Time to Start Cleaning!

I hope that you all have enjoyed the Spring Cleaning series and that your apartment is now a lot cleaner than when you began! I’m going to be wrapping up spring cleaning with some how-to’s on cleaning your kitchen.

Before you start cleaning, make sure that you have all the supplies you need. These will include, but are not limited to, lint free towels, clean rags, kitchen gloves, mop, broom, dust pan, trash bags, your trusty baking soda and vinegar, and kitchen soap. Don’t even think about using oven cleaner; it is extremely toxic if you breathe the fumes, touch, or ingest it. You can learn more about the physical effects of oven cleaner here.

Purge and De-Clutter Now is a great time to go through your kitchen cabinets and get rid of any old food, spices, and unwanted items such as plastic cups that you may have lurking in your cabinets and fridge.

One problem that I have is that my kitchen cabinets get unorganized faster than a Kardashian can get divorced. This contributes to the problem of not being able to fit everything I want into the cabinets, which in turn leads to cluttered countertops. However, I have found a solution to the problem. Using small shelves in your cabinets really helps with organization as you can utilize the vertical space in the cabinet.

When it comes to your kitchen counters I would suggest removing everything but the essentials. Put less-used items in a cabinet, on top of the refrigerator, or any other place out of the way.

Clean the Counter Tops and Stove After you have your countertops cleaned off, sprinkle them with baking soda and then wipe off with a damp towel. This will loosen up and remove stains. Follow this with a disinfectant spray such as a homemade vinegar and water solution.

Then move on to the stove top. If you have a glass stovetop, fill a medium/large bowl with hot, soapy water and submerge a rag in it. While that is soaking, sprinkle baking soda generously over the top of the stove. Squeeze out the rag so it is wet, but not sopping and place it over the baking soda, letting it sit for 15 minutes. Now that fifteen minutes are up, wipe the rag all over the top then dry it. You can then shine up the surface using a lint free cloth. Depending on how dirty your stove top is, you may need to repeat or leave the rag on longer. Otherwise, take the burners apart to make it easier to clean under them.

Nice and Clean

Clean the inside of the stove in the evening or on a day you don’t plan on using your oven! Try this chemical free way instead of using oven cleaners. Once you have a clean oven, keep it clean! You can do this by lining the bottom with tin foil. This will catch any drips and will make future clean ups much easier.

Wait until you’re finished up with everything else before cleaning the sink..  You don’t want to get a clean sink dirty again!

Clean the Refrigerator If you feel ambitious, wipe out your refrigerator. I guarantee you that there is some sticky spill that you have been meaning to clean up and haven’t. Most refrigerator shelves can be removed for easy cleaning and you can use the vinegar solution to clean it out as mentioned before. After you have cleaned the shelves, line them with press-and-seal wrap. This way when they get dirty, you can remove the old and replace it with new lining.

Sweep and Mop up the grime that you have gotten on your floor while cleaning. Save this for last because you are bound to get the floor dirty with something as you clean the rest of your kitchen. You will want to clean your floor based on what type of surface it is as cleaning a tile floor differs from cleaning a ceramic or laminate floor. Check this out for more detailed information.

De-Stink This is a tip I got from a friend. If you leave a small bowl of vinegar out on the counter overnight, your kitchen will be odor free in the morning. This works especially well with lingering bacon smells.

Well, that is it! I hope that you all have enjoyed getting your apartment all clean for spring! I know that I am looking forward to it being warm again, and will look forward to it even more so with a clean apartment!

That's the Spirit!

You had an excuse for not cleaning your junky (now clean) bedroom and closets: no one will see them. Well, that excuse won’t work here. The living room is the one room in your apartment that everyone sees and a clean living room makes the whole apartment more attractive and welcoming. So gather all your woodland creatures to help out and start cleaning!

In addition to woodland creatures, you may also want to grab your vacuum cleaner, duster, polishing cloth, trash bags, and any other basic cleaning supplies you may need. A steam cleaner is also a great tool you can rent if you don’t own one. You may also find it helpful to have some spare boxes or hampers on hand; you’ll see why.

