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I found a really nice apartment in PA, and I plan on moving in on June 1, but I am beginning to have second thoughts. I looked at the apartment a month ago, and the landlord said that I would be paying $575 per month + all utilities. I called him back last week and tried to negotiate a lower price ($525), but he said the apartment only costs $450 a month + electric, which means he gave me the wrong amount when I came to look at the place.
After telling him I would take the apartment, I gave him my references. I received a voice message from his wife in which she said how impressed she was with the feedback from my references. She said that her and her husband were going on vacation for the weekend, so I figured I would call back the day after Memorial Day. I called the landlord on 5/28 to ask about meeting him to go over a lease, and he rudely asked why I never returned his call (even though I had received a message from his wife but not from him). I explained that I did not receive a voice message from him, and that I did not immediately return his wife's call because I did not want to interrupt their vacation. He responded by saying that he definitely left me a voice message.
The fact that he told me the rent only costs $450 when I offered to pay $525 shows that he is honest, yet all this miscommunication is making me feel like he has no idea what he is doing. Also, I don't understand why a landlord would take a rude tone with a prospective tenant (especially since the apartment has been open for the past four months).
The apartment is in excellent condition and is in a wonderful location for a great price, so I really want to take it, but I am on the fence after seeing this landlord's behavior. I plan on meeting him on Friday to go over the lease, so I'm thinking of waiting until then to make my final decision.
Are there any red flags here? What would you suggest I do in this situation? Thank you all for your time.
I found a really nice apartment in PA, and I plan on moving in on June 1, but I am beginning to have second thoughts. I looked at the apartment a month ago, and the landlord said that I would be paying $575 per month + all utilities. I called him back last week and tried to negotiate a lower price ($525), but he said the apartment only costs $450 a month + electric, which means he gave me the wrong amount when I came to look at the place.
After telling him I would take the apartment, I gave him my references. I received a voice message from his wife in which she said how impressed she was with the feedback from my references. She said that her and her husband were going on vacation for the weekend, so I figured I would call back the day after Memorial Day. I called the landlord on 5/28 to ask about meeting him to go over a lease, and he rudely asked why I never returned his call (even though I had received a message from his wife but not from him). I explained that I did not receive a voice message from him, and that I did not immediately return his wife's call because I did not want to interrupt their vacation. He responded by saying that he definitely left me a voice message.
The fact that he told me the rent only costs $450 when I offered to pay $525 shows that he is honest, yet all this miscommunication is making me feel like he has no idea what he is doing. Also, I don't understand why a landlord would take a rude tone with a prospective tenant (especially since the apartment has been open for the past four months).
The apartment is in excellent condition and is in a wonderful location for a great price, so I really want to take it, but I am on the fence after seeing this landlord's behavior. I plan on meeting him on Friday to go over the lease, so I'm thinking of waiting until then to make my final decision.
Are there any red flags here? What would you suggest I do in this situation? Thank you all for your time.
Have you already put down a non-refundable deposit to hold the place?
Plan on going to the meeting on Friday. However keep searching for other rentals as a back-up. That way you know you can walk away, if necessary. You're not stuck with him yet. At the Friday meeting, if your gut intuition tells you there could be future issues, then decline the lease. This would make sense if you wouldn't feel comfortable reporting maintenance problems or other issues with the LL. This is supposed to be the LL's best behavior period when trying to attract & sign a new tenant. Wouldn't want to see his behavior when you're trapped in a lease!
Yes, that is a red flag that an apartment costing only $450 a month has been on the market for four months. Is there a grouphome or half-way house next door? Google the street address to see if a murder was committed inside or any other big incident occured there (meth lab, gang activity). Also, type the address into a sex-offender registry to see if known predators are the neighbors. $450 rent for an apartment should've rented months ago.
I suggest that you call the tax assessor and get the name of the owner of the building. Unless that is an enormous building with many different size apartments, I find it very odd that a landlord would not know what his units are renting for.
Do you know what this the immediate/surrounding community is like? Could be infested with gang members, drug dealers, loud music or drunks. Or it could be a really great apartment.
Today is Wednesday, so you still have today and tomorrow before your Friday appointment to sign the lease. Sit in your car outside the place at different times of the day and late at night. Then tomorrow, talk to a couple of the neighbors for their insight into the neighborhood. Finally, ask if they are treated fairly by the LL. The LL vetted you carefully. You have the same responsibility as a prospective renter to investigate your rental property.
