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Renting and Leasing
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• Before you write a check for an application fee or a deposit on an apartment, ask about the length of the lease, the amount of rent, and the amount of deposit.
• Make sure the lease specifies that water service is included, or that it is billed at the prevailing rate in the community.
• Never sign an apartment lease on the spot. Take it home with you and read it. If you don't understand something, put question marks next to the item and get an explanation.
• If you pay a deposit or an application fee for an apartment and decide not to rent the apartment, you probably will lose the money.
• Always add a clause to an apartment lease giving you the right to terminate the contract before its normal expiration if your circumstances change.
• Many leases renew automatically unless you notify the landlord that you are leaving.
• Make sure to be present for the move-in inspection, and note everything you can find wrong with the apartment. Be present for the move-out inspection, too.
• If a landlord doesn't give you back a security deposit, you have the right to sue in small claims court.
• Renting from a private owner is fine, but be aware of the danger of not being able to renew your lease, or of the owner being foreclosed upon.
• If your landlord fails to respond to maintenance requests, send written requests. If a landlord doesn't respond to a breakdown that makes the apartment unlivable, consider paying for the repair yourself and deducting the amount from your next month's rent.
• If you know you're going to be evicted, try to make some arrangements to move your possessions, either to a friend's house or into storage.
Renting out your home or car comes with insurance hassles
Renting out your home or car for extra cash could leave you in a lot of financial hot water with your insurer. I've talked in the past about sites like VRBO.com, HomeAway.com and Airbnb.com as way to get a deal if you're looking for a rental, but also as a ...
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New scam with rental properties
If you're looking to rent a house, how can you be sure your landlord is legit and not a con artist posing as a landlord? Clark warns renters about a new scam that's hot in foreclosure markets.
Rent control is an enemy of capitalism
Rent control is an enemy of people finding affordable, decent housing and of capitalism itself. When I was in college during the early '70s, I paid $249/month for a rent-controlled apartment in Silver Spring, Md. Despite near galloping inflation, my rent only reset from $249 to $257 at that time. ...
Foreclosures being rented by bogus landlords
Con artists have been taking advantage of the housing meltdown by acting as bogus landlords and renting foreclosures. Here's how this typically plays out: A criminal will scout out a neighborhood and find the foreclosures. Then they call a locksmith out to the property and say they locked themselves out. ...
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Renters: Time for you to buy that house?
Rents are rising across the country, and there's no end in sight. Is this the right time to take the leap and buy a house? Clark explains.
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Secure your office space now
If you lease office space for your business, there's a change coming in commercial real estate that can either help you or hurt you -- depending on how you navigate it.
Signs that the U.S. economy is on the mend
The U.S. economy has taken a round trip. Though it may not feel like it for those who are out of work or facing foreclosure, the numbers show we have an even larger economy today than we had almost five years ago, at the time our economy initially hit the ...
Businesses: Lock in office space rents now
In the real estate boom of the last decade, we built far too much commercial space than we really needed. As a result, business owners have enjoyed really great rates on commerical space in recent years. Shopping centers in particular had so much vacancy that landlords were practically giving away ...
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Supply and demand raising apartment rents
With apartments running higher and higher occupancies, landlords have found a new way to adjust their rents higher. Be on the lookout for this new tactic.
More apartments being rented with variable pricing
Large apartment management companies are using yield management software just like the airlines to offer variable pricing. That effectively means the price of a given apartment can change on a daily basis, according to what I read in The Wall Street Journal. Airlines have long used dynamic demand pricing (aka ...
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