Purge Start by throwing away trash, bagging up recyclables, and taking any dirty cups and dishes to the kitchen. If you run across anything that isn’t supposed to be in the living room, put it in one of the spare boxes, according to which room it should go into. Sorting items like this will reduce the number of trips you need to make to other rooms and keeps you focused on the task at hand.

After you’ve gotten rid of trash, move on to de-cluttering. Make sure that there is nothing on and in the couch. Depending on what fabric your couch is made of, vacuum or clean it accordingly. Then clear off anything unnecessary on your coffee table so you can easily clean it during the dusting phase. The same goes for your bookshelves. If you are feeling adventurous, remove your books and any decorations from the shelves (so you can dust the shelves) and donate any old ones you don’t want anymore.

Dust Now that you have everything cleaned off, it’s time to dust. I use a microfiber mitt when dusting; it performs well and is reusable. It is also safe to use on virtually any surface.  Start dusting in high places and work your way down, paying attention to ceiling fans, light fixtures, pictures, electronics, knick knacks, and pretty much anything else that would collect dust. Just be careful when trying to reach high places! Don’t try any fancy balancing acts when trying to get to out-of-reach areas.

Remember your window blinds! Close the blinds, and starting at the top, dust horizontally across, and work your way down. Dusting them one by one takes forever and if you brush up and down, dust gets everywhere. For curtains, read the tag and clean according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Polish Do you have any wooden furniture? Now would be a great time to polish it up to keep that nice finish. You can make your own or use store bought polish.

Also use this time to wipe down and clean any windows and mirrors you have in your living room. It is amazing how big of a difference clean windows make to the overall appearance of a room. For lightly soiled windows, spray with water and wipe with a lint free towel. If you need some more cleaning oomph, mix equal parts water and vinegar, spray on, and then wipe down.

Sweep/Vacuum Now you can start cleaning your floors! Always wait until last to clean your floors, because if you clean them first, they may get dirty again while you clean other things (dust falling from a ceiling fan?). If you don’t have carpet, sweep then dust mop your floors, making sure that you know what type of floor you have first and clean it accordingly.

For carpeted floors, sprinkle baking soda over the carpet, let sit for a few minutes, and then vacuum up. If you have heavily soiled areas on your carpet, try scrubbing in some baking soda then vacuuming. You will probably have to go over the spot several times. You can also use a steam cleaner if your carpet is heavily soiled. I just steam cleaned my carpet yesterday and was very pleased with the results. I also used it to steam clean my couch with one of the attachments.

Nice and Clean

Arrange Huzzah! Everything’s clean, but nothing is organized! Keeping the sayings “less is more”, and “a place for everything and everything in its place” in mind, replace your books, decorations, and anything else you want in your living room. If you find that you have more than will fit on your tables and shelves, box up and store the extras. You can always rotate décor, and never underestimate the power of decorative baskets and boxes to store away extra items.

Stay tuned for the last installment of Spring Cleaning! It’s going to make your kitchen shine! As always, let me know if you have any thoughts or comments!

Please Read On If Your Closet Looks Like This!

Now that your bedroom is nice and clean, I’m going to give you some helpful tips on how to clean out your closets.  When you live in an apartment, efficient use of closet space is essential for living a de-cluttered life. And if you’re like me, there’s not enough storage in the closets that you do have. So what is one to do with all those clothes, shoes, cleaning supplies, and decorations that you don’t want sitting in the middle of the room? Store them in a well-organized closet!

For all the types of closets that I mention below, it will be very helpful when organizing them if you utilize closet shelving and other closet organizers. If you are not fortunate enough to have many built in shelves in your closets, I would suggest purchasing some closet shelves and organizers. Target, Ikea, and The Container Store have many good options to fit a range of budgets.

The Linen Closet stores all of your towels, sheets, pillows, and most likely any bathroom supplies that you may have. Go through all the towels and sheets and decide if there are any that you no longer want. If they are still in good condition, bag them up to be donated. If they aren’t, you can repurpose old towels and sheets into cleaning rags.

If your linen closest already has ample shelving, great; if not, now is a great time to add some organizational shelves or wire baskets. I would suggest wire shelving, as this ensures ample ventilation to your linens; and Space Bags, which use a vacuum to seal out air. Fold towels and sheets. If you have little room, roll your towels, and place folded sheets in their respective pillow cases for easy identification. Put everyday towels and sheets at eye level, seasonal ones towards the top, and bulky items either in the space bags or with the seasonal items. Make sure that your bathroom supplies are organized nicely toward the bottom of the closet.

