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Why did my landlord insist on getting deposit/first month's rent in bank check?
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Jun 2, 2011 20:23
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immakiku posted:Why did my landlord insist on getting deposit/first month's rent in bank check? Do you mean cashier's check? Did you pay it the day you moved in or something? I could see them wanting a cashiers check if they wouldn't have time to make sure your check clears before you get the keys. Unless you mean they wanted something other than cash. In which case it's because they would prefer not to rent out to drug dealers or people otherwise working under the table.
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Jun 2, 2011 20:32
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Move in is in 2 weeks. They asked for bank check today (instead of check). I can imagine since they have a lot of demand for apartments in NYC they want to make sure my money is good before giving me the lease. But I am just wondering if it's standard practice.
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Jun 2, 2011 20:42
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BigHead posted:You can also buy large book shelves. Ikea has some huge square ones with lots of little cubbyholes without a back. Fill in those little cubbyholes with books and decorative doodads to your heart's content. I have this bookshelf with the desk attachment and I can vouch that it is an amazingly versatile piece of furniture. If you don't want to put the shelf against a wall, you can actually use it as a psuedo divider. I had my desk on one side and the bed on another. It doubled as a cup/remote/glasses/phone charger holder for when I'm in bed and just a regular book shelf otherwise.
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Jun 2, 2011 22:53
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Very intriguing ideas, might hit up IKEA soon. Thanks guys!
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Jun 2, 2011 23:35
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One Sick Puppy posted:Very intriguing ideas, might hit up IKEA soon. Thanks guys! Another good idea is to go around yard sales and see if you find anything you like. Most stuff is going to be hideous, but you can find some fun knick knacks or paintings. Discount stores like Marshall's or TJ Maxx have home sections, too. Also, posters can be fine decorations provided you get frames for them. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just a basic plastic one. It really tidies them up and makes them look a bit more respectable.
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Jun 2, 2011 23:49
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One Sick Puppy posted:This is a pretty awesome thread and very helpful, so I hope I'm not stepping out of line in bringing this thread back to attention You could also look into making some rasterbations. You can make any picture you want and you usually don't even need a high resolution image to have it not come out like poo poo. You can cut the border off each page and glue them to a posterboard and put that up on your wall. I don't know if that's too DIY for you, but I prefer this method because you can make a print of pretty much anything you want...anime fan art and classy art photos alike. If you do decide to do this though, I don't suggest using your own printer; just pay for a printing place to do it for you. I mean, you could print it at home but you'd probably pay just as much in ink as you would on the printing job. Besides saving the ink, you also can pick higher quality paper.
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Jun 3, 2011 04:44
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I'm going to be moving into a dorm in the fall. Is there anything that people often overlook, or some good general tips that they don't tell you (besides leave your door open hurrr)?
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Jun 3, 2011 05:07
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fineX posted:I'm going to be moving into a dorm in the fall. Is there anything that people often overlook, or some good general tips that they don't tell you (besides leave your door open hurrr)? Whatever you're planning on bringing, cut that amount in half. Consolidate as much as you can. Don't bring records/CDs, burn them to MP3s. Don't bring DVDs, you probably have a Redbox around. Don't bring furniture. Do bring/buy a bike with a good chain lock (or other such wheeled non-car transportation). If you're allowed to have a car, it'll make your life a lot easier, otherwise, you're going to be bumming rides off older friends forever (or taking the bus). You can leave your door open when you're there, but if you even so much as step out for 5 minutes, lock it. Dorm people are dicks.
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Jun 3, 2011 14:36
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Never underestimate the value of a spare cheap tiny kettle. Even if you don't do tea or coffee. They just heat water up faster then if you heat it on the stove, they can make hot drinks whe your mom shows up, to impress her and show her how grown up you are. And in a pinch they can be an absolute lifesaver if say your water heater dies (our old place for a week), or your power shower shorts out (our old place for two weeks, I found it annoying but my husband is 6'5", he just doesn't fit in normal people tubs!), or if your pipes freeze (happened to us at our new place for no less then a month this winter, first four days, then like a week, and then like two and a half weeks respectively, oh yeah I loving oved this winter). Also seconding the toilet paper. You can NEVER have enough toilet paper, EVER. I have heard stories from family friends of being in a tight pinch and using newspaper, ripped up toilet rolls, or even nabbing loads from work and smuggling it out before you go home because it's the end of the month and you're out and not getting paid for a few days still bleh! Basically making GBS threads and bathing aren't optional. Don't be the smelly constipated guy!
