundable if we don't rent) was Chestnut Ridge aparments.

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

I would be extremely weary of this practice from landlords.

Agree.

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

Fortunately, many places in Pittsburgh still allow residents to move in with first month's rent and $200 security.

Although someone mentioned it is usually a month's rent deposit I have seen mostly deposits that are less than one month's rent.

[newpgher]

I did not encounter this during my search last year, so while I can't definitively say whether this is standard for Pittsburgh overall, this was not my personal experience.

[SammyKhalifa]

That sounds scamtastic.

[creepsinc]

buy a house, it's cheaper.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

buy a house, it's cheaper.

That's not very realistic for someone who is visiting the area for the first time, IMO.

[francisco1844]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

buy a house, it's cheaper.

I have noticed that, but we can't do that until we have an idea of how different areas are. Also we want to start our family so need to look for a good school district. I think our best choice is to rent for a year or two until we get to know the area and research an area with good schools.

[Hopes]

That's not how things are done around here. Sounds like scam artists. It's likely they're not even property owners.

In Pittsburgh, you provide a security deposit when you sign a lease. It's usual equal to one month's rent.

But never are you asked to provide money to "hold" an apartment for you to merely view it.