The Bedroom Closet Now is a great time to donate your old clothes! If you haven’t worn it in the past year, you are not going to wear it this year. Don’t kid yourself any longer and stick it in the donation pile. Do the same thing with your shoes and accessories; charities and some secondhand stores take gently worn shoes and accessories as well as clothing. Then move on to seasonal items, putting them away in baskets or storage containers and storing them either towards the top or bottom of the closet.

A Very Nicely Organized Closet

Take advantage of all the cool closet organizers that are out there; the more vertical space you can utilize in your closet, the better. Organize shelves by putting similar items in their own boxes with lids. This will make it much easier to stack and store your items away. The closet to the left is a great example of a well organized closet. See how they store their sweaters and other bulky items in the overhead shelves and less frequently used items even higher. Their good use of the plastic bins utilizes the bottom of the closet up to the bottom of the clothes well.

The Coat Closet is generally a pretty “high traffic” closet. Everyone in the family (or all your roommates) uses it as a dumping ground for coats, shoes, winter accessories, and other miscellaneous things you don’t want out, but don’t want in your bedroom closet. It can quickly become a mess.

I bet you can guess what the first step is! Throw away junk and donate items that are still good, but unused. Then designate some boxes or bins for different categories of the coat closet. For example, have one box for hats, scarves, and mittens. You can either arrange all hats in one box, scarves in another; or one box per roommate/family member. However you decide to arrange it, just make sure that it is fast and easy to find (and replace) what you need from the closet.

Limit each family member (or roommate) to two coats in the coat closet. Any extra coats get put in their respective bedroom closet. Then limit the number of pairs of shoes that each person gets in the coat closet to two. I would suggest getting a waterproof mat to line the bottom of the closet where the shoes are to prevent wet shoes from dirtying the closet floor. I would also suggest buying a shoe rack or some small shelves to store shoes in. Like the other closets, the more shelves and boxes you have to store items, the better.

I hope that with organized and de-cluttered closets that your whole apartment will appear more organized and welcoming. Check back for my next exciting Spring Cleaning post! Also don’t forget to let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Whoever lives in this room needs to read our blog!

I hope that you enjoyed getting your bathroom in tip top shape. If you missed it, check it out here. Now I’m going to address an oft neglected room of the apartment: your bedroom. It’s the one room that guests don’t go into, your chest of drawers hasn’t actually had clothes you wear in it since 2009, and your closet looks like something from an episode of “Hoarders”. Don’t despair, reader; read on!

Supplies This isn’t really a cleaning step, but you need to make sure that you have all the cleaning supplies you need before you start. This way you won’t become distracted while cleaning. You will most likely need dusting supplies, trash bags, window wash, laundry hamper, a vacuum cleaner if your room is carpeted, and a broom and dustpan if your room isn’t.

Designate a box or two for donations. While you clean your room up, you are bound to run across some things that are still good but you don’t need anymore. Make sure they are clean, pack them up, and donate them.

Trash There are two types of trash in your bedroom: obvious trash (wrappers, bottles, old tissues), and “do I want to trash this yet” trash (do I really want to keep that magazine, should I get rid of this old pair of shoes, etc). Throw away the obvious trash first and worry about the other later. The “do I want to trash this yet” trash will take more time for you to go through it all.

Before you start anything else, grab a trash sack and purge your room of any trash that may have accumulated in it since the last time you cleaned. Make sure that you check under furniture as well. I always find rogue used tissues that didn’t make it to the trash can. Once I helped a friend move out of his apartment and we filled about two trash sacks full of Mountain Dew bottles while cleaning. Hopefully your room won’t be as bad.

The Clothes After you have removed the trash from your room, move on to your clothes. Start by sorting your clean and dirty clothes; in doubt, assume they are dirty. If you have a washer and dryer readily available, start a load while you keep cleaning; if not, stick them all in a laundry hamper to be taken to the wash.  Fold and put away or hang up your clean clothes. Don’t know how to fold your clothes properly? This link should help!

