Safe at Home
Moving Out? Here's How to Make Apartment Life Livable.

By Karen Blumenthal
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

After enduring all the rules of living at home and then suffering through a few years of crowded college dorms, your first apartment can seem like heaven on Earth. But even when you have your own place, you aren't home free, so to speak.

Housing in all its forms is often the biggest financial responsibility you will have at any one time. And in addition to paying your rent and utility bills on time, you'll have to take decent care of the place and be a good neighbor, or face penalties later.

"A lot of first time renters are very naïve about the impact that first rental is going to have on their future," says Marc Banner, a longtime property manager in Boise, Idaho, and president of the National Association of Residential Property Managers. The kind of reference your first landlord gives to your second and third landlords could affect what kind of place you can rent in the future-and even whether you can buy a house, he says.

At the same time, you'll want a place where you feel safe, where the landlord promptly makes repairs and where the cost doesn't chew up most of your budget. Here are some factors to consider when renting your first apartment:

Shop around--and visit more than once. Rents can vary dramatically by neighborhood. In New York's Manhattan borough, you might pay $1,500 or $1,600 a month for a small room and a bathroom in popular neighborhood, and half that for a one-bedroom apartment across the river in Brooklyn, says Michael Burtei, a graduate assistant in the off-campus housing office at New York University.

Once you have your eye on a place, you should inspect the actual apartment and not just a model, which may be quite different. And ask questions: Are appliances included? Does the fitness room have equipment from this century? Where will you park-and where will your guests park? Visit the complex or building at different times of day, like 6 p.m. on Saturday, or hang around the mailboxes to see what it's like.

While you're there, ask people who live there if there are problems. "Everybody who rents there will have an opinion," says Mark Kreditor, owner of Get There First Realty in Dallas, which leases homes and condos.

Do the numbers. Your landlord will want you to have income that is at least three or four times your monthly rent, or at least $2,100 to $2,800 a month for a $700-a-month apartment. But that calculation may be too cozy for your budget if you also have student loans, a car payment and desire to go out occasionally. If paying the rent is a strain, you should consider a cheaper place or look for a roommate.

If you don't have income or a credit record, your parents will probably have to guarantee that they will pay if you don't.

Add in the other costs. When you decide to rent, you'll have to put down a deposit, ranging from $100 or a half month's rent in the Sunbelt, to a full month of rent or more in high-demand cities. In New York, that money may become your last month's rent; in the South, it may be refunded if you leave the apartment in good condition.

In popular, high-cost areas like Manhattan, Boston and San Francisco, you may have to pay a broker to help you find a place, a cost that can range from a month's rent to 17% of your annual rent.

In many places, water, sewer services and sometimes heat are included in the rent-but not always. You'll probably pay the electricity and gas bills. In newer apartments, cable TV and wireless Internet services may be a free perk.

Signing on the dotted line. When you've made up your mind, you'll fill out an application allowing your credit, employment and criminal records to be checked. If you're approved, you'll sign a lease, or contract, that will commit you for six months to a year, depending on your region. The sentences may be written by lawyers, but read the lease anyway. What will it cost you to break the lease? Who pays for pest control? And what are your rights if the landlord doesn't fix a problem promptly?

Roommate considerations. Renting with one or more friends may allow you to get far more space at a lower cost per person. But before you move in, work out some basics. Whose names will go on the lease? Who is responsible for the rent if one person moves out?

Kendall Laughlin, who runs Apartment Selector offices in Atlanta and Dallas, and has two college-age sons, says it also helps if roommates work out even the personal details ahead of time. How will food be divided? Who will do what chores? And how can you get out if the arrangement isn't working? "People who have roommates need an exit strategy," he says.

After the deal. Before you move in, take pictures of the property with a camera with a time stamp. If there's a dispute with the landlord later over some kind of damage, you'll have proof of the apartment's condition when you arrived.

You might also consider renters insurance, which costs about $10 to $15 a month. The landlord's insurance covers only the building. Renter's insurance will cover your stuff and protect you if someone lets the water overflow in the bathtub upstairs.