Zero Value

While we’re on the topic of searching for an apartment, let us go into more detail. When you are actually taking stock of the units, you should go ahead and ask all the questions that are in your mind. Do not hold anything back. A good thing to do would be to actually write them down so that you do not forget anything. Here are some questions that you might want to include in your list.

How much are the utility bills each month?
Of course, you cannot expect to get the same amount as the utility bills will vary depending on your own consumption. But of course, getting a rough estimate will help you get an idea of what you will be getting yourself into. You can get a better idea if you mention the appliances that you will have and the number of people that will be living in your apartment.

Are the noise levels manageable?
Of course, the unit is not the only thing that you have to consider. You will have neighbors around you and if you are sensitive to noise, you have to make sure that the neighbors are not prone to all night parties and other noisy activities.

What is the cost of living in the area?
You have to make sure that you will be able to afford living in the area. Food sources, transportation, entertainment – all these things should be taken into consideration. Otherwise, you might be in for a surprise.

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Are you looking for your own place? Maybe you have just decided to move out of your parents’ house. Or maybe, you have been living on your own for quite some time but have just recently decided to move to another place. You might have an idea of how much of a headache it can be to find an apartment. Here are some tips to help you find the perfect place for yourself.

Know what you want.
I think that this is the most important thing that you should do. Indeed, it should be the first thing that you should settle. Make sure that you know what it is that you exactly want. It would help to write down your “requirements” so that you do not accidentally forget a detail or two. Take note of the things that are non-negotiable and things that you are willing to compromise.

Be realistic.
You do have to know what you want but you have to stay realistic. You have to strike a balance between your dream apartment and the real world. For example, you cannot expect to get an apartment in a prime location for a few hundred dollars.

Take notes.
The chance are that you are going to go around and look at several apartments before you find the right one – unless you’re extremely lucky. In any case, having a notepad and pen (or a PDA!) will be handy. Take good notes. What do you like about the place? What don’t you like? These notes will come in handy when the time comes to make the decision.

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I have lived in a condo for the past few years and I have to say I like it. I still want my own house one day, and I have no serious plans of buying a condo but I am very much open to the possibility. But what about buying a condo in a building that is half full? I actually have a friend who is considering renting to own a condo. His concern is that around half of the units remain unoccupied, despite the fact that the building has been operating for more than a year now. Is it a good idea to buy a condo under such circumstances?

There are some things to consider here. One, you have to realize that the amenities in the building do not come for free. Association dues and other charges cover these amenities. In the beginning, it may not seem much since the developer usually covers these charges. In effect, they subsidize the costs. In the long run, however, the developer usually pulls out, leaving the upkeep to the residents of the building. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the more people who live in the building, the lower the costs. In the same way, the less people occupying the building, the higher the costs for each resident.

Considering this, it really is up to you if you think that it would be worth buying a condo in this situation. Perhaps the units will sell later on. Perhaps not.

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Everyone dreams of owning his or her own home one day. I think that I have never met anyone who disagrees with this. Still, we find a lot of people who rent instead of owning their homes. While this may not be out of choice, did you know that there are some pretty good reasons you should rent instead of buy a home? Here are some of them.

Escape hidden costs of owning a home.
It is lovely to have a place to call your own. It is awesome not having to think about paying monthly rent. It is assuring to know that you will not have to move out in case you can’t pay the rent. Still, owning a home is not free. There are hidden costs that come it with. Let me name a few: mortgage, incidental repairs, transportation costs (if you live far from work because you wanted that house), taxes, and so on. All these are not part of the renter’s worry list.

Accessibility
Now this can be relative; but what normally happens is that people get to buy homes which are not very near the city center. This can be due to high costs, among other things. If you rent in the city, you have access to everything that you need within minutes.

Mobility
For some people, settling down is not the end all be all. I think that renting is good for these people as it offers them more mobility. If they suddenly find an opportunity that requires them to pack up and move, renting will make this easier, as opposed to having to think about the home.

Convinced yet?

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In my previous post, I shared some things that you can do in order to help you find a new apartment and bring your pet (or pets, as the case may be) along with you. Here are more of those tips.

Offer to shell out extra in deposit.
Now there are two significant words in this sentence: offer and extra. Whether or not you have a pet, you will certainly have to give a deposit for the apartment. To give you extra leverage AND to show the landlord that you are quite confident that there won’t be any problems caused by your pet (or that if you do, you are willing to take responsibility for it), volunteer to add to the deposit. If you do not have that much money on hand, you can offer the landlord to pay the additional deposit in installments.

Buy renters insurance and let the landlord know you have it.
This is protection for yourself and the landlord, and is especially important in cases where the pet might cause some harm to others. It is quite important, for example, if you own a big dog. While you might be sure that your pet will not harm a fly (much less another tenant), you just never know when he might become a little too rough when being playful. The landlord will certainly appreciate the fact that you are covered by insurance if something averse happens involving your dog. More so, this really is good protection for you since the person who gets injured will probably go after you and not the landlord.