The Bed I like my bed made, my husband thinks it’s unnecessary. You are just going to get back in it that night, right? Well you don’t use that logic for your dirty dishes, do you? No, I didn’t think so. Having a nicely made bed makes your bedroom look nice and put together, so just do it. If you haven’t changed your sheets in a while, now is a great time to do that. If you only have one pair of sheets, stick them in the wash and then go buy another set. I’m kidding, you don’t have to immediately go out and buy some, but you definitely need to have a spare set. Don’t know how to make your bed you say? Let us help you out.

If you can draw pictures in your dust, it's time to clean your room.

Dust Clear off your hard surfaces as much as possible and give them a thorough dusting. I like to use a microfiber mitt to do this. Pay attention to nooks and crannies, books, and lamp shades. They need dusting, too!

If you have any wooden furniture, now is a great time to polish it up using a furniture polish. Also note whether or not dust has accumulated in the corners around the ceiling and around light fixtures and carefully dust them.

“A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place” This old phrase has a lot of meaning behind it, especially when it comes to making your room look neat and tidy. Decide where knick knacks and other items within your room need to go (and which ones need to go away) and put them there. Use crates and baskets to keep miscellaneous things organized, just make sure not to pack them to the brim, unless you’re planning on boxing them up for storage as this looks messy. If you run across things you don’t want anymore, decide whether or not they can be donated or thrown away. Remember, ‘less is more’ when it comes to things on your dressers and shelves.

This room has "less is more" mastered.

Floors If your floor is carpeted, sprinkle some baking soda over it, let it sit, then vacuum. This will help deodorize your room. Otherwise, sweep and dust mop the floor. I like to use the disposable dust mopping cloths. If your floor is wooden, you can polish it, but don’t use furniture polish as this will make it very slippery. Find something that is made for wood floors. Don’t forget to clean your baseboards as well!

There you have it: a clean bedroom! If you’re thinking, “Hey! What about the closet?”, don’t worry. I am going to address organizing your closet in a future blog. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions and come back for the next exciting installment of Spring Cleaning!

I hope your tub doesn't look like this.

Well, the holidays are over. You have spent the last two months eating, drinking, and being merry; now you look forward to the snow melting, the trees blooming, and the birds chirping. It’s also time for you to give your apartment a thorough scrubbing to rid it of all the grime that’s accrued through the long winter months. The next several blogs that I write are going to be a miniseries on how to tackle your spring cleaning room by room all while using little to no chemical cleaners. Chemical free cleaning reduces the amount of chemicals that enter the environment and is safer for your pet or child.

Let’s face it, no one likes a dirty bathroom, and not many relish the idea of cleaning it. It can be a long, arduous process full of chemicals and elbow grease. However, I’ve researched and tested some budget friendly, chemical-free methods which will make cleaning your bathroom much more tolerable and cheaper. For many of the tips below, you will find that you will only need towels, water, baking soda, and vinegar. The reason why these products work is because baking soda acts as a mild abrasive to scrub away stains; and vinegar is acidic, which kills bacteria. When cleaning more delicate bathroom surfaces, test a small part to make sure that the baking soda won’t scratch it.

The Toilet Cleaning the toilet is usually one of the most dreaded bathroom cleaning chores. Sprinkle the baking soda in the toilet and then spray or sprinkle with vinegar. Let the mixture stand for a while as to penetrate stains, then scrub with a toilet brush. Once the bowl is clean, wipe the exterior of the toilet with the vinegar.

I do have to admit that I really like the disposable toilet wands for cleaning the bowl out, though.

The Sink and Countertops Your bathroom sink and countertops get a lot of use (think toothpaste, hairsprays, gels, creams, and soapy splashes) and their appearance and cleanliness can either make or break your bathroom’s overall look.

First off, take note of what type of countertop you have. If you have a cultured marble countertop and sink, avoid using any harsh, abrasive cleaners or steel wool as this could result in scratching. Make a sink cleaner out of 2 cups baking soda, ½ cup dish soap, 1 cup water, and ½ cup vinegar. This will make a lot so feel free to half the recipe. Spray this on, let sit if there’s a lot of grime, and then wipe off. Don’t forget to polish your fixtures! You can use toothpaste or baking soda paste for this then wipe it clean with a towel.

