Here are some signs that you may have rented the wrong apartment:

1. You can hear the neighbors through the walls in the daytime. It’s normal enough to get some noise at night as things settle in, but daytime noise is a bad sign. Your walls are probably way too thin.
2. The apartments around yours are all empty. There is a relatively high demand for apartments. If the ones around you don’t have anyone, there’s probably a reason.
3. Your doorbell doesn’t work. Now, that doesn’t seem like a big deal. However, when you move into a new apartment, everything should function. If something as easily resolved as a doorbell is out of place, it’s a sign that the maintenance department or landlord is less than thorough.
4. It smells. Sure, it could be the neighbor who likes to cook with onions, but it might not be either. It could be a major funk soaked into the carpet from the last tenant.
5. Cats keep trying to sneak in when you open the door. This is a good sign that the last renter may have been less than diligent about enforcing the no-animal policy of the apartment.
6. People point and laugh as they drive by your apartment building. You never know. They might be laughing at the apartment building behind yours.
7. There’s only one mailbox. For the entire building. Because the landlord is too cheap to drive his sorry ass down to Home Depot and get a multiple-box mailbox.

I have one last piece of advice for you. Make sure your renters insurance is up to date. You never know what’s going to crawl out from inside the walls of an apartment like this one.

Here are some questions to ask before you decide to turn a friend into a roommate:

• Do you really know your friend? Yes, you know what your friend likes to do for fun, you know what kind of food they like and even what the name of your friend’s third grade teacher was. That’s great. But, do you know how she lives? Do you know whether or not she has a habit of leaving her underwear on her bedroom floor? You might, of course, have had the opportunity to observe her in her natural habitat, and that might give you some clue. Make sure to pay close attention when you visit her at home.
• Do you know what you expect from a roommate? Your expectations need to be reasonable, too. You need to be able to identify what’s important to you. Is it more important, for example, that your roommate check with you before inviting a date over for the evening, or is it more important that he leave your leftovers alone in the fridge? Make sure you both know what you’re expecting.
• Do you really know yourself? You know, it isn’t always the friend that winds up being the crappy roommate. Sometimes, it’s you. You need to know what your weaknesses are as a roommate and be up front about them. Make sure your friend has realistic expectations, and that he isn’t surprised to find that you often leave Cheezy Poof finger prints on the remote control.
• How important is your stuff to you? Accidents happen. Things get lost or broken. While renters insurance can help to minimize the damage, you need to think about what will happen if your roommate accidentally throws a Wii remote through your flat screen TV. Will you be able to handle it?
• What is your exit strategy? One key to keeping your friend will be knowing when enough is enough. If it isn’t working out, what will you do to part as roommates but to remain as friends? Figure out a way out, so that you’ll be able to part amicably when the time comes.

No, you’re not considering an alternative lifestyle, you’ve found a new roommate. Good for you. Sometimes, that works out.

Other times, that roommate turns out to be a total jackass. He eats your food, doesn’t pick up his crap off the floor and plays his techno music at 2 AM. Gentle reminders and nasty post-it notes on his door don’t seem to have made a difference. You’ve even had to file renters insurance claims to cover the damage he’s done to your stuff.

Here are some things you can try to do to deal with a jackass roommate:

• Keep it between the two of you. Don’t try to bring in an outside arbiter. It won’t work. It will just fuel the fire. Next thing you know, he’ll bring in his own arbiter and you’ll have a donnybrook.
• Talk it over. Don’t be passive-aggressive. Don’t write dumb little post-it notes and stick it to his door. Open your mouth. Say “this sucks, dude. Knock it off.” Be open and honest and tell your roommate what’s bothering you and why. Make sure to do it when you’ve got time, though. Don’t do it when he’s on his way out the door to go work at Wendy’s.
• Look for an acceptable compromise. Each of you needs to agree to any given solution. Maybe he will agree to use headphones after 10 PM. Maybe you’ll agree to not leave your toothpaste gunk in the bottom of the sink. Try some give and take.
• Don’t rush to move out or kick him out. Chances are pretty good that the drunk loser you became acquainted with at the bar is still in there somewhere. You just need to rediscover the magic. Be patient, and try to be willing to adjust your attitude some and give ground when you can.
• Part as friends. If you do need to go your separate ways, try to do it amicably. Otherwise, you’ll get this horrible reputation as a bad roommate and then no one will want to move in with you, and you’ll die old, miserable and alone.

Photo via LaertesCTB

With a small apartment, you want to focus on getting the most bang for your buck. You want to buy the right kind of furniture for the apartment, recognizing that it isn’t probably furniture that you’re going to take with you when you move to a home or to a bigger apartment.