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Jun 3, 2011 14:56
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fineX posted:I'm going to be moving into a dorm in the fall. Is there anything that people often overlook, or some good general tips that they don't tell you (besides leave your door open hurrr)? In addition, laptop not desktop if you can afford it. Depending on what you're studying (even the most irrelevant fields) you might want to bring a suit. Presentations, formal events, etc.
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Jun 3, 2011 14:59
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daggerdragon posted:Whatever you're planning on bringing, cut that amount in half. Consolidate as much as you can. Don't bring records/CDs, burn them to MP3s. Don't bring DVDs, you probably have a Redbox around. Don't bring furniture. Gonna disagree with this part of your post, or at least the DVD and furniture part. Having a good DVD collection is nice and can even be helpful in getting friends initially and ladies later on. Same goes for having a comfortable couch or futon as opposed to the $49 target futon that most people have. Don't bring anything you don't mind getting puked on though. And seconding leave the door propped open when you're there, and locked if you so much as step out to take a piss. Thoguh fucked around with this message at 15:33 on Jun 3, 2011 |
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Jun 3, 2011 15:30
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Thoguh posted:Gonna disagree with this part of your post, or at least the DVD and furniture part. Having a good DVD collection is nice and can even be helpful in getting friends initially and ladies later on. Same goes for having a comfortable couch or futon as opposed to the $49 target futon that most people have. A binder can hold an ungodly amount of DVDs in not very much space. It also helps to see the exact room and discuss with roommates before getting anything too big in there. Definetly talk to your roommate before hand to figure out whose bringing what. A mini fridge is awesome. My roommate had a brita water filter pitcher that was awesome, so we always had cold tasty water.
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Jun 3, 2011 16:32
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fineX posted:I'm going to be moving into a dorm in the fall. Is there anything that people often overlook, or some good general tips that they don't tell you (besides leave your door open hurrr)? Bed risers can go a long way in giving you some extra storage space. Couple that with some low plastic storage chests (you can get some pretty durable ones for a fairly cheap price at walmart, something akin to this but cheaper). These also work good as makeshift seats if you have more company than chairs.
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Jun 3, 2011 17:24
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immakiku posted:Move in is in 2 weeks. They asked for bank check today (instead of check). I can imagine since they have a lot of demand for apartments in NYC they want to make sure my money is good before giving me the lease. But I am just wondering if it's standard practice. It's fairly normal. Since that money is there to protect them in case you move in and screw up the place, or don't move in and they have to hold it off the market, or move in and don't pay rent, they need to make sure they have it before giving you keys. Also, I am well versed in apartment stuff and in particular, Virginia residential landlord tenant law. I can't give legal advice, but I can generally tell you how the law works. Lastly, renter's insurance is an absolute necessity. A lot of places are requiring it now anyway. Having witnessed firsthand the aftermath of apartment fires, I can tell you the difference is night and day between people who have it and people who don't.
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Jun 3, 2011 17:39
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Where's the best place to get renter's insurance? Do I have to work with the landlord for that? What if I'm reasonably sure the place will not burn down since it's a sturdy building?
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Jun 3, 2011 17:46
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immakiku posted:Where's the best place to get renter's insurance? Do I have to work with the landlord for that? What if I'm reasonably sure the place will not burn down since it's a sturdy building? 1) Any insurance company has it. If you already have auto insurance you could see if there's a package deal. I just typed in the url for the first firm I thought of and put in for a quote. I had insurance later that afternoon. 2) You might need some info, like what the building is made of and when it was built, but you can usually guess tbqh. Otherwise the landlord is not involved; it's your personal policy for your belongings. 3) A fire that doesn't burn down a building completely can still cause extreme damage to your things, even just from smoke. Depending on your policy you may get protection in case of theft, too, and probably other things. It's not just for fires by any means. It is only about $100 for a year for me (and I lived in a wooden house built in 1890 on the corner of a busy street across a bridge from a place with a somewhat high crime rate, in a place with a high cost of living). That $100 meant that if my house ever burned down, or if someone broke in and stole my computer, I would be reimbursed up to $20,000. Yeah, it's worth it.
