Are you going to have a roommate? If so, it's good to look at apartments where the bedrooms are seperated by another room. My apartment has the living room/kitchen (it's one big room) in between the "master" bedroom and the other bedroom. This will keep noise down between you and your roommate.
How big is the kitchen? If you cook at all, counter space is important. If you don't cook, but use the microwave and toaster over, counter space is doubly important because you want to make sure you have enough room for all the appliances you'll be wanting to have at hand.
How much cabnet space is there? You want to make sure you'll have enough room for your glasses/plates/food. If there's not a ton of cabnet space, does the place have a pantry or a room that you can use as a pantry? My apartment has the washer/dryer room off of the kitchen, and there's enough space in there that I've got some shelves up as an extension to the cabnet space.
Is there enough room for your stuff? I was amazed at how much stuff I had when I moved it all into one place for the first time. You'll probably be needing a big closet and another closet or "storage room" at least. My apartment has about a bajillion closets- and they're all full of stuff and the 2nd bathroom's bathtub is also full of stuff. I have too much stuff!
OK, that covers your space. Now onto the important items:
Is the neighborhood quiet/safe? Drive by the place you're thinking of moving in at different times of the day, on different days of the week. If it's quiet at two in the afternoon on a Tuesday, what's it like at eleven on a Friday or Saturday night? If you know which apartment you would be moving into, make sure to drive by late at night a few times to see which of your neighbors (if any) stay up late or make a lot of noise. Ask the leasing office how many times the cops have been called to the neighborhood in the past year (if they know). You might be able to call the local sheriff's office and ask if the place you're thinking of moving into has a high/low crime rate.
What is the policy on pets? This is something I'm having to deal with with my neighbors. They've got two little yippy dogs that bark at EVERYTHING when they're left on the balcony, so in the afternoons I get inturrupted constantly by them barking. If you don't have a problem with your next door neighbors' dog howling all night when they're gone for the weekend, then it's not an issue, but if you do, you might want to look for somewhere that has a no pets policy, or a no pets over a certian weight policy (this means they might have small dogs but no huge, howling, deep barking ones).
What happens if you pay the rent late/break your leasing agreement and move out before the lease is up/ get a noise complaint/have the cops come to your apartment? My complex sends out letters on the 6th of the month if you haven't paid the rent for that month yet- they're really hardcore about the rent being paid on time because they don't have a security deposit (because of the finacial checks they do on their renters). Also, if one was to move out before their lease was up, my complex charges them the rest of the rent for the rest of their lease- meaning, if my lease is up next May, and I move out now, I have to pay eleven month's rent when I move out unless I can find someone (who is finacially quallified) to move in and take over my lease. So, plan ahead and make sure that you really want to be in this place for however long the lease is. Most places offer twelve months, mine has sixteen, twelve, and nine month leases I believe, as well as month-by-month for about $100 over market price. About the noise violations, my complex has a "two strikes and you're out" policy where, if your neighbors complain about you being noisy once, you get a warning, and if they complain again, you get evicted. (this is like, hardcore noisy here, not "I dropped a plate on the floor and the people downstairs heard it" noisy). Also, about the cops- I'm just saying it's something to consider, but ask what the policy is. For instance, if you're just sitting at home and the cops come to your door because one of your neighbors is paranoid and thinks you're smoking pot, will the apartment complex evict you the next day or will you get the chance to explain why they were there? Just something else to ask about.
More tips:
Inspect the apartment you'll be living in before you sign anything!!! MAKE SURE you do this- if they say "oh it's not ready yet" tell them that's ok, you just want to make sure it's where you want to be- any reputable place will be more than happy to make sure you want to be there. Ask what they do to the apartment before you move in- how thoroughly do they clean it? Do they clean the carpet? Do they paint the walls? Do they change the locks? Also, when you move in most places will have you go through the place with a checklist and have you list anything and everything that is wrong with the place that was there when you got there- and I mean EVERYTHING. See that little black stain on the floor next to the stove? If it was there when you got there, MARK IT- otherwise you'll be paying for a new floor when you move out.
Ask about their maintance policy If you break something, will they fix it and if so, how soon? If your dishwasher goes on the fritz on Friday, can someone fix it over the weekend? My place has a maintance guy on call 24/7, and he lives in the complex, so he can come at any time day or night to fix things. However, there are things that they consider "emergencies" (heat not working when it's snowing, toilet overflowing, etc) that they'll come do at night when other trival things (like a lightbulb being out) will wait till daylight. What will they fix and what won't they? My place is amazingly good about checking out ANYTHING I ask them to, and also about doing routine maintance on the place- I've got a fireplace and they have chimmeysweeps come around every fall to clean the chimmneys. They also repaint the siding and check the outdoor A/C units regularly.
What does the complex look like? Use your eyes to tell you a little bit about where you'll be living- do they have nice landscaping? Are their signs and offices neat, clean, painted? Are the people working there neat and clean? Do they have namebadges? Are they polite? Do they seem to really care about you having a great expirence renting from them? My place's people are always on the ball, caring, considerate, and they have fresh cookies every day in the leasing office
Are the buildings in good shape? Do you see any signs of the place being "run down"? If the buildings are older, do they look like they've been kept up well?
Is it worth it to live there? Does the commute validate the slightly higer price/great pool/balcony/tennis court? Does the lower price validate the fact that the closets are smaller than you'd like? Make sure you're getting someplace that you like, feel comfortable with (size wise and apperance wise), feel safe at, and that you'd like to come home to at the end of a busy day. The only thing I regret about my apartment is that it overlooks the parking lot instead of the lawn- but when I moved in I didn't expect to be here for three years- so plan ahead for any contingency!!
Good luck finding a place, and feel free to start a "What do I need for my new apartment?" thread when you finally find that perfect place!!