Don’t forget to clean under the sink or in any cabinets you may have! Now is a great time to go through and throw away any old or expired products that you may have lurking around.

Mirrors To have a streak-free mirror that the Evil Queen in Snow White would envy, just spritz your mirror down with water and wipe off with a dry, lint free towel. I have found that microfiber towels work great for this. If you find that your mirror needs a little more TLC for it to shine, mix equal parts water and vinegar, spray on, and then wipe away.

Chemical free cleaning means kids can help!

The Shower Ah, the shower. There is nothing like taking a nice, hot shower. There is also nothing like the dread that comes with cleaning it. It’s big, there are tons of bottles that you have to move before you can even start, and it’s always a lot dirtier than you would think. It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

This is my least favorite part: unclogging the drain. I have never liked using chemical drain cleaners as I have found them ineffective. What does get the job done you say? A wire coat hanger and/or needle nose pliers. Start by straightening the coat hanger out (don’t forget to give yourself a handle on one end and give it a hook or another shape at the end that will grab onto the glop), then snake it down and dig the clog out. Make sure that you have a trash can nearby to dispose what you extract. Pliers work well when the clog is closer to the drain opening.

After you have unclogged the drain, take everything out of the shower and recycle any empty bottles. Use the baking soda paste to remove soap scum, hard water, and rust stains. Just be careful because the paste will be abrasive. Use vinegar to loosen and remove the mildew that accumulates in the corners. Spray it on, let it dry, spray again, and then wipe down. Don’t forget about your shower curtain! Wipe it down with the rest of the shower; you may have to take it off the hangers so you can scrub it. If all else fails, you may just want to buy a new one. They’re not that expensive.

If you notice that your shower head has a lot of hard water build up grab a gallon size plastic bag and a large twisty tie. Fill the bag with 1/3 cup baking soda and 1 cup vinegar. Submerge the shower head into the solution, tie it shut, and then let it sit for a couple of hours or overnight.

The Floor While you’re cleaning the rest of the bathroom, grab all your bath mats and dirty towels and stick them in the wash. By the time you’re done cleaning all the hard surfaces, they will be clean. Wait until you’re done cleaning everything else in the bathroom before you start on the floors. This way you won’t have to worry about getting them dirty while you clean other things.

Start by sweeping all of the large pieces of gunk that have accumulated on the floor, paying attention to nooks and crannies behind the toilet and doors. Then mop it down. I find that disposable mopping cloths work well. Since there are so many different types of flooring, I have found a good reference for do’s and don’ts with different flooring materials. You can check it out here. Also, don’t forget to clean the baseboards.

Next time I’m going to Spring Clean the bedroom. Stay tuned for more cleaning tips! And let me know if you have any suggestions or tips!

Image from hownowidesign via Flickr

After calculating the average rents for the fourth quarter of 2011, we noticed a slight increase of 1.25% since the fourth quarter of 2010.  We use year to year statistics to eliminate seasonality, since apartment prices seem to follow a trend throughout the year.  For analyzing cities and states, we also use only the changes since the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2011.

To gather the data, we analyze our database of available apartments from all over the country and group them into whatever geographical boundaries we want to look at.  So for the nation we just draw out all available apartments we had at the time and see how the averages have changed.  When looking at a state basis, we look at all available apartments that were located in that state.  The key is we only use available apartments, so you are getting what the price was of apartments in your area that you could have attempted to rent.  We use this information to show when the best times were to rent and then to gauge what the overall market is doing in your area.

When looking at specific regions of the USA, it seems as though the west coast has had the best market for renters.  As you can see, for the most part those states have actually decreased in rent.  The graph below indicates which states have increased or decreased in rent.  If a state is in green then the rent has decreased.  Orange means an increase of less than 5%, while a red state means an increase of greater than 5%.

The states with the largest decrease in rent can be seen below:

The states with the largest increase in rent can be seen here:

When looking at rents on a city basis, the top 10 largest metros all had increases in rent.  However, the two largest cities, New York City and Los Angeles, has the two lowest increases.  The top ten metros are listed below with the lowest increases listed first:

As I said before, we use our inventory of only available apartments for each city and state’s data, so this would be for apartments you could actually rent.  If you live in a city or state where rents have been going up, then jump on our site and make sure you grab the cheap ones while they’re still available!  We want to use our data to help you make the most educated decision.  If you want to know about rental trends specific to your city, just let us know.

