Questions to Ask for Apartment Tour
For the twenty minutes you are physically standing in the unit: these 20 questions cover what to test while you are there, what the room will sound and cost like once you live in it, and what the landlord has agreed to fix before you move in.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Is this the exact unit I would be renting, or a model?
Why ask it
Large buildings tour a staged model with better finishes, a different floor and no upstairs neighbor. If your unit is occupied, ask to see it before signing rather than after, or at minimum ask for photographs of that specific apartment and the floor plan with dimensions.
Can I run the taps and the shower while I am here?
Why ask it
Two minutes tells you what a year of mornings will feel like: how long hot water takes to arrive, whether pressure collapses, whether the drain is slow. Flush the toilet while the shower runs. Nobody minds, and an agent who does mind has told you something.
Where is the thermostat, and what did heating and cooling cost in this unit in the worst month?
Why ask it
Same building, different unit, wildly different bills. A top floor west facing apartment with single glazing can cost double a shaded interior one. Ask whether you control your own heat at all, since in some buildings the boiler is on a schedule and you cannot.
Which way do the windows face, and do they all open?
Why ask it
Orientation decides afternoon heat and whether anything you own will grow. Painted shut or broken windows are common and rarely mentioned. Open each one, check for screens if you plan to use them, and look at whether a window unit could be fitted if there is no cooling.
Can we stand still for a minute so I can hear the building?
Why ask it
Silence is the cheapest test available and almost nobody performs it. You are listening for the road, the elevator shaft, a compressor, hallway traffic, the neighbor's television. A tour is usually mid morning, the quietest hour of the week, so whatever you hear now will be worse later.
Who lives directly above, and what is the floor between us?
Why ask it
The single most common reason renters break a lease is the person upstairs. A child, a dog, hard floors over old joists, or a unit where someone works nights all predict your evenings. Vagueness here often means the previous tenant complained.
Are these appliances staying, and how old are they?
Why ask it
Staged units sometimes lose the microwave and the washer before handover, and an ancient refrigerator adds to your electricity bill every month. Open the oven, look behind the fridge for a water line if you want ice, and check that a washer hookup is actually plumbed rather than just wall space.
Can I test the outlets, and where is the breaker panel?
Why ask it
Bring a phone charger and try several. Dead outlets, two prong outlets with no ground, and a bathroom with no protected outlet all point to wiring that has not been touched in decades. If the panel is inside a locked room you do not control, you cannot reset your own breaker on a Sunday.
How is cell reception in here, and which internet providers actually serve this unit?
Why ask it
Check your bars in each room while you are standing there, particularly in a basement or a thick walled older building. Providers are often limited to one per building, so ask for the name and confirm on the provider's own site by unit number rather than by street address.
Where is the laundry, how many machines are there, and what does a load cost?
Why ask it
Machine count matters more than location: four machines for sixty units means your Saturday is planned around it. Ask what happens when one breaks, how long the last repair took, whether it takes coins, cards or an app, and go look at the room rather than accepting the description.
Where do packages go, and what happens when one goes missing?
Why ask it
A lobby floor with no camera is a different life from a locker system or a staffed desk. Ask what the building does when a parcel disappears, because the honest answer is usually nothing, and that tells you whether to reroute deliveries to work or a pickup point.
Where would I park, how far is that from this door, and is the spot assigned?
Why ask it
Walk to the space if you can. Unassigned parking in a full building means circling at nine at night, and a distant lot changes how safe the place feels in winter. Also ask about guest parking and whether the lot is plowed or swept, and by whom.
Where do trash and recycling go, and how far do I carry them?
Why ask it
Chute on the floor, bins in a basement, or a dumpster across a parking lot are very different in February. Ask about pickup days, whether there is a valet trash fee, and what compost or recycling separation is required, since some cities fine buildings and buildings pass that on.
Has this unit ever had a leak, flood or mold problem?
Why ask it
Look while you ask: ceiling stains around fixtures, fresh paint in one patch, warped baseboards, a smell in the bathroom cabinet. Water damage recurs, and asking directly puts the answer on record, which matters later if the same leak returns in your kitchen.
