Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseysbest
For whats its worth, I was almost forced to sign on a place sight unseen with Archstone. I met two other guys on Craigslist, and after meeting and hanging out, we decided to be roommates and we settled on the Archstone place. Was shown a model apartment, but, I've heard of scams like this and refused to sign until I saw the actual place, not the model.
I kept getting the run around... tenants haven't moved out, replacing carpet, painting etc. My new roommates were pretty pissed, but I was able to sneak a peak the last day we had the place reserved. And sure enough, it was exactly like the one they showed. I'm glad I waited so long cause there are soooo many things which can make an apartment horrible to live in.
I would never, ever sign onto a place sight unseen unless there was an easy was to back out of the lease. I'm sure you'll miss out on a few places, but the headache caused from not having an apartment locked down will probably be way less than the headaches of potential apartment problems.
|
Smart for you! It happens all the time, better safe than sorry.
My place had the same thing going on "tenant still there" but thankfully the owner (I rent from a private owner) realized that I was serious and just needed to see it so they threw the bum out. When I came to look at it, he'd just been kicked out and the place was... well... a mess. But I saw potential. I knew with a few coats of paint and some cleaning, it would be good as new.
I'm glad she let me come see it even in the state it was in at that point. I told her I'd move in two weeks later if they could have it ready for me by then and they did. They swapped the ceiling fan, put in a new digital thermostat and had it all scrubbed out in time for me to move in. A year later, I'm still absolutely in love with it.
Lesson: ALWAYS go look at the exact unit you're signing for, period, whether that's DC or elsewhere.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
