Part 6 What to expect on the search and when to pull the trigger

What to expect on the search

First and foremost bring your check book. You never know when you will stumble upon a gem of an apartment and you have to be ready to pull the trigger. An apartment is taken off the market with a check for 1 months rent and and application. It is a first come first serve process so the first check and application will take the apartment off the market. I have sent clients on 80mph tears back to Quincy at 9pm on a Sunday because they forgot their checkbooks and we had found the perfect place. Also realize that the Boston rental market moves very quickly and if you take time to sleep on it there is a very real chance the apartment could be gone when you wake up in the morning. This is just the nature of the beast. This is a process that favors decision makers. There is nothing so miserable as spending weeks chasing that one perfect apartment that got away. There is nothing wrong with taking the first apartment you see if it is the right one. This does not mean you have not put in enough time, it means your agent did their job well.

Be totally honest with your agent

This will be your home. It is your call. If you like something, say so and why, if you don’t like something say so! The more specific you can be in your reason the better because it can help your agent get a better understanding for what you are looking for. There are apartments. You are not going to hurt anyone’s feelings by saying “yuck, I hate it”. You will confuse the process some if you are being nice by holding back any negative feedback.

What is required for move in?

The money required to move in to an apartment depends on your Professional/Student Status and your credit and income. The most that can be asked for someone to move in is the first and last months rent, a security deposit equal to one months rent and a brokers fee for one months rent. Along with that their could be a key deposit or 50 to 100 dollars or other incidental fees. All said and done this comes out to 4 months of rent to move in. This can be a lot of money and is not an option for some people. If you are prepared for this however, there will not be any surprises and in all likelihood the actual cost to you will be less. For professionals, the cost to move in is typically first month rent and a security deposit plus fee depending on the arrangement.

Keys

Keys are my nemesis. I often joke that I can go into lock smithing if real estate does not work out. In going to see an apartment I will often pick up keys from a management office. What they hand me is a fist sized ring of keys with no labels on them. I ask them, “ok, which one do I use?” they will respond by saying “oh they work”. Great…This can lead to flipping through key after key on an 85 degree day only to have none of them work. This happens from time to time. Be patient, it is a hazard of the job.

Photos may not always be available

Photos of the apartments in question may not always be available. It is often up the agents themselves to take the photos and sometimes this is just not possible. Moreover, if the current tenant is a slob, I am not going to take photos of an apartment full of empty pizza boxes with underwear hanging from the ceiling fan. Also keep in mind that photos may be accurate but not of the actual unit in the case of a large building that has It is perfectly reasonable to ask for photos of an apartment but understand they are not always there to be had.

Co-Signers and Credit

If you have no credit, or bad credit, chances are you will need a co-signer. A co-signer is someone with good credit and income to guarantee that you make good on your lease. If you know you will need one, it is good to be prepared and to tell your agent up front because not all landlords will accept a co-signer.

Safe areas and crime

This may seem strange but real estate agents are not allowed to quote crime or demographic statistics for an area. This is a practice called steering and was used in the past to keep certain ethnicities in or out of certain areas. If you want crime statistics, you can call the Boston Police Department, visit their website, or pick up a copy of the Boston Courant, a local free paper. That being said, in a city you have to always be careful. I recently had a good friend that was the victim of an attempted mugging for her iphone on Marlborough Street and Dartmouth, one of the most desirable areas in Boston, at 4pm in broad daylight.