You can start with secondhand stores, because you never know what kinds of gems you’re going to find. The main thing about shopping at a secondhand store is to really evaluate what kind of condition the furniture is in. You want to worry less about the finish (you can always strip and refinish a table, for example) and worry more about whether or not it’s sturdy.

You can also look at discount furnishing stores, although you’re more likely to get the ready-to-assemble “disposable” furniture at those places. That’s fine if you’re inclined to spending a full Saturday assembling a bookcase, but just know what you’re getting into.

Another principle to keep in mind is that you want furnishings that reflect your own personal taste and style. Try not to mix styles too much, if you can help it, or your apartment will just feel discombobulated.

Consider adding some color to your apartment, too. If your landlord will permit it, consider painting a wall or walls. A simple splash of color on a single accent wall can really change the mood of a room. If you’re not into painting, you could add some color to the room with things like linens, window dressings or hanging artwork.

Finally, keep functionality in mind. You’ve got a small space to work with, and although you don’t need to Feng Shui it up completely, you do want your rooms to flow into one another and be easily navigated.

Make sure to invest in renters insurance, too, as it will help you replace those furnishings in the event that a disaster strikes your apartment.

Photo via Lboogiepeace

Here are some important things to talk about when you’re interviewing a potential roommate:

1. Overnight guests. Find out if the roommate is comfortable with you having overnight guests, and whether they expect to have guests. Will the guest be using a common shower? Will they spend time in your living room, or use your kitchen?
2. Trial period. Many times, roommates like to test the waters. Consider a trial of between one and three months, and try to put it in writing if possible.
3. Cleaning. What do you expect in the area of cleaning duties and cleaning supplies? Who will clean what areas? How will the common areas get clean?
4. Food. If you can’t have a separate refrigerator, talk about assigning specific shelves and cabinets to each person. This will eliminate a ton of arguments in the long run.
5. Bills. Make sure you have a clear understanding about the bills. A potential roommate needs to know when bills are do, to whom, and who pays them. They need to be clear on what you expect in this regard.
6. Socializing. Does your roommate want to be purely roommates, or more friendly?
7. Pets. Obviously, your landlord has something to say about this issue too. Find out if the potential roommate intends to keep pets, or what they think about your pet.
8. Renters insurance. You need to have it. Figure out if they’ll be willing to go into a renters insurance policy with you so as to protect both of you and all your stuff.

You can’t identify and fix every potential problem area before you choose a roommate, but if you go through the steps you can identify which roommates may be less compatible than others.  It’s definitely worth the time to interview any potential roommate and talk about these issues.

Photo via scragz

Except, you open up your apartment and you realize something: it smells funky in here. And not just a little bit of an odor, either. Major F-U-N-K-Y.

And you know that the first thing a guest notices about a place is its scent. Here’s what you need to do to get things spruced up:

1. Identify the cause. We’ll assume for a minute here that the problem’s not just several weeks worth of dirty laundry or a sink full of dirty dishes. You need to be able to put your sniffer to work. Figure out what room the smell is coming from, and then go over that room inch by inch until you find the place where it smells the most. Usually, you’ll be able to visually identify the problem, but in some cases it may be harder to find, such as a soaked-in smell in your carpet.
2. Clean. If you can identify a cause, wonderful. Fix the problem. Chances are, though, the apartment will still smell, at least a little bit. You’ll need to bust out the cleaning products and give the place a once-over.
3. Febreeze. It’s not just for college guys. Spray some air freshener around the apartment after you clean. Don’t overdo it, though. Just spray enough to add a hint of a good smell.
4. Clean your bed sheets. Oh, and the rest of your linens, as well as bathroom mats. There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh linens. And, if things do wind up in that particular room of the apartment, you don’t want smelly sheets to ruin the moment.
5. Circulate the air. Open up a window for a while. If you have a humidifier, turn it on for a few minutes. You need to get the old smell out and move some of these good smells you’re creating around.
6. Light a candle. Consider using a candle warmer on a timer, since you’ll be out. Alternatively, light a small scented candle as soon as you get home. In addition to providing a fresh and identifiable smell, it will help set the mood.

Photo via Brianfit

Unfortunately, many ecological decisions are already made for you when you live in an apartment. You don’t have much say about things like what kind of toilet is installed in your bathroom, or about whether or not your living space is designed to optimize temperature with minimal use of resources.

