Just about everyone at some point in their life will live in an
apartment, whether it be an
apartment at college, or just a place to live before enough money is earned to purchase a house. No matter what the situation, the vast majority of these people will want to see a number of options before making a decision. However, these showings don't always go so smoothly. Therefore, I, a
leasing agent for one of the biggest landlords in
Charlottesville,
Virginia, hereby
sumbit this list of no-no's when seeing
apartments:
- Not every apartment you will see looks like the one on Friends. Don't be surprised when the basement apartment has pipes running along the ceiling and has no windows. But mainly, don't comment on how ugly, disgusting, etc. the apartment is. Granted, most leasing agents don't own the properties, but they do represent them.
- The above rule applies especially if the current tenant is in the apartment at the time of the showing. How would you feel if someone walked into your home and said, "This is horrible! How could anyone ever live here?" Believe it or not, that is a direct quote.
- Sometimes, the apartment is not as clean as it could be. This is obvious to the leasing agent as well. Don't ask stupid questions like, "Will you clean this apartment up before we move in?" The answer will not be, "No, we leave all the old pizza boxes and vomit as a house-warming gift." Basically, use common sense.
- Please don't use the current tenant's stuff. This includes paper, pencil, pen, telephone, and even bathroom. In any other situation you wouldn't do this without asking the resident first, and the fact that you are seeing the apartment does not change this.
- Don't open the refrigerator. Humans are blessed with the cognitive ability of induction, so you should be able to determine the amount of space inside without checking out the rancid milk and rotting leftovers.
- On rainy days, don't walk into an apartment with muddy feet. Seems obvious, but you'd be surprised.
- Knock on closed bedroom doors before barging in. Though it's fun for you, it's not fun for the couple getting it on.
Basically, the overwhelming theme here is to be polite. Act like you are a guest in each apartment, and use common sense when asking questions or making comments. Following this short list of pointers will make seeing apartments a much smoother process.