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Jun 3, 2011 17:57
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The worst damage from a fire frequently comes from water. Also, even if the building can't burn, the contents can. And when they do, it generates a tremendous amount of heat. This is from a fire that started on a couch. The couch simply smoldered, but generated enough heat for the the smoke detector to melt off the ceiling, and the cd and electronics in this picture to melt and drip down the tv. Nothing in this picture actually caught on fire. Edit: Also understand that the landlord's insurance only covers his stuff. If a water heater leaks and ruins all your poo poo, that's not his problem. 
Flash Gordon Ramsay fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Jun 3, 2011 |
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Jun 3, 2011 18:04
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That looks absolutely terrifying as if it was some sort of horror picture.
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Jun 3, 2011 18:08
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fineX posted:I'm going to be moving into a dorm in the fall. Is there anything that people often overlook, or some good general tips that they don't tell you (besides leave your door open hurrr)? Don't get a foam mattress pad, they can't be cleaned and will smell. get a pillow top mattress cover which is machine washable and will soften up rockhard dorm mattresses. Your mini-fridge freezer section will not freeze poo poo unless its a seperate door. Test out with cup of water before putting in icecream and ending up with melted icecream catastrophe. don't bring up every system u ever owned. one classic, one modern tops. do ur laundrey regularly so u have less clothes and less of a mess. don't bring up a bunch of mementos/knick knack poo poo. it adds clutter and dorm rooms are small. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jun 3, 2011 18:09
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Finding an apartment that will accept 3 pets in Seattle is a bitch. Found a place in Magnolia (Overlook) that will take them, but no others, and we want to keep our options open, as we're moving mid/end of August. Most places only take cats and/or two pets max. I've been scouring property management and rental sites to little avail. Have a call pending at the Tempo apartments (usual is 2, but our pets are a cat and 2 dogs under 25lbs) atm. Our preference is a place around Magnolia/Ballard/Fremont (she works in Lake Forest Park, I take the Bainbridge ferry) with rent maxing at $1,400. W/S/G isn't essential, and it'd be nice to have a W/D in the unit, but that'd just be a plus. Any suggestions?
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Jun 3, 2011 18:30
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Hey, I have a question. What the heck is the deal with all these "rent to own" ads? I understand the concept of paying payments to the owning bank instead of rent, but is it the sort of thing you can get out of, or are you stuck with it like a proper mortgage? I'm assuming it's a terrible idea, but I'm curious.Pope Mobile posted:Finding an apartment that will accept 3 pets in Seattle is a bitch. Found a place in Magnolia (Overlook) that will take them, but no others, and we want to keep our options open, as we're moving mid/end of August. Most places only take cats and/or two pets max. Stupid question, but have you tried craigslist? Also, and I'm not saying you should do this, but you could possibly get away with saying you only have two pets and assuming no one will ever notice the extra cat or dog or w/e. If they're all dogs it could be a problem.
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Jun 3, 2011 18:39
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Hey, I have a question. What the heck is the deal with all these "rent to own" ads? I understand the concept of paying payments to the owning bank instead of rent, but is it the sort of thing you can get out of, or are you stuck with it like a proper mortgage? I'm assuming it's a terrible idea, but I'm curious. The big difference is lack of equity. In a mortgage your payments are presumably building equity by paying down the balance on the note, albeit slowly at first. In this type of real estate contract, you have no equity. You miss a payment, and you start over. Only when you make X number of consecutive payments on time do you own the property. You also miss out on the tax benefits of the mortgage interest deduction.
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Jun 3, 2011 18:44
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Stupid question, but have you tried craigslist? Also, and I'm not saying you should do this, but you could possibly get away with saying you only have two pets and assuming no one will ever notice the extra cat or dog or w/e. If they're all dogs it could be a problem. If you do this, make sure you declare the dogs but not the cat. If you have small dogs, and someone sees the cat in the window or something, they might just think it's the dog. On the other hand, I think it would be impossible to get away with only declaring one of two dogs since they need to be taken out and such. Are all of these apartments you're looking at in managed communities/buildings, or are any just a one building, one landlord deal? You might be able to work something out with the landlord in a smaller place. This is pretty common where I live. You'll be hard pressed finding a community/building to work with you because then they'd have to bend the rules for everyone.
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Jun 3, 2011 18:54
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Thanks for the info. I already had a fire in my current building so that's scared me enough. I can afford the $100 to protect my things.
