i recommended you hire a home inspector.
i also recommend getting renters insurance.
the landlords will also require a deposit before you move in.
unfortunately there are apartments like you are describing.
so i recommend hiring a home inspector. i am sure there are
other apartments, in the area you can look at.
Occasionally landlords will lower rent just to get it rented quicker. However, usually lower rent means lower condition. You can hire an inspector to look the place over, but you'd have to pay for it. Go to the building and speak to other tenants about the conditions. Look over the neighborhood and see if you like it. Then call the landlord and arrange an appointment to look at the place yourself if you are still interested.
If you have never inspected the apartment you should be paranoid.
The only way to know is to go look at it. The cheaper the rent, the less nice it will be, but you can only get what you can afford.
I have been apartment hunting and I found a good deal a 2 bedroom for $500. And so I thought, wow that is really cheap what is the catch, there has to be a catch. Then I started thinking the worst stuff imaginable about the apartment. That there might be cockroaches or mice or bedbugs. Why would it be so cheap? I even saw an older post of the apartment which the rent was higher ($550). The apartment is very small and has a pantry kitchen, so that may play a part on the rent. It also isn't in the best area of the city. I believe it is a side by side apartment. Which I am not crazy about due to privacy. The pictures of the apartment are pretty nice but that doesn't really prove anything. I don't know if I should consider it.
I have had friends who moved into cheap apartments with so many problems, like bugs, mice, water damage etc....I guess I can try to check for these problems when I see the apartment. I don't want to settle just because this is all I can afford.Is it possible to find out about these issues before moving in? I don't know if I am just being paranoid.
