Signing a new lease without getting SWINDLED.

A checklist guide to signing your first apartment.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably making big moves. Congrats on graduating or switching jobs or pulling the trigger on just doing you. Hell yeah. Let’s just try to avoid getting swindled, though, as you sign that new lease.

I’m going to split this article into 3 stages: viewing, contract, and signing. It’ll make sense in a sec.

p.s. Skip to the bottom if you just want to just see the MUST NOTs.

Viewing 👀

Pre-Contract Questions and Checkpoints

• Check the cabinets under the sink. They are typically a tell-tale sign of whether there may be vermin or pests. Look out for dead bugs, vermin droppings, and pest control products as they denote problems of the past.
• If you’re living in NYC or Maine, landlords are required to provide a bedbug disclosure if they have been detected in the building within the last year.
• You can always ask to see agent’s license to make sure it’s a legit operation.
• Ask how “emergency repairs” are taken care of (e.g. if the fridge breaks).
• Figure out where the trash get thrown out/removed; you want to make sure it’s not an onerous process or one that charges you random fees.
• Understand the general building and community rules: visitor/pet policy, quiet hours, how neighbor disputes are settled, etc.
• See if you’re allowed to make alterations to the apartment (e.g. painting walls), and if so, what kind.
• Make sure you are allowed to install an air conditioner if one doesn’t exist already. Surprisingly, not all buildings allow it (ahem, “wired” for it).
• Turn on the sinks and shower to make sure there’s sufficient water pressure.
• Visit the apartment over the weekend when the neighbors are likely around, so that you can gauge how much noise can get through the walls.
• Walk around the neighborhood at night to make sure the area still feels safe at night.

Contract-Stage Questions 📝

Before signing, please ask the following:

• How often does the rent go up?
• What multiple of the monthly rent do I have to make in income? This is often 30–50x the price of rent.
• Can I have a guarantor (read: a parent who can co-sign if it’s out of your price range)?
• Is there an application? Sometimes, they charge you $50–100 just to have the chance to get the apartment.
• What happens if I cancel the lease?
• What’s the subletting policy?
• What’s included in rent (possible: water, gas, heat, cooling, electricity, internet)?
• When do I pay my rent and how? Keep in mind what the grace period is and whether you have to mail a check.
• Ask them to go over all of the fees
  - Broker’s fee (if applicable) is 5 to 15 percent of the yearly rent (the differential is based on how much of the fee the landlord foots)
  - Security deposit. Also, ask how and when it’s returned
  - First month/last month’s rent
  - Move-in and or move-out fees
  - Superintendent fees
• What condition will the apartment be in when I arrive and what does it have to be when I leave? It’s especially helpful to know if it will be professionally cleaned and/or repainted before you move in.

Signing 📎

Potential documents needed

• Three most recent Pay Stubs and/or employment offer (job title, job functions, salary and length of employment)
• Three most recent Bank Statements
• Tax returns from past two years (typically, first page and signature page)
• Current credit report
• Color copy of Driver’s License or Passport
• Co-signer’s contact info
• Recommendation letter from any past landlords

The Unholy Sins (read: mistakes) you can make 👹

• Do not wire any money. It is not reversible. PLEASE, for the love of all things holy, write a bank certified check if you need to put down a deposit.
• Do not sign a lease over FaceTime or Houseparty or whatever video-shit you use these days. If you are not physically there, the apartment could not physically exist.
• Do not believe that a “flex” room means a real room. It is a “partitioned” room where you aren’t allowed to have a wall that actually goes to the ceiling.
• Do not sign multi-year leases with a significant other you’re not absolutely sure about. Also, do not sign a lease with an ex. (You will be surprised how much this happens).
• Do not pay a broker’s fee over 15%. You’re already getting swindled, why lose it all?

Okay, now’s your job: please please please click that 💚 below and show some love.

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