In my last post I discussed a few of the things that a person should do when they are looking for a place to live. After writing that post, I realized that looking for a place to rent isn’t the hardest part. The hardest parts of moving away, of finding your own place, are the few things that you should do when you first move in. Once again, after asking my daughters what they think they should do after they move into their apartment in June they replied with quotes from “Judge Judy”. My daughters know every trick, law, and problem associated with renting a place. My son on the other hand did not. He is several years older than my daughters, constantly owed money to landlords, moved almost every year breaking leases along the way. Here are a few quick tips as to what you should do when you move into your first place or are renting in general:
1. Take pictures before you move in…. This is downright the most important tip I could give you. Once again, take pictures of the place before you move in. You need to take a picture of all of the nooks and the crannies that you could be charged for later. Most of the cases on daytime court television have to do with landlord-tenant disputes. The proof that most people are missing are pictures as to what something looked like when they moved in and when they moved out.
2. Another thing that you need to do is READ the LEASE. I’ll admit reading the whole lease could be a bit intimidating when you move into your first place but it is very important. Go over the lease with your landlord and a friend, someone who can vouch for you if any confusion happens, and ask questions. Do not assume anything when reading a lease. If you aren’t one hundred percent sure what it means, ask for clarification. Sadly, I didn’t know isn’t a very good excuse when you go to court.
3. Be wary of the yearlong lease. Yes, I understand that most leases sort of come with the year but if you can get the place for a month or two first before you sign your year lease that is the best way to go. When my son moved out he chose a not-so-nice apartment in Everett. He signed the year lease. After a month or two of living there his apartment was broken into and many of his pricey items, DVDs, CDs, his PS3, his laptop, etc. were stolen. When he left that place a few days later, he broke his lease and ended up having to pay money to the old landlord and the new one at the same time. Let’s just say he had to come to me and my wife to borrow money to give to the old landlord.
I hope these tips help you or a family member when they move into their first place. There are several things that you need to do when you first move to a place. The first and most important is to take a bunch of pictures, most of you won’t need them but they’re always great to have just in case. Another thing you should do is read through the lease carefully and ask question. And the final thing you should do is try to live in a place for a little while before you sign on for the whole year.
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