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Jun 3, 2011 18:54
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Also, and I'm not saying you should do this, but you could possibly get away with saying you only have two pets and assuming no one will ever notice the extra cat or dog or w/e. If they're all dogs it could be a problem. And when they discover it, either because a neighbor rats you out or they have to perform emergency maintenance or any of a number of other reasons, you will be in breach of contract. At best, you will have to get rid of one of your pets, at worst you will have to move and potentially owe lease cancellation penalties.
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Jun 3, 2011 18:58
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Stupid question, but have you tried craigslist? Also, and I'm not saying you should do this, but you could possibly get away with saying you only have two pets and assuming no one will ever notice the extra cat or dog or w/e. If they're all dogs it could be a problem. Yeah, it's usually the same apartments/property managers spamming their ads over and over. Every now and then I'll find a pretty good listing. But with our schedules, by the time we can get in a showing, it's usually rented. My girlfriend did that at her current place, but, somewhat, unintentionally; she had two pets when she moved in and ended up with her dad's dog when he ran into a bunch of medical problems. They know she has two dogs now but don't seem to care. She said she doesn't want to try it with our next place. Diseased Dick Guy posted:If you do this, make sure you declare the dogs but not the cat. If you have small dogs, and someone sees the cat in the window or something, they might just think it's the dog. On the other hand, I think it would be impossible to get away with only declaring one of two dogs since they need to be taken out and such. If we did do it, we'd definitely declare the dogs. The cat is a recluse that likes to chill in cold, dark places. She only comes out when someone's home and on the couch/bed/a location to give her attention. Most of the places are managed. In the several months I've been looking, only a very small number of listings are by individuals. On that front, the best we can do is drive around and look for signs around town. its all nice on rice fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Jun 3, 2011 |
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Jun 3, 2011 20:21
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What's the secret to putting up painting/posters etc? It seems like a lot of places won't allow you to put holes in the wall for picture hanging's.
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Jun 3, 2011 21:27
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Pope Mobile posted:If we did do it, we'd definitely declare the dogs. The cat is a recluse that likes to chill in cold, dark places. She only comes out when someone's home and on the couch/bed/a location to give her attention. In that case, you might be able to get away with the cat. It's not the best decision because in some places you can get in a lot of trouble, but I understand people do what they have to. You might be able to find individual places in smaller newspaper classifieds. If it's not on Craigslist, short of driving around it's the best place to look. If you know any people in the area, asking around might help too. My parents both found their current houses that way. One had a friend was looking to rent an apartment in his house and the other knew someone who rented from the same landlord, who happened to own a bunch of houses on that street. Comstar posted:What's the secret to putting up painting/posters etc? It seems like a lot of places won't allow you to put holes in the wall for picture hanging's. Masking tape can be a safe option for posters. Just make it into a loop so it's sticky on two sides and hang that bad boy up.
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Jun 3, 2011 21:31
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:And when they discover it, either because a neighbor rats you out or they have to perform emergency maintenance or any of a number of other reasons, you will be in breach of contract. At best, you will have to get rid of one of your pets, at worst you will have to move and potentially owe lease cancellation penalties. Absolutely. I don't think it's good plan, but it could be a last resort type of option.
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Jun 3, 2011 21:33
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To add to the renters insurance stuff: I'm a graduate research assistant making less than 2k a month and I got a $15,000 policy from allstate that covers everything but floods and earthquakes for $94 for a year. Very worth the peace of mind. I did it all over the phone in 15 minutes, just had to answer a few questions about my apartment (about how old it is, how many units are in the building, does it have a fire extinguisher/smoke detector/etc) and my policy was active as soon as I paid.
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Jun 3, 2011 21:47
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Feel like I need to brag for a second here. Just got my internet installed yesterday, used a local company people around here refuse to because "Cox is better" or something similar. Connection was getting really really bad this afternoon, so I went to Speedtest to see what was up and saw that my IP was wrong and it said my ISP was Cox. Turns out my laptop had someone in the building's lovely open network as a priority over my own. Cox Speedtest was .31 Mbps down. My own was 7.8 Mbps and I probably pay the same price.  (I know everyone is probably using that guy's network, but let me have my moment!)
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Jun 3, 2011 23:16
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Pope Mobile posted:Finding an apartment that will accept 3 pets in Seattle is a bitch. For how many people in this city have dogs, you would think there would be more pet-friendly apartment buildings. It's ridiculous.
