
Search a landlord online before you sign with them. Investigate your landlord and know who to call if things go wrong If you're lost in the legalese, Shreve says you should "seek out legal counsel through legal aid or through the bar association in the state that you live in in order to ensure that you understand what you're getting yourself into."Ībove all: know your rights as a tenant and understand what you're committing to. Is there a penalty for breaking your lease early or paying your rent late? Read the fine printĭon't just eyeball and sign your lease – read it! A lease is a contract between a tenant and landlord and "the guiding principle when you rent an apartment or rent a house," says Johanna Shreve, chief tenant advocate for Washington, D.C. Landlords may be more or less open to cutting you a deal depending on what's important to them. If you negotiate, do your homework and come to the table with facts about the market. You can offset these costs by living with roommates or negotiating certain deals.
NEW APARTMENT CHECKLIST HOW TO
Life Kit How To Spend Less Money, Starting With A Budget
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Water (How is the water pressure? How long does it take for hot water to flow?).Extra fee for amenities? (Do you have to pay more for gym or pool access?).Security deposit (How much is owed/is it being held in an interest bearing account?).Utilities (If they aren't included in rent, what is their average monthly cost?).

Just a heads up – this checklist covers more than you’ll likely need (we tried to cover everything your child will need along with a few things they might want), so don’t feel as though you need to buy everything on the list.
NEW APARTMENT CHECKLIST DOWNLOAD
Plus, to make it even easier, you can download our My New Apartment Checklist FREE Printable to carry with you when you hit the stores so you can check everything off your list as you go. From furniture and kitchen necessities to cleaning supplies and all the extras, this handy list will make shopping for your child’s first apartment (or house) a snap! To make things a lot easier for you than they were for me, I’m sharing the comprehensive “My New Apartment Checklist” that my daughter and I created to get her set up in her new apartment. Looking back, it would have made preparing and buying everything so much easier if my daughter and I knew exactly what she needed to buy (and what she didn’t) to set up house. Even if you cut a couple of corners (like most college kids do), you still need to purchase so many things! To say I was wrong is an understatement… setting up an apartment is no small task.

After all, we had already been through the entire dorm set-up. This post: My first apartment checklist – free printable When my daughter moved out of her dorm room into an apartment her sophomore year of college, I thought it would be a breeze.