So you graduate college in December, but your lease isn’t up until May; you start your new job in Seattle next week but your lease in Boston doesn’t end for six more months. These are both perfect examples of why you need to consider subleasing your apartment. Subleasing is basically one tenant renting their apartment to another tenant with the landlord’s permission. This is something that happens a lot in college towns when students are away for summer or are only in need of a one semester apartment like stated above.

If you are stuck in a lease for an apartment you won’t be using, then you need to talk to your landlord about subleasing. You will need your landlord’s permission for this, since your lease probably states that you are the only person allowed to take residence in your apartment. So make sure you get your landlord’s permission first. This shouldn’t be a problem as long as the landlord knows who will be living there, and they can get them to fill out the appropriate forms. Also, don’t try to secretly have someone else live in your apartment. They could stiff you the rent and there’s no way to hold them to it, or it will be really awkward for them when the landlord shows up for a maintenance issue.

If you have received your landlord’s permission to sublease your apartment then there are a couple of things to keep in mind when picking someone to sublease. There are also a few places that may be able to help find someone to accept your lease.

The first thing you need to do is make sure whoever is taking your sublease is responsible because you may be liable for the damages that occur in the apartment, even if you are not living in it. For the most part you will be liable unless you can negotiate with your landlord or the future tenant. If you do this you may be able to clear yourself from all, or at least some, of the responsibility. Don’t be afraid to run a background check on the possible tenant or ask for references. You can find many different background check services online that have a variety of fees and specialties that can fit your needs. This is all dependent on who you are subleasing to. If you find a random person to sublease from you, then you should probably use a reputable background check company online to do the background search for you. However, if you sublease to a friend then you shouldn’t have to do the background check (unless they are like some of my friends, then double check them).

So if you are prepared to make sure that your future tenant is responsible, then where are you going to find the possible tenants? They won’t walk up to your door by themselves; you have to go get them!

Start by letting all of your friends know you are looking for someone to sublease your apartment. When your friends know you are looking for somebody, they will more than likely be willing to help. You can get this done by simply updating your Facebook status, sending a few emails, or text your friends that live in the area. Even better, do all of them! After all each person you get to help gives you a better chance of getting it done.
The next thing you can do is post your sublease online. There are sites devoted to this such as sublease.com or you could also post this to a site such as Craigslist, Facebook, Ebay Classifieds, etc. Also, don’t forget to post this to your local newspapers or news sites if they feature a classified ads section. These will be the easiest way to reach a lot of people quickly.

If you aren’t having luck with your online ads, then think who in your area would be in need of “odd timed” housing. This means they need a place to stay for only a couple months or less than a year. Most of the time this will be college students, any large employer in your area, or possibly even recent high school graduates. There will be different options depending on your area, but think it out and know where these people will be in your town. Go post on college bulletin boards or the bulletin boards of the large employer in your area. It will take more time than online ads, but you will catch those who don’t live on their computers like some of us.

You may have to negotiate with the person taking the sublease and allow them to only pay a portion of the remaining rent. But as my grandpa always says, “it’s better to have somebody pay for some of your rent than have to pay for all of it yourself.” Ok so my grandpa never said that. It’s good advice though, and things always sound better when they come from a grandparent.

So you’ve signed your lease and moved into your apartment, but now you need to move again. This can happen for many reasons: change in employment, getting married, family reasons, etc. But the thing is, it can happen to anyone. So if you have to break your lease early, what should you do? We are going to step you through the process of breaking your lease.

There are a few situations in which you can break a lease from your landlord legally such as if the landlord doesn’t fix a serious maintenance issue, a violent crime occurs on the property, or if the building is in violation of city health codes. If something similar has happened, do a little searching through your state’s laws for tenants. If the situation allows you to void the lease then you will need to contact your landlord to make them aware of your decision to break the lease. You will need to provide some proof of the situation. For example, if there was a violent crime, get a copy of the police report. A maintenance issue may need photos of the problem, dates and evidence of you notifying the owner of the issues. For maintenance you will also need to have given your landlord adequate time to fix the issue. If a landlord isn’t responsive or allowing you to break the lease in spite of being legally obligated to, look here for each state’s rights and contact info if you need help.