What will be repaired, painted or replaced before I move in, and can that go in writing?
Why ask it
Everything promised in a tour evaporates at handover unless it is on paper. Ask for a dated list attached to the lease with each item named. Vague assurances that it will be freshened up are how people end up living with the marks they pointed at.
Is there a pest control schedule, and has this unit or the building been treated recently?
Why ask it
A regular contracted schedule is a good sign, not a bad one. What you want to know is what was treated, when and for what, especially bed bugs, which are a building level problem rather than a unit level one. Check under sinks and along baseboards while you are there.
How do I get in, and what does a replacement key or fob cost?
Why ask it
Keys, fobs, codes and app based locks all fail differently, and replacement charges can be surprisingly high. Ask who else holds a key, how a lockout is handled after hours and what that call costs, since some buildings charge a hundred dollars or more for it.
Can I see the storage, gym, roof or whatever else was in the listing?
Why ask it
Advertised amenities are sometimes shared with a second building, sometimes locked, sometimes charged separately, and occasionally still under construction. Ask to see each one you would actually use, and ask the hours, since a gym that closes at eight is no use to someone who works late.
Who fixes something at eleven at night on a Sunday, and what counts as an emergency?
Why ask it
You want a phone number and a name, not a portal. Ask for two recent examples with actual response times, and ask what the building classes as an emergency, because no heat in January and a broken dishwasher are usually treated very differently.
How long has this unit been empty, and why did the last tenant leave?
Why ask it
A unit sitting vacant for months in a tight market usually has a reason: the noise, the layout, the price, the neighbor. Nobody is required to tell you, but the pause before the answer is worth as much as the answer, and a straight response is a good sign about the whole tenancy.
Touring an Apartment Properly
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Bring These With You
- A phone charger, to test outlets in every room.
- A tape measure, for the doorways and the wall your sofa or bed has to fit against.
- Your phone's camera and voice notes, since four apartments blur together by evening.
- A written list of your own deal breakers, so a nice kitchen does not overwrite them.
- The listing itself, to check that what was advertised is what you are being shown.
- A small level or a marble if the floors looked odd in the photographs.
Test These While You Are Standing There
- Hot water: run the shower and time how long it takes to arrive.
- Water pressure: shower and tap together, then flush the toilet.
- Every window: does it open, does it lock, is there a screen, does it face a wall.
- Outlets in each room, plus the bathroom and kitchen protected outlets.
- Cell signal in the bedroom and any interior room.
- The oven, the burners, the extractor fan and the bathroom fan.
- Cabinet and closet doors, which reveal whether the building settles or was badly renovated.
- The floor: walk the whole unit listening for soft spots and looking for slope.
- Under sinks: leaks, water stains, traps of standing water, evidence of pests.
- The lock on the front door of the unit and on the building entrance.
Go Back at a Different Hour
Tours are scheduled at the building's best moment
Mid morning on a weekday is quiet, the parking lot is empty and neighbors are at work. If you are seriously considering a place, drive or walk past at seven on a weeknight and again on a weekend evening. You are looking for parking availability, hallway noise, who is around and whether the entrance is propped open.
Ask a resident, not the agent
One question to somebody carrying laundry tells you more than the whole tour: how long does maintenance take. People answer honestly, and the tone of the answer carries information the words do not. If nobody is around at any hour you visit, that is worth noticing too.
Check the walk you will actually do
Walk from the parking spot or the bus stop to the door, at night if you can, with the same bags you would be carrying. Then check the route to work at the hour you would travel rather than trusting a map estimate made at midday.
Before You Leave the Building
Five minutes that save arguments later
- 1Photograph every room, plus any damage you noticed, with the date visible in the file.
- 2Write down the unit number, the rent quoted, the fees mentioned and the name of the person who said them.
- 3Ask for the repair list to be emailed to you, then reply confirming it in your own words.
- 4Ask what happens next, how long the application takes and whether anyone else has applied.
- 5Ask for the full lease with addenda to read before you pay any fee.