10 Top Tips Every Renter Should Know
When you rent an apartment, you have more freedom when moving and choosing a place to live. There are other pros and cons to renting, however, so here are our top 10 tips to help make your tenant’s life easier.
10. Don’t Let Bad Credit Limit Your Lease Options
Bad credit or no credit can make it difficult to rent an apartment, but it can be done if you arm yourself with things like a letter of recommendation from former homeowners or agreeing to a larger bond. Then you can work to improve your credit history (even without a credit card ). Regular rental payments can also help improve your credit history .
9. Choose between a property managed or rented from a landlord.
Managed communities and individual landlords have their own pros and cons . The management company is easy to get in touch with someone if there is a problem and has support staff to help you. However, with an individual homeowner, you have more room for neighborhood and more room for negotiating rent. In any case, pay close attention to who you are renting an apartment with so as not to find yourself in a difficult relationship.
8. Start your apartment search with the right tools.
These days, we have tons of tools to help you find the perfect place to live next time. Top 5 Most Popular Lifehacker Readers? PadMapper / Craigslist, Hotpads, Lovely, Tulia and WalkScore. Once you’ve found a potential location, ask the right questions to make sure it fits (talk to neighbors, ask the landlord about maintenance requests, etc.). Bring some important documents with you if you find the seat you want to take right away.
7. Improve the rental quality without annoying the landlord
When renting, you are usually prohibited from making significant changes to the location, but you can still customize just about every room without upsetting the landlord. For example, add more storage space in your kitchen or replace ceiling light covers and switch covers. Plumbing fixtures like heated towel rails and mirrors can also be easily replaced (and taken on the move), quickly changing the look of your bathroom .
6. Know your rights as a renter
As one landlord told us , your state probably has a tenant rights guide available online. This will tell you what your rights and services may be available to you if your rental situation becomes bad. This is especially important if you first rent an apartment and do not know the subtleties of the lease and how to attract to the landlord responsibility, if something goes wrong.
5. Pretend you’re buying a house when looking for an apartment.
If you are planning to rent for even a few years, the condition of the building will matter to you, so you might feel like you are buying the place to make sure you really want to live there. For example, you might ask questions such as whether there is lead paint on the walls and how old the fixtures are. The homeowner’s mindset can also help you save more money: if your mortgage payment is more than your rent, take the difference and invest .
4. Know how to deal with noisy neighbors and difficult roommates.
Unfortunately, you cannot choose your neighbors. If yours are making too much noise, send them a subtle message or refer to the manual if necessary. If you are sharing a notebook with roommates, you need to make sure you are compatible ahead of time and establish some ground rules that will make living together easier. (In the worst case, you can evict them , so to speak.) Let’s assume that your roommates (or future roommates) aren’t terrible and you really want to live with them. Distribute your rent and rooms fairly using this calculator .
3. Saving space (even in a tiny apartment)
Many apartments, especially in big cities, don’t offer a ton of living space or storage space. Simple storage techniques such as raising the bed to get more storage space or using shoe hangers to store just about anything can make a big difference, even in a small space. Plus, command hooks can work wonders at home.
2. Save on rent by moving at the right time
Spring and summer offer more rental opportunities, but more competition for tenants. Winter , while offering fewer choices, is the slower season for finding apartments, so homeowners may be more open to negotiating monthly rent. There may not be a single “best” time to buy an apartment, but if you know the area and how few apartments to rent, you can plan accordingly when to look for a new location.
1. Avoid rent increases and negotiate rent
And the last thing that you, as a renter, have no control over: rent. Or is it possible? Rental prices are all over the place and rising across the country, but homeowners still want to keep good tenants like you. Exchange what you don’t really care about for lower rent or avoidance increases, such as a longer lease or prepaid rent months in advance. You can also convince the landlord not to raise rent by reminding him or her how good you are as a tenant , both in terms of timely payment and low maintenance.
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