Moving - references, damage deposit, and etc. (apartment, renter, house)

[nickjbor]

I was going to post this in the "moving" forum but since most of my questions related to rental situations, I think here would be better.

here's my situation. I currently rent a room in a house. There are 6 other rooms but usually no more then 4 or less then 3 total in the house. The landlord lives in the basement.
While I get a good price $110 canadian, internet heat power and cable included, I want to move out for a number of reasons
One - I'd like my own bathtub. I enjoy baths, but no one else does. I have to replace the faucet head thingy (a shower hose is attached) on our only bathtub (on a different level from my room) if I wanted to take a bath - I also cant really leave it to fill while I do something else productive.
Two - I want my own kitchen. My own stove, microwave, and dishes so I can use these items the way I want and when I want. I work nights and tend to be lax on cleaning, two things that dont go well in a place full of clean day workers. Currently I just buy tonnes of bags of chips to avoid the problem
Three - nosy landlord. Most of the time he's nice and fine and we chat here and there, but he does not my lax cleaning, and likes to stick his nose into my room and see how clean it is. He is not a nazi about it, but once in a while he will get angry - usually on a day that I really dont want to be bothered (if I was in a good mood, I'd have just cleaned before the confrontation)
Four - I want a place closer to where I work.

All of this leads me to desire to get a bachelors/0 bedroom apartment closer to my workplace. I'll be renting there as well and this leads me to my questions

First off, when it comes to references, what is important? I pay my full rent, on time, consistantly. The only week I was short I let him know in advance, and came to him on payday (4 days late) with the cash. I also dont cause problems in the house, and I leave the public areas clean. I dont cause noise, and I dont complain often. On the flip side, I am lax on cleaning and related issues. If my new landlord wants references, will he look more at if I can be trusted to pay rent, or might he say no because I'm not a superb cleaner?

Secondly, I've been in the room for over two years. I've been suspecting that the room was damaged when I entered (the landlord refuses to let me put an A/C in one window, always speaking giberish as his excuse saying the wall would not support it. Also the walls are covered at the bottom with this thing (hard to explain, kinda looks like wicker wallpaper) and I feel drafts coming from behind it in the winter) either way, I think I may have done some damage to the drywall behind the "wallpaper" while sleeping one night. Also, the (old) television has developed cracks along its plastic casing, and the screen itself has caved in an inch or so. What would a reasonable landlord (and mine seems reasonable) say or do with regards to all of this?

Thirdly, it's likely that I'll be moving into something more of an apartment in an apartment building. What's a good way to get an honest responce to questions like "are there bugs in your building", and "are people very noisy"

[mkfarnam]

Most new landlords are more concerned about your on time payments than anything. It's hard to compare 2 different environments.
Most of the time they just want a quick reference and don't really want to hear alot of details.

[Ultrarunner]

It's a Natural Progression for you to want a place of your own.

One of the best ways to insure a favourable reference is to leave on good terms. You might even want to say something about how much you appreciated living there and now the time has come for you go out on your own.

I would not hesitate to let prospective Landlords know that you are looking for a quiet place... no one wants to go through all that is involved with moving only to have regrets... turnovers cost owners money too.

Bugs... my best advice is to really look over the apartment. You should not be timid about bringing up any concerns you might have. Other residents "Can Be" a wealth of information.

Good Luck on you search!

[nickjbor]

My current landlord has known (since 6 months after I moved in) that at some point I want to move out and move into a bachelors. At the moment I am the second longest renter in the house (the other guy has been here for 15 years!) so I know that my current landlord will give me a good reference in terms of payment of rent because we are on good speaking terms.

[Radek]

ASK if people are noisy. I rented an apartment a while back, and flat out asked the question, since i was renting with 3 friends. Most landlords will tell you the truth, because as ultra said, turnover is costly.

Inspect any place you rent from thoroughly, ask about maintenance issues, how long it would take to fix a broken water heater, etc.

You're the customer when you go shopping, and you get to ask all sorts of questions about the various things you buy.. same is true with renting, and even more so in some cases.

Sounds like you'll be set up for a good reference from your landlord.

In regards to the 'damage'... I'd talk to your landlord and figure out what needs to be done. If you caused a dent in the wall, that'll be noticable and would need to be fixed.