Parenting Article - College Apartment Hunting Tips

Apartment Hunting Advice and Safety Tips for Teens who are going off to College

If your child is leaving the nest this month or in September here are some tips for finding adequate housing for them.
I also included safety tips for young women at the end of the list.

As far as finding housing there are numerous ways to find it. Check out campus dorms. If your child is a quiet individual, or needs quiet to concentrate, make sure they get a roommate that is quiet. Also have them be on a floor where there are few rowdy kids. If they desire off campus housing they can look for a roommate and/or an apartment/guest apartment or guesthouse in the campus newspaper, the local newspaper, on the campus news board, or on Craig's list. Or they can just drive around and look for vacancy signs in desired areas. Once they have a list of places they wish to look at they should check them out thoroughly.

Here is a Check List:
1. How safe is the neighborhood? Drive around the area during the day and evening. Typically second floor apartments have less break-ins. So consider that.

2. How is the parking situation? Will they have a parking spot near their apartment, or underneath in the garage, or off the street? Is there adequate lighting around to get to their door safety. That is important.

3. Once in the apartment make sure the installation is sound. Have someone stand outside a window and talk. Can the person inside hear the other person like they were next to them? If noisy people keep walking past a window this can be irritating. Are there noisy businesses nearby (bars, construction companies, businesses that have loud generators…)?

4. Is the front door secure? Make sure there are no cracks around door frame. Are the windows secure? Do they have latches? Screens? Make sure screens and glass are not broken or cracked. If they are make sure they are fixed BEFORE move in time. This applies to anything that needs to be fixed. Have rental contact specify repairs that are to be done before moving in. Unfortunately there are managers, even guest house owners, who are lazy about repairs. They give excuses like, "The other tenants did not care." However, in reality maybe they did mind, but they got tried of asking the management/owner to repair it.

5. Check out the carpet. Does it have spots? Will it be cleaned? (And think, why was it not already?) Does the floor tiling have chips or missing tiles? (I actually saw a place where all the tiles around the bedroom wall were chipped. The property manager did not care. He shrugged and said I could just put rugs over it. That is what the other tenant did.) Do not assume just because the person showing you around says the bathroom or bedroom is okay that it is. Check it out yourself. Also, check behind any wall pictures and under movable rugs. Is a picture hiding a big hole or is there gashes in the wood under the carpet?

6. Make sure there is air conditioning and heating. Test out if they work. (I had a friend whose manager told her that the wall heater worked and yet in winter when she turned it on it did not.)

7. Are there mini-blinds/curtains on the windows/patio door? If not will the management provide them? Are there smoke alarms? Make sure they work (check batteries). If not, will the management pay for smoke alarms? Will they install them?

8. Check all faucets and the shower stall to make sure water comes out correctly (does not spurt out at you or is orange from rust). Make sure there are no cracks in the shower floor or in the shower door. Look under all sinks (bathroom and kitchen) to make sure there are no leaky pipes. Look on the ceilings for yellow patches (water leaks). Ask if the roof has ever leaked and when was it last repaired or when guest apartment/apartment had roof replaced.

9. Look in closet(s) to make sure your child will have adequate storage space.

10. Look for water spots and peeling paint on walls. If a water spot is near a water line is the pipe leaking inside the wall?

11. Ask the management: Do they mind how many nails are put in the walls (some do, some do not). Will the management repaint? Can the parent/and child paint the bedroom/living room themselves if they so desire? Is it a month to month rental? A year lease? Sometimes with a guest house an owner might give you a break on the monthly rent if you pay six months in advance. (Do not knock it. A hundred dollars off the rent a month could be worth it.)

12. Because unfortunately I have seen this myself, look for termite residue, mold (look under sinks on the base board), and rat/mouse poop. If there is an opening in the wall underneath sink cabinets this is where they could be coming from.

13. Are pets allowed? Yappy dogs can be annoying. It can be hard studying while listening to a barker from next door. Ask if the neighbors have dogs.

14. Bring a nightlight with you when you check out the apartment. Plug it in all light sockets to make sure they work. Turn on all light switches to make sure they work. Is there a porch light? Does it need a new bulb? (I knew someone who tested an outside light and it did not work. The manager shrugged it off as if it was no big deal and said it just needed a new bulb. He asked the manager to get a bulb from another porch light and test it. It did not work. It was an electrical problem.) Be smart. Be assertive. Make sure you get what you pay for.

15. You might want to bring a measuring tape to measure room space to see if the desk or bed will fit in X area.

16. Where is the laundry area? Is it in the apartment? Downstairs? Is it in a secure area? How many machines are there (if there is only one or two this is could pose a problem if there are many tenants)? Do you have to put quarters in the machines? How many?

17. Does the rent include utilities? Cable? Internet? Factor that in to how much you want to pay for rent each month.

18. Does the apartment come furnished or unfurnished? Some come furnished, some let you bring your own furniture in addition to having their own.

19. Talk about renters insurance. Do they offer it?

20. Lastly, if the property owner or manager hurries you around the apartment, or won't let you turn on the water or the air conditioning, beware. Don't fall for this, "Either you want it or not. I got five other people who want to look at the place." Stop and think how they are treating you. Because if they treat you like this now before you are a renter just how will they treat you after you are a renter? You want leaky faucets fixed in a timely manner, not some run around about fixing it next month.

Safety tips for women:
If you have a daughter, buy her pepper spray or have her take a self defense class (especially if she is an early morning or night time runner.) If she goes to a party tell her not to put down a drink and leave. Some not so nice person could have spiked it. Tell her to have a good friend hold her drink if she needs to use the rest room. As far as school, if she needs to take a night class have her take one with a friend. This way they can carpool or walk together to class. She might need to wait until second semester if none of her current friends are going to her college. Find out where the campus police headquarters is located. Ask them what dangers to look out for and do they have any safety advice to give. Ask how often they patrol the parking lots and campus at night. See if they offer night rides to cars or dorms.