(no subject)

[sciencegeek]

So...you guys are smart and stuff. What questions do you think are absolutely necessary to ask when looking for an apartment? Or, what questions do you wish you asked when you were renting?
And is there a kind of tactful way to ask about smoking? I don't smoke, and the smell sort of bugs me. It's not, like, a deal breaker, but one of those 'given the choice, I would prefer not to be near it' sort of things.

Comments

[blnchflr]

Smoking as in previous tenants smoked, or surrounding current tenants? I'd just ask :o)

What are you already planning to ask? (To give me an idea of what information isn't already available to you.)

[sciencegeek]

And /or re smoking.

I'm asking pretty basic questions (and some probably stupid ones too)

I'm asking about pets, and security deposits (if extra is needed if a pet is allowed. Not that I have a pet, yet, but in the future). Maintenance (is there a full-time staff, what's the most common maintenance issue, how often have they required non-routine access to apartments in the past year), noise policy, and what are the other tenants like. What is the heating like (radiated, forced air, whatever). When is the rent due? Is there air conditioning/central air, and would having air conditioning be extra? I wouldn't mind knowing how long she managed the complex, or if she had managed others, just to get an idea of experience.

I want to check out the bathroom, and see how it's like, and know the age of the appliances (in this case, the fridge and stove, and the laundry in the building, though I believe the laundry is fairly new, IIRC).

[blnchflr]

Sounds like you have it covered?

In Denmark you'd also ask about tv - paid cable packages may be opt-out rather than opt-in.

[blnchflr]

Oh, and there are NO stupid questions when it comes to renting - rather ask too much then too little. I tend to ask too little, because I'm shy in RL, and it's not like that's ever served me well.