Questions to Ask When Getting an Apartment
Questions for the whole process of getting an apartment, from the first phone call to the day you sign: what the rent actually costs each month, how the application and deposit work, who fixes things and how fast, what the lease commits you to, and what to get in writing before any money changes hands.
20 questions, each with the reason to ask it · includes a conversation guide
The questions
Open any question to see why it works.
- 1
Is the rent you advertised the total monthly cost, or are there fees on top?
Advertised rent is usually the base figure. Ask them to add up amenity, trash, pest, package and administrative fees out loud, because a hundred dollars a month of add-ons changes which apartments you can afford and never appears on the listing.
- 2
What is included in the rent, and what do I set up in my own name?
This tells you which utility accounts you have to open, which ones charge a deposit when you have no history with that provider, and whether internet is a building contract you cannot opt out of. A building with heat included behaves very differently in January.
- 3
How long is the lease, and what happens when the term ends?
Some leases roll month to month automatically, some renew for another full year unless you give notice months ahead, and some convert to a higher month-to-month rate. The default matters most when your plans are uncertain, since it decides whether the end of the term is a decision or an ambush.
- 4
What do I have to pay before I get keys, and which of it comes back?
Move-in cost is usually first month plus deposit, often last month, plus fees that are never refunded. Ask for it as one number and for the refundable share separately, because that sum, not the monthly rent, is what decides whether you can move at all.
- 5
What are the income and credit requirements, and do you check them before I pay the application fee?
Application fees are rarely returned to people who never qualified. Getting the income multiple, the minimum score and the eviction policy stated plainly saves you that money, and their willingness to say it out loud is a fair sample of how they handle everything else.
- 6
Who manages the building day to day, and who do I call at midnight if something floods?
Owner-run buildings and third-party management companies fail in different ways. What you want is a specific person or number and a real after-hours arrangement, not a portal that gets read on weekday mornings.
- 7
How do repair requests work, and what counts as an emergency?
The useful part is their definition of emergency, since no heat, no hot water and an active leak are sometimes filed as next-business-day items. Ask how long a routine request is taking right now rather than what the policy promises.
- 8
What was the highest monthly utility bill in a unit this size last year?
This gets you a real number instead of an average. Single-pane windows, electric baseboard heat and a top floor under a poorly insulated roof can add more per month than the rent gap between two buildings you are comparing.
- 9
Is parking included, is it assigned, and what does it cost?
Unassigned parking in a full building means circling at ten at night, and a second car often has no space at all. Ask about guest parking and overnight street rules in the same breath, because both become your problem the first time someone visits.
- 10
What are the rules on pets, guests staying over, and subletting?
Ask even with no pet and no travel plans, since these clauses decide what happens if a partner moves in, if work takes you away for a summer, or if you get a dog in year two. Pet rent and a pet deposit are usually separate charges from each other.
- 11
How much notice do I have to give to move out, and what does breaking the lease early cost?
Break terms range from a flat fee of a month or two to remaining liable until the unit is re-rented, and those are very different risks. Ask which one applies and get the clause number, because this is the term people most often find out about too late.
- 12
Will you write the repairs you have promised into the lease before I sign?
Verbal promises about new carpet, a repainted wall or a replaced appliance rarely survive a change of leasing agent. A landlord who agrees to add it with a completion date is showing you it will actually happen.
- 13
How is the deposit held, and what do you normally deduct at move-out?
Deposit rules vary by state, and some require a separate account, interest, or an itemized statement within a set number of days. Asking what they usually deduct tells you whether ordinary wear gets billed here as damage.
- 14
What did the last tenant pay, and how much has rent moved in this building over three years?
That pattern predicts your renewal better than anything they say about renewals. A unit priced well under the building's recent history is often bait to fill a vacancy, with the correction waiting for you at month thirteen.
- 15
When renewal comes around, how is the new rent set and when will I hear it?
The timing matters as much as the number. If renewal offers land after the notice deadline in your own lease, you can be committed to another year before you know the price, which is a common squeeze and usually a legal one.
- 16
What rules would I never guess from the listing?
This is where quiet hours, no laundry after ten, no window air conditioners, no grills on balconies and nothing hung on the door live. Which ones they volunteer also tells you what the neighbors complain about most.
- 17
Has this unit or the building had flooding, pests, or mold work?
Recent work is something you can then check against fresh paint, new baseboards, or a dehumidifier running in the basement. Notice if they answer only about the unit when you asked about the building, since water and bed bugs both travel between units.
- 18
What happens if a neighbor is the problem: noise, smoke, a dog?
Every building has a process on paper. What you want is a story about a time they used it, because management that will not step between tenants leaves you with a police call or a move as your only options.
- 19
Can I read the actual lease and the building rules before I apply?
The lease is where automatic renewal, mandatory renters insurance, entry notice, arbitration clauses and joint liability with a roommate are written down. Refusing to share it until after you have paid is itself an answer.
- 20
If I want this unit, what takes it off the market, and does that money come back if I am declined?
Holding deposits sit in a gray area and the terms differ on whether the money returns if you are denied, if you change your mind, or if it simply becomes your first month. Get that written down at the moment you hand it over, not afterwards.
Getting an apartment without expensive surprises
Practical guidance for the conversation itself.
Before you go looking
Before you go looking
- 1Work out the highest total monthly number you can live with, including utilities, parking, renters insurance and any pet rent, rather than the rent figure alone.
- 2Build the application packet once: photo ID, recent pay stubs or an offer letter, bank statements, and contact details for your last two landlords. Good units go to whoever applies completely first.
- 3Pull your own credit report before a landlord does, so an old collection is not a surprise at the leasing desk.
- 4Read your state's rules on deposits, entry notice and repair timelines, so you can recognize a lease term that is unenforceable where you live.
- 5Visit the block once at night and once on a weekday morning. Parking, noise and the commute are all different animals then.
While you are standing in the unit
While you are standing in the unit
- Run the shower and a tap together, watch the pressure, and time how long hot water takes to arrive.
- Open and close every window, and look at frames and sills for old water staining.
- Check phone signal in the rooms where you would actually use it, and ask which internet providers serve the address rather than the neighborhood.
- Photograph everything already damaged. That set of pictures is the beginning of your move-in condition record.
- Look at the mailboxes and the parcel setup, which tell you quickly whether package theft is a live issue here.
- Find the trash and the laundry, and count the stairs between them and your door.
Before you sign
Before you sign
- Read the renewal and notice clauses first. They cause more expensive surprises than the rent number does.
- Get every promise onto the lease itself with a date, not into an email from an agent who may not be there in March.
- Do a written move-in inspection with photographs, and either have the landlord sign it or send it to them the day you get keys.
- Ask who else is named on the lease and whether liability is joint. With roommates, one person's missed rent is usually everyone's missed rent.
- Check whether renters insurance is required and what liability limit they demand, then buy it before move-in day rather than on it.