Questions about renting an apartment?

Question

My bf and I are not sure how to weed out all the "bad" apartments. What do you look for when apartment hunting? Maybe make a list? And should you take photos? And for furniture: The Dump vs Big Lots? Also, Private vs Corporate apartments, which is better? Where is the best place(s) to look for apartments. (North East Phila) If anyone is in the area or near, do you know what some good places are and where?

Answer 1

When looking for an apartment look for an area you'd like to live in, close to work, close to family etc.  Go to apartments.com and do a search, you can look by rental amount so once you've narrowed your search to those that you can afford, take a drive out and check them out.  R they in a bad area or is it a nice area close to shops and grocery stores?  Is it conveniently located to work, family?

Visit the complex and drive around, is it clean, is the landscaping immaculate, does the place look kept up, is the pool area clean and tidy, do they have nice pool furniture?  if the place looks like it's falling apart or it's dirty then don't stick around, chances are the managment company doesn't have the money for upkeep which means they wont' fix anything broken in your unit etc.  Once you've decided you like the look of a place go in to the on-site leasing office and see if they are running any specials like One month free etc.  See what amenities they pay for, pool, cable, water, etc.  and ask to view their available apartments.  If you like the area and the apartment then I suggest you drive it at night and walk around.  Is it noisy, are there a lot of undesirable people loitering in the parking lot, do you hear a lot of screaming kids, music playing etc?  If not then chances are the apartment is a desirable community.  If so then fill out an application.

Big lots over the Dump??  Try the salvation army, or Goodwill for furniture, check craigslist for people selling furniture, family or friends.  That's how I got most of my furniture when I got my first place.

Since I don't know Philadelphia I can't recommend any areas, you'll have to drive them yourself.

Stay away from Corporate apartments they are usually rented out to companies looking to place employees for extended stays and they are much higher priced than most complexes.  Besides usually only a set number of units are set aside for corporate extended stay, not all complexes do that.

Good luck