That’s not to say apartment dwellers can’t take steps to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle; of course they can. Here are some of the easiest and most basic things you can do while living in an apartment to be friendlier to the world around you:

• Consider energy-efficient modifications to windows and doors. You can install weather stripping, for example, or plastic sheeting to keep heat in during the winter and keep the heat out during the summer.
• Use CFL light bulbs. Get rid of your incandescent lights. They just use less electricity, which will save you money on your electric bill over time. You can also ask your landlord to consider switching to CFLs.
• Turn off your lights and appliances. If you’re not home, don’t run the television. Don’t leave your computer on overnight. When you leave a room, flip the light switch. These are basic behavioral changes that can save money and help save the environment.
• Pay attention to packaging. Try to buy products that use less packaging, and ones that are made from recycled materials. Consider buying fabric reusable grocery bags rather than plastic bags.
• Go digital. If you still subscribe to a paper, consider stopping your subscription and reading the news online. Same goes for magazines. Many magazines and papers now have a subscription model that allows you to get the same content digitally that you used to get in print.
• Save water. Take showers, not baths. Consider asking your landlord to install a low-flush toilet. If she won’t, you may be able to modify your toilet by placing a milk jug filled with sand (sealed tightly, of course) in your toilet tank to reduce the amount of water it uses. Faucet aerators and low-flush showerheads may be something the landlord will allow you to install yourself.
• Get renters insurance. OK, I’ll admit, renters insurance won’t help you live green. But, it will save you some green if something bad happens to your apartment.

Photo via Robert S. Donovan

• Be Smart. When you’re not home, lock your doors (and windows, if you’re in a first-floor apartment). Don’t leave your windows or doors open, and don’t leave a note on the door that says, “Hi, Joe! I’ll be home at 4. Feel free to come in and have a beer while you wait.” Chances are pretty good that someone other than Joe will feel free to come in.
• Prepare when you’re going to be away. If you’re going on vacation, make some preparations. Take your most valuable possessions with you or leave them somewhere secure, such as with a friend or in a safe deposit box. Put timers on your lights and TV, and make sure to put a hold on your mail and on your newspaper delivery.
• Use good locks. If a burglar can’t get into a lock within a few minutes, she’s going to give up. Make sure you have a heavy-duty deadbolt with at least a one inch throw bolt. Make sure you install a charley bar on your sliding doors, too.
• Enlist helpers. If you have a neighbor you get along with and trust, let them know you’ll be gone and ask them to check in on the apartment from time to time. Ask them to be on the lookout for suspicious visitors. Talk to the security personnel in your apartment, too. If you don’t have one, consider starting a petition drive to get one (just be aware that it’s likely to raise your rent).
• Consider Alarms. An alarm system may seem like overkill in an apartment, but in truth it can really help. Make sure you get an alarm system that not only makes a noise, but that also alerts your security company or the police.

You also need to make sure you’re current on your renters insurance. If something does happen, you need to be able to file a claim and get the money to replace all of your stuff.

Photo via Richard0

Prior to the recession, some markets, especially on the West Coast, enjoyed rent amounts that were actually on the rise. Now, though, incentives are being offered to keep current renters in place and to entice new one to rental units.

Reasons for Rental Declines

It’s estimated that 60% of New York Cities’ rental buildings have lowered their rents. They’re also offering gift cards, carpet shampoos and fresh paint to keep the current tenants in place.

Reasons for this lack of renters include:

• The high unemployment rate
• Housing market crash
• Young potential renters cannot find employment so they’re being forced to move back home
• Potential renters with a foreclosed home on their credit report cannot qualify for a rental unit

2010 Outlook

Development projects have basically been frozen. Analysts estimate that only about 60 thousand new units would be completed in 2010. This is about half the number completed in 2009.

Regarding rents, early predictions suggest another 2 to 3% percent drop across the board. Additional factors that may impact this are that potential renters will be instead buying homes that are at market low prices. They’ll want to buy them prior to the April expiration of the federal tax credit.

These developments may have landlords join the industries requesting bailout funds!

Photo via AuthenticEccentric

If your rent has declined, you may want to take the savings and buy renter’s insurance.

If you think the landlord’s policy covers tenant belongings, you’re mistaken. The landlord’s policy only covers the structure and walls. That’s it. The remainder of the insurance responsibilities are yours.

Your Belongings

If you don’t have enough in savings to cover the replacement cost of all of your items, then consider rent insurance. It generally covers damage to your belongings resulting from fire, smoke, theft and vandalism

You may not think your belongings are worth much and they may not be. But the way to look at it is to think about how much it would cost to replace them.  For example, what would it cost to buy a new wardrobe if your clothes smelled like smoke from a fire? What about your TV, computer, other electronics, the quesadilla maker, the blender, cookware—what if they’re all damaged and need to be replaced?

If you have valuable items like a mink coat or expensive jewelry, you can cover them for an additional charge via what’s called a rider to your policy.

Your Liability

This is an area where renter’s insurance can help with your peace of mind. What if a visitor slips and falls in your bathroom and decides to sue you for negligence? Renter’s insurance includes liability coverage. This will help protect you if you’re found liable for any injuries to anyone that occur on your premises.

The average renter’s insurance premium costs about $200 per year and is easy to get. It’s worth the investment.

Photo via it’s life.