By checking out everything for yourself, you can save yourself from unneeded aggravation. Or, you could confirm that you've found a diamond-in-the-rough in this $450 apartment and feel confident signing the lease.
Thank you all for your feedback. The apartment is in a great neighborhood, so crime is not an issue. I will try to stop by today or tomorrow and speak with one of the tenants. I have a few back-up apartments lined up just in case anything about the lease or the landlord seems fishy.
One thing I always like to do is google the address and the landlord's name or realty company. As someone said earlier, if there was a murder there or something else major, that should show up in a news article. The same is true of its a bad landlord...sometimes the name will pop up if a disgruntled tenant has posted a rant or review. Of course, that's not always reliable if it was actually a lousy tenant bad mouthing a good landlord for evicting them.
Talking to neighbors is a great idea. They're the best way to get firsthand knowledge about the landlord, noise issues, and local crime.
How he reacted would have brought up a red flag for me too, but it may just be that he's had a lot of no shows in that four months or people backing out at the last minute. I would meet with him on Friday and see how it goes. Make sure and check over the lease to make sure the correct rental price is listed.
I found a really nice apartment in PA, and I plan on moving in on June 1, but I am beginning to have second thoughts. I looked at the apartment a month ago, and the landlord said that I would be paying $575 per month + all utilities. I called him back last week and tried to negotiate a lower price ($525), but he said the apartment only costs $450 a month + electric, which means he gave me the wrong amount when I came to look at the place.
After telling him I would take the apartment, I gave him my references. I received a voice message from his wife in which she said how impressed she was with the feedback from my references. She said that her and her husband were going on vacation for the weekend, so I figured I would call back the day after Memorial Day. I called the landlord on 5/28 to ask about meeting him to go over a lease, and he rudely asked why I never returned his call (even though I had received a message from his wife but not from him). I explained that I did not receive a voice message from him, and that I did not immediately return his wife's call because I did not want to interrupt their vacation. He responded by saying that he definitely left me a voice message.
The fact that he told me the rent only costs $450 when I offered to pay $525 shows that he is honest, yet all this miscommunication is making me feel like he has no idea what he is doing. Also, I don't understand why a landlord would take a rude tone with a prospective tenant (especially since the apartment has been open for the past four months).
The apartment is in excellent condition and is in a wonderful location for a great price, so I really want to take it, but I am on the fence after seeing this landlord's behavior. I plan on meeting him on Friday to go over the lease, so I'm thinking of waiting until then to make my final decision.
Are there any red flags here? What would you suggest I do in this situation? Thank you all for your time.
hmmmm...It sounds to me like this guy is a little bit mixed up and he seems very unorganized for a landlord. He might have more than one property and possibly multiple prospective tenants but he needs to do a better job of getting organized. If he is like that now think about what it will be like once you are a tenant. Will he also be unorganized with Rent payments? etc.. I would pass but if you do decide to take it make sure he puts everything in writing. Read carefully over everything before you sign anything. If you give him a deposit make sure he signs off on something stating that you gave him a deposit and the amount.
Do you know what this the immediate/surrounding community is like? Could be infested with gang members, drug dealers, loud music or drunks. Or it could be a really great apartment.
Today is Wednesday, so you still have today and tomorrow before your Friday appointment to sign the lease. Sit in your car outside the place at different times of the day and late at night. Then tomorrow, talk to a couple of the neighbors for their insight into the neighborhood. Finally, ask if they are treated fairly by the LL. The LL vetted you carefully. You have the same responsibility as a prospective renter to investigate your rental property.
By checking out everything for yourself, you can save yourself from unneeded aggravation. Or, you could confirm that you've found a diamond-in-the-rough in this $450 apartment and feel confident signing the lease.
If you sign a lease, make sure you have your own copy of the signed lease before you leave. Either you both go to Staples to sign and get a copy before you depart landlord, or hopefully landlord brought 2 blank copies of the lease, and you each sign and take away your own lease.
You don't want to sign the lease and allow landlord to take the only signed copy and promise to send you yours when he makes a copy. This guy is too unorganized for this. Tell him you'll follow him to the library or wherever there is a copy machine. Then you sign it in front of the copy machine and make copies.
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