If your reason for breaking the lease is not similar to the ones above and you need to move because of work or personal reasons, you are going to have to take some additional steps.  The first thing you need to do is read your lease agreement to see what options you have. It is also crucial to contact the landlord immediately after knowing what options you have and working with him or her so that the process goes along smoothly.

If you are lucky, there could be clauses in your lease that allow you to break a lease by paying some sort of penalty or buying out the lease for a smaller portion than you owe.  If a “buy out” or penalty clause is not available, you may be able to negotiate one. Contacting your landlord early and working with him amiably would certainly earn you brownie points and give you a better chance of negotiating a deal that would work in your favor. This obviously is not as good a situation as having the penalty or buy-out clause, but it could end up saving you a lot of money. Especially if you play it well by keeping your landlord in the loop and negotiating well.

If your landlord is more like Adolf Hitler rather than Mother Theresa and doesn’t allow you to negotiate, you may have the option to sublease your apartment to someone else and have them pay off the remainder of the lease.  You will need to get permission from your landlord to do this, but landlords will be much more willing to allow a sublease than just reduce rent in a “buy out”.  You can also negotiate a lower rent with the person you sublease your apartment to and pay the difference to increase the chances of finding someone who will sublease, just make sure you get it in writing (we will be addressing how to sublease your apartment in an upcoming post).

In contrast to the situation above, your landlord may want you to move out early. This could be due to the sale of the property or some other reason. In case this happens, you will need to check your lease to see if there are clauses that allow the landlord to do so. If there is no clause in the lease that lets the landlord to end the lease, you could pursue legal action or negotiate for a buy out where the landlord would pay back the entire deposit and monies for the rent remaining to be paid.

You probably are thinking that it would be smart to understand the lease terms ahead of signing the lease rather than reading it just before you need to break the lease. Yes, that would be a smart thing to do, just like brushing your teeth before going to bed is. It also does not hurt to have an amiable landlord who you have a good relationship with rather than one that is similar to a prickly cactus. Do remember that subleasing is always an option in case negotiations break down.

Watch out for this space for a post on subleasing your apartment in the future. Thank you for reading and wish you a very happy new year.

A lot of times during the process of searching for the right apartment we forget that landlords are also searching for the right tenants. A lot of landlords want to know a little bit about you before they hand over the keys, and this is where the rental application comes in. In a competitive rental market, the difference between a good and bad application could cost you many opportunities at apartments you want. For this reason, we want to give you a few tips on rental applications and for the first time renters a heads up on what to expect from them.

If you haven’t filled out a rental application before, we are going to go over a few basics that most landlords will probably ask for on the application. In some areas being prepared for these applications and quick to turn them in could mean the difference in getting an apartment you want if many others are seeking the same place. Just in case you want to see an example, here is a sample lease from the National Association of Independent Landlords. Also, this article will not discuss the process of applying for Section 8 housing because it is a very different process and has many different steps.  Section 8 housing is payment by the government to private landlords to assist low-income households.

The basics include:

Social Security Number – this (along with your permission) will allow a landlord to access your credit history and check on how credible you are in making payments on time.

Driver’s License Number – this is so a landlord can do a criminal background check on you.

Reference info – a landlord may want references just to get a better understanding of who you are.

Past employers info – this will tell a landlord more about your character and what they can expect from you.

Past landlord’s info – again, this will tell the landlord more about your past and, more specifically, your rental past. How you act as a tenant is something that probably doesn’t change much through time.

Other things a landlord could ask for include: current place of employment, current monthly income, pay stub from current employer, current utility bill, and two forms of photo ID.

These are all legitimate requests from a landlord because it shows that you are a responsible individual and you can both pay rent and also take care of their property. On the other hand, there are things landlords aren’t allowed to ask you that violate your rights. Always remember a landlord can never ask you for your race, ancestry, national origin, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, if you are disabled, or your age based on the Fair Housing Act of 1968. If you believe that you are being unlawfully discriminated against, you can file your complaint here.

