Questions to Ask When Touring Apartments
Twenty questions to ask at every apartment you see, so that four tours in one Saturday produce a comparison you can trust rather than a blur. They are built around the numbers and terms that differ between buildings and get forgotten by the time you sit down to decide. If you are only looking at one place, the questions to ask when touring an apartment cover the unit in more depth.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What is this unit's total monthly cost, so I can put it on one line next to the others?
Why ask it
Ask for rent plus every recurring charge as a single figure. Buildings hide different things in fees, so comparing advertised rents alone regularly puts the more expensive apartment at the top of your list.
Is that a net effective rent after a concession, or the amount I pay every month?
Why ask it
A two month concession spread across a year makes a 3,000 apartment advertise at 2,500. Both numbers matter: the lower one for your first year, the higher one because next year's increase is calculated from it.
What do I have to pay before I get keys, all in?
Why ask it
Move-in totals vary far more between buildings than rent does, from one month plus a deposit to three months plus several fees. This is often the number that actually decides which apartment you can take.
Which lease lengths can I choose, and what does the price change to for each?
Why ask it
Get the price for every term offered, not just the twelve month default. A cheaper 15 month lease that ends in spring rather than December is worth real money the next time you move.
Which utilities am I responsible for here, and roughly what do they run for this size?
Why ask it
One building includes heat and water, the next bills both back to you. Write it down per apartment, because a 100 monthly difference in utilities beats a 50 difference in rent and is easy to lose track of.
When is it available, and how long will you hold it?
Why ask it
You are establishing your actual deadline. Knowing whether you have three days or three weeks tells you how many more places you can see, and it is the difference between choosing and settling.
How long does the application take, and is the fee refundable if I am not approved?
Why ask it
Applying to three buildings at once can cost several hundred in non-refundable fees. Ask what happens to a holding deposit if you withdraw, since that is where most of the money is at risk.
Can you email me the fee schedule and a blank copy of the lease today?
Why ask it
The buildings that send both within a day are the ones with nothing buried, and the documents let you compare terms at the kitchen table rather than from memory. A refusal here is itself a comparison point.
What are the income and credit requirements?
Why ask it
Ask early so you do not spend a Saturday touring apartments you will not be approved for. If a guarantor, larger deposit, or prepaid rent is accepted instead, find that out before you pay a fee.
How does this unit differ from the model or the listing photographs?
Why ask it
Older appliances, a different floor, no balcony, and a view of a wall are the usual differences. Asking directly usually gets an honest answer, because they know you will see it eventually.
If this one goes, what else do you have, and at what price?
Why ask it
This is how you find the unit that is not advertised: a similar layout upstairs, or one coming free next month. It also reveals whether the price you were quoted is a real price or a starting point.
What does parking cost here, and is a space guaranteed or a waitlist?
Why ask it
A waitlist means street parking for an unknown period, which is a hidden cost in permits, tickets, and time. Note the number per apartment, since parking is one of the biggest swings between buildings.
What is included here that I would otherwise pay for: in-unit laundry, internet, storage, a gym?
Why ask it
These are worth putting a dollar figure against so your comparison is fair. In-unit laundry saves both money and hours, and a gym you would use replaces a membership, while a gym you would not is just a fee.
What does a pet cost here, one time and monthly?
Why ask it
The structure varies wildly between a refundable deposit, a one-time fee, and monthly pet rent, and over a two year lease those differ by hundreds. Also ask about weight and breed limits, which are set by insurers and rarely bend.
What increase did tenants who renewed here get last year?
Why ask it
The comparison you actually need is second year cost, not first. A cheaper apartment with a history of large increases is more expensive over two years, and this question is the only way to see it on a tour.
What maintenance response time will you put in writing?
Why ask it
Everyone claims to be responsive, so ask what they will commit to on paper for no heat, no hot water, or a leak. The buildings that hesitate here are the ones where a repair takes three weeks.
What is the noise situation: the nearest highway, train line, bar, or flight path?
Why ask it
You cannot judge this from a midday tour, and it is the thing tenants most often cannot live with. An agent who names the 6am garbage truck or the bar on the corner is being straight with you.
What do residents here complain about most?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly, at the end. Parking, laundry queues, and a slow elevator are ordinary answers you can weigh. Nobody complains is a non-answer and belongs in your notes as one.
Is there anything about this unit you would want to know if you were the one renting it?
Why ask it
Leasing agents often volunteer something real here, because the question invites them to be a person rather than a salesperson. What they choose to mention, and whether they mention anything at all, distinguishes buildings.
If I applied today, what is the last point at which I could change my mind and get my money back?
Why ask it
Every building has a different line between refundable and gone, and it usually falls earlier than applicants assume. Knowing the date for each option is what lets you apply to your second choice without losing it.
Comparing Several Apartments Without Losing Track
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Build One Sheet, One Row Per Apartment
- Address and unit number, since floor plans repeat and prices do not
- Advertised rent, net effective rent, and gross rent written in the lease
- Every recurring fee, added up into one monthly total
- Estimated utilities for this size and this heating type
- Move-in total, and which portion of it is refundable
- Lease lengths offered and the price of each
- Parking and storage cost, and whether either is a waitlist
- Pet cost, split into one time and monthly
- Last year's renewal increase in dollars
- Availability date and how long they will hold it
- Your own one line note on light, noise, and how the building smelled
Running Multiple Tours in a Day
Book them at different times, not back to back
Spread tours across the morning and the evening so you see at least one building at the hour you would come home. Leave 30 minutes between them, and use that gap to write your notes while the place is still distinct in your memory.
Take the same six photographs everywhere
Kitchen, bathroom, main room from the door, the view from the largest window, the corridor outside, and the laundry room. Identical shots make comparison possible; a random 40 photographs per apartment does not.
Ask the same questions in the same order
Consistency is the whole point of touring several places. Keep the list on your phone and work through it, because the question you skip at the third tour is the one you will need to compare on Sunday night.
Record the answer, not your impression
Write down the number they said, along with whether they knew it or guessed. A month later you will remember which apartment felt nice and none of the figures that should decide it.
Deciding Without Losing Your First Choice
Find out each building's real deadline
Ask how long they will hold a unit and what a holding deposit commits you to. Most people lose their preferred apartment by waiting for information they could have asked for on the tour.
Do not apply to three at once without checking the fees
Application and holding fees are usually non-refundable, so parallel applications can cost several hundred. If you need a fallback, ask each place what portion comes back and when.
Read one lease properly before you sign any of them
Leases differ far more than tours do, particularly on early termination, repair responsibilities, renewal, and what happens at the end of the term. Reading one carefully teaches you what to look for in the rest.
Rank on two year cost, then on daily annoyance
Add twelve months of everything plus a plausible renewal increase, then weigh commute, stairs, laundry, and noise. Those two lists usually agree less than expected, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing on.
Warning Signs Across Buildings
- A quoted rent that changes when you ask for it in an email
- A refusal to send the fee schedule or a blank lease before you apply
- Application fees demanded before you are shown the actual unit
- An agent who cannot say what tenants who renewed last year paid
- Availability pressure that cannot be checked, from an applicant nobody can describe
- A holding deposit that becomes non-refundable the moment you hand it over
- Different answers from two staff members about the same fee