Choosing Between Apartments? Consider Maintenance & Security

When trying to decide which apartment will be best for you, it's
important to consider the amount of support each landlord is
willing to provide for his or her tenants. In order to determine
this, you should find out the way potential apartments handle
maintenance as well as security issues.

It’s important to find out the way your landlord handles repairs
before they become a problem. You might be looking at an
apartment with a great Jacuzzi-style tub... but if your
landlord's never there to fix a bad draining problem, you might
not ever get to enjoy it! You need to find a complex with a good
maintenance system.

So, how are you supposed to learn how a certain apartment
handles maintenance problems? Ask the landlord or manager
handling your apartment inquiries. Find out how repair requests
are handled. You can ask questions such as: "Is there a resident
superintendent that handles all maintenance problems?", "Are
maintenance hours restricted?" or "How long does it typically
take for repair requests to be answered?" The answers should
give you a little insight into the way that things are handled.

If you don't get much of an answer out of the complex
representative, you might consider asking a resident. If the
person you approach is irritated by the way the complex handles
repair requests, he or she will be more than happy to vent.

It is incredibly important to find out how your complex handles
security issues. Find out from an apartment representative
whether or not they have any type of security guards on site.
Ask if they re-key apartments once the old tenants move out.
Maybe you'd feel more comfortable in an apartment close to the
police department. A good friend of mine lives about a block
away from the Arlington police department, and I feel so much
safer when I leave there at night. On weekends, there's usually
a cop car that cruises around to make sure everything's fine. It
helps you sleep a little easier. Unfortunately, not every
complex can all cram around the police department. This is why
you must research the area to determine how safe it is.

Remember: just because an apartment looks "clean" doesn't mean
that it is. Find out about the neighborhood crime statistics.
APB News provides a general idea of neighborhood safety in the
U.S. on their web site. You just enter in the zip code you’re
wondering about and hit return and you’ll find out the level of
safety on a scale of one to ten.

Once you've discussed both maintenance and security issues with
the representatives of potential apartments, you should be able
to make a confident decision on which place you will decide to
call home.