NO SLEEP TILL MUNCIE: Be wise before you sign

Read these tips before signing next year's apartment or house lease

NO SLEEP TILL MUNCIE
Jeremy Ervin is a sophomore journalism major and writes ‘No Sleep Till Muncie’ for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper. Write to Jeremy at jrervin@bsu.edu.

So time is running out to nab decent apartments and houses for next year. Places are getting snatched up and people are already signing leases. If you haven’t done so yet, here are some things to consider before putting ink to paper.

Check for structural integrity and security.

The entire point of a dwelling is to enjoy the safety and shelter its walls provide. A visually rickety place may raise flags, but often weakness can’t be observed with the naked eye. Feel the door. Does it feel solid or does it seem like it might fall off its hinges? Check the floors for odd shifting, bending or holes. Discoloration on the walls, floors or ceilings could indicate mold or other mildew.

Security is also paramount. While your new pad will hold your worldly possessions while you are away, it’ll also be your refuge while you sleep. Try to determine who has keys to the house or apartment other than yourself and make sure your potential landlord takes their key collection seriously. Even still, it can be pretty easy for an old tenant to make and keep an extra copy of a key. Ask the landlord when the locks were last changed.

Ensure the not-so-obvious comforts and conveniences.

Ask if the furniture belongs to a current tenant or to the owner. While a landlord will probably need little prompting to tell you if the place comes furnished, it doesn’t hurt to check.
Try to get a feel for how well the place is heated and cooled. Insulation is really important but difficult to evaluate, so that might be a question for current tenants (we’ll get to that shortly).

Make sure all the taps more or less work and see how long it takes to switch between hot and cold water. You’re going to be bathing here regularly, so unless you absolutely love ice-cold showers, you’re probably going to want to make sure this works.

Ask current residents questions.

This might be your best opportunity to get the straight dope about your future living situation. Unlike the landlord or other representative, these people have no stake, financial or otherwise, in your decision to live here.

Ask them what it’s like dealing with the landlord. How are they about late rent or other circumstances? Do they try to pull any sketchy moves to try and con money out of the residents? Do they fix things in a timely manner or at all? Are there any “unwritten rules,” and if so, what are they? The only people who can tell you what life is really like at the location are people who have done it before.

Actually read the lease.

It may be forgivable to blow off the terms and conditions when you sign up for Netflix or whatever, but it’s not when you sign a lease. You are literally agreeing to live under someone else’s roof under someone else’s rules. Act like it and know exactly what you’re signing.

Comments

More from The Daily






This Week's Digital Issue


Loading Recent Classifieds...