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Jun 3, 2011 23:51
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Eyeball posted:For how many people in this city have dogs, you would think there would be more pet-friendly apartment buildings. It's ridiculous. It seems to be the tendency of any city with mostly managed communities and buildings. Probably because a few tenants will complain that they don't like dogs or too much barking, etc. It's really hard to get an entire building full of people to agree to a high volume of disruptive animals. On top of that, you have new buildings that are still mostly pristine and don't want a distructive animal forcing them to fix up too much after you move out. I appreciate the places that will compromise by just restricting certain aggressive breeds. In the area where I live, almost all of the buildings are three units at most and like I said, usually a one landlord deal. These buildings are all pretty old and already in shoddy condition from wear and tear and have a shared, small backyard. Almost all of these places will allow pets, usually in no restricted number unless you're really starting to get up there with ten cats or something. My mom was able to find a sizeable house with cheap rent even though she has large dogs and four cats (Way too many, I know.) It all just kind of depends on the building, number of tenants, and the way it's managed. Unfortunately, these situations are harder to find in the larger cities of newer areas of the country.
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Jun 4, 2011 00:27
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Diseased Dick Guy posted:It seems to be the tendency of any city with mostly managed communities and buildings. Probably because a few tenants will complain that they don't like dogs or too much barking, etc. It's really hard to get an entire building full of people to agree to a high volume of disruptive animals. That's a good point. Pope Mobile posted:Our preference is a place around Magnolia/Ballard/Fremont (she works in Lake Forest Park, I take the Bainbridge ferry) with rent maxing at $1,400. W/S/G isn't essential, and it'd be nice to have a W/D in the unit, but that'd just be a plus. Pope Mobile, I don't gently caress with Magnolia, but Frelard is lousy with houses. Recent new development has been more focused on housing density, but there are still a shitload of single-family dwellings and duplexes. You should be able to find something at roughly your target price.
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Jun 4, 2011 00:42
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Another thought for searching for places that are not corporate/managed-type places is to see if there's a google group for the area you are looking. For instance, I live in Nashville, which is obviously much smaller than Seattle, and I wanted to move to the East side. I looked up listservs on Google and voila. East Nashville listserv exists and is hugely active. I'm now happily situated in a great place with an awesome landlord who only had the listing on the google groups listserv. Worth a try, for sure. Another idea is to look at the more local, "hip" real estate companies. Lots of times they have agents who work in rentals. MLS sites often have rental properties too.
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Jun 4, 2011 05:41
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What do I do to secure an apartment if I'm 2000 or so miles away and may not be able to be there in person to at least do the application and such? I'm applying for jobs in Portland but I live in Texas. I can't (won't) move there unless I get one of the jobs. I was thinking if I got the job, I could contact a few of the apartments I've been looking at, will they generally allow for mailing me the application and me mailing it back with the application fee check? I mean obviously before I sign the lease I'd check the apartment out properly in person but I want them to be ready to lease it to me basically on the spot if I deem it acceptable. I don't have any reason to believe I'd fail the application, I have good credit and no criminal history and about 6 years of renter's history.
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Jun 4, 2011 21:23
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Merou posted:What do I do to secure an apartment if I'm 2000 or so miles away and may not be able to be there in person to at least do the application and such? I'm applying for jobs in Portland but I live in Texas. I can't (won't) move there unless I get one of the jobs. Faxes! They have a purpose still, believe it or not. Mind you, you could also scan & email if they are sensible about computers. You'll be fine. The tough part is finding an apartment while you're far away... I'd want to make a visit to check out some prospective ones before committing.
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Jun 4, 2011 21:54
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So I think I'm just being paranoid, but me and my girlfriend found a 1 bedroom split house (a duplex?) for 700$, and the guy is really cool and stuff but the second time I met him he brought up paying the security deposit right then and there without us even discussing it at all prior. So now I'm freaking out thinking I'm gonna lose 1400$ and have nowhere to move at the end of the month. Am I crazy or was it just a misunderstanding? Also, the HotPad link in the OP goes to hotpad, but that redirects to a cat selling site 
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Jun 8, 2011 22:41
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(In Ohio) I paid an apartment complex's application fee and security deposit, was approved and put on the wait list, then my roommate situation fell apart and we had to back out on getting the apartment. Is it legal for the complex to keep my security deposit?
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Jun 9, 2011 01:56
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