If you are a student, a landlord can’t deny an apartment to you for this reason, but if you don’t have the appropriate income or past references you may still be denied. This will depend on where you are looking for housing. If you are on a college campus you probably won’t need to have the same amount of past references because many college students don’t have a past record of landlords or many employers.

Before you take off and go apartment hunting make sure you have these things in order. It will help you tremendously when it comes to staying organized and making the most of your time once you are out there looking.

So now that you have everything you need, we have some tips on how to make sure you are applying for the right places and know what landlords are expecting.

I have bad credit, should I fill in the form at all? How should I fill it in?
If you have bad credit, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are going to get denied. Most of the time a landlord will just want a larger deposit, maybe something like a 50% increase from the original deposit. If this doesn’t suit the landlord, possibly paying a couple months’ rent in advance could do the trick. Be open with your landlord about your situation. They will probably have questions about why your credit is low, but answer them honestly and show you have turned around financially. Trying to lie or hold information back will only come back to haunt you because it will probably just come up anyways.

I have low income, should I just put a high number? Will it ever be checked?
Most landlords are going to want to see that you have three times the rent in monthly income. If you are moving in with roommates, the landlord will most likely take each roommate individually when it comes to income, not combine everyone’s income and look at it that way. For this reason, make sure that all of your roommates are keeping up on their applications because a landlord won’t think that since one of you is responsible that everyone else is good to go.

I have a past rental problem? How should I proceed?
If you have had issues with past landlords and had to break a lease or are behind in current rent payments try and get them up to date before applying for your new place. Just with your credit check, if you have any problems in your past with employers or landlords be open about them with your new or prospective landlord. Odds are they will come out in your background check anyways, so if you explain them at least you come off as honest about the situation.

If your credit is in check and you have the correct income and references for an apartment, then you should be good to go. Just make sure you beat everyone else to applying before the apartment you want is rented out. If you have any other questions about the application or application process let us know!

Continuing from our previous blog post, we are going to discuss questions to ask your landlord that covers questions about the building and also questions about the landlord themselves.

Questions about Maintenance and Building

How do I file a maintenance service request?  It always seems that things go wrong when you are most busy, so if you already know that procedure of filing out a request you won’t have to spend time on this when it comes time to fill one out.

How long does a maintenance request normally take?  This can help give you an idea of how efficient the maintenance team is and decide if it should be a factor in choosing your apartment.

Is there anything tenant can do to make process easier/faster for maintenance team? You will want to make sure you make the maintenance team’s life as easy as possible when they are doing repairs for you, so if you need to clean up areas they will be working in or make a path for their work do so.

What is the most common maintenance request in the building?  If you are aware of this you can make sure to both do what you can to prevent this from happening and also be prepared for when the request is filed.

When was the last time the unit you are renting was remodeled?  Everybody likes when their appliances are new and have less wear and tear on them.

Do you make any changes/improvements to units between renters?  Make sure your unit is at least inspected and cleaned before you move into it. This will help you avoid losing part of your security deposit to issues that were not your fault.

Will maintenance enter apartment without giving notice?  Maintenance staff shouldn’t ever enter your apartment without a notice, so make sure that your property manager respects your privacy.

Is there any extra storage available?  If you are having trouble with storing things in your apartment, this may be a cheaper and easier method than taking out a storage unit that may be far away.

What internet/cable services are offered?  Make sure you know all of your options for these services. If you check out all of your options you may end up saving a lot of money for the same quality of service.

Questions about Property Management

How long have you been in business?  It’s always nice to know a company or landlord has been around for a while because it shows they are established and have experience in dealing with people.

Do you manage other properties?  More properties doesn’t mean anything bad because then they obviously have some success, but just so you know what the managers schedule and responsibilities are like.

Where can I submit complaints about staff if I have one?  Nobody wants to have to complain to their landlord, but if someone from their staff has been acting inappropriately then you may need to do this. It’s nice to know where this complaint needs to go before you go asking about it while you are angry with the employees.

Just as a piece of advice, you probably shouldn’t go directly down this list and ask your landlord every single question. That will be no fun for you or them. But definitely make sure you are aware of all of these possibilities and ask the questions that are relevant to your preferences.

I hope that this list helps when trying to decide which apartment is best for you. If you have any additional questions you think we should ask or any other questions about apartment hunting in general let us know!