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Renting is not always the easiest option. This is especially true if you have one or more pets that live with you. While there are some apartment buildings that accept pets without any questions, there are more that do not. In many cases, building owners might allow pets but on a case to case basis. If you are looking for a new place to live and you have pets, here are some things that might help you convince the landlord that you are a worthy tenant.

Be an excellent and responsible pet owner.
The truth is that this should be a given. Whether you live in an apartment or your own house, you have no right having a pet unless you are a responsible owner. You can never really emphasize this enough, however, and if the landlord sees clearly that you can take care of your pet, your chances of being allowed to live in the building will be higher.

Understand the landlord’s point of view.
There are various reasons for landlords not to allow pets, and even in those cases wherein they do allow pets in some circumstances, you really have to empathize with the landlord. Why are they averse to having pets in the building? Perhaps you can work around these reasons and assure them that whatever it is that they “fear” will not happen AND make sure that it doesn’t.

Put together some references.
Much like you ask for references for a job interview, you can gather some references for your pet. Ask former neighbors and landlords to help you out with this. If you have a good track record with your pet, then you should not have any problems. More so, your prospective landlord will appreciate this information.

(to be continued)

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So we’ve talked about high rent, ill-kept apartments, and new job opportunities. What other reasons are there that might require you to leave your current place of residence?

To be nearer your current job
This actually happened to me many years ago. I lived in a very nice and comfortable condo with a friend. It was big and yet cozy at the same time. It was located in a very nice district in the city. The rent was steep but we split it so it was fine. However, my job was about two hours away. That meant a total of 4 hours travel time and a lot of money spent on transportation. Though it meant leaving my nice place, I had to move.

To follow your dreams
I may be being whimsical here but hey, we do have dreams and sometimes, they take us down paths that may lead us out of our comfort zones. Let’s say that you’ve always dreamt of living in a place with a warmer climate and you’ve spent half your life in Detroit. What’s stopping you from moving farther down south to enjoy the rest of your life? Or let’s say you’ve always wanted to study the French language. If you have the money and the means to do so, what’s stopping you from pursuing your dream and moving to France?

Moving is not a simple thing. It is not easy. But if you find a reason to do so, go ahead. You can always move again, can’t you?

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Some people seem to be born settlers. Once they have found a place to live, they do not feel the need to move to another home. If they do, it happens very rarely and for very compelling reasons. On the other hand, there are some people who seem to have nomad blood in them. They move every couple of years or so – even more.

How do you know when it is time to move? What are the justifiable reasons for one to move?

I suppose that the reasons vary from one person to another. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, some need very compelling reasons while others would move on a whim. So what is justifiable to one may not make sense to another. However, here are some common reasons why you should consider moving.

Your rent is too high or your current apartment is not kept well.
This one’s a no brainer. If the rent is too high for you, then you should immediately start looking for a more affordable place to call home. Otherwise, you will find yourself in financial trouble as time goes on. As for the ill-maintained unit, unless you want to suffer, you should consider moving on.

You have a new job prospect.
This is one common reason for people to move. In these times of economic uncertainty, moving because of jobs is even more common than before. If you find a more lucrative opportunity somewhere else and it entails leaving your pad, what would you do? I would move.

(to be continued)

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I wrote about renting in the previous post and that got me to doing some more reading on renting and being tenants. I found a potential good read in the book The Tenant Survival Guide: Essential Reading for Prospective Tenants and Those Already in Rented Accomodation. Written by Lesley Henderson, it is touted to be a definitive guide for tenants – both prospective and current – who need to know all sorts of things ranging from things to look for when checking out a place, deposits, inventories, contracts, and so on.

I found the book on Amazon and was looking for user reviews and comments but I could not find any. The excerpts that I read were enough to entice me to take a closer look at it, though. You can see the first page in Amazon if you want to read it for yourself.

Some information on the author. Lesley Henderson runs a family business and has been a landlord for most of her life – practically all her adult life. This should give tenant readers assurance that she knows what she is talking about. Of course, there might be a bias towards landlords, given her position but that is what I want to find out in reading the book.

If you are as interested as I am, you can find copies from $10 to $14, used and new, from Amazon. And if you do get around to reading it, maybe you would like to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments?

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Not everyone can afford their own homes yet so renting is always an option. Contrary to what some people think – that renting is a waste of money – it is in fact just a part of daily life. If you are renting, here is some good news for you – according to real estate experts, the renting market has been hit hard. This means that you are in a good position to get better rates and perks on your rent! So how do you do this?

One, communicate! Such a generic term but it applies specifically to you and your landlord as well. If you are going to be late – even for a day – on your rent, do let your landlord know in advance. This is not only common courtesy but will also give your landlord an idea of your situation. If you are having a hard time making ends meet, your landlord may be a bit more sympathetic if you talk to him. Take note, though, this may not really help in lowering your rent but it can buy you time to get the money together.

Two, keep your word. If you tell your landlord that you are going to be 2 weeks late on your payment, make sure that you really pay up in 2 weeks. One of the worst things that you could do is keep saying later or tomorrow and never getting around to paying up. Why would anyone believe you the next time you make a promise?

Three, arrange an exchange of service. This one can really help you lower your rent. If you have a skill or talent which you can offer your landlord in exchange for discounted rent, do so.

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