Tag: Houston Apartment

find a Great Apartment in Houston in One week

Day One

Houston apartment shopping requires many decisions and some information on you. You’ll quickly need to decide what unit type, unit size, unit amenities, property amenities and which area of town are right for you. You’ll need information regarding your rental history and income when you complete the apartment application. Organize this information at the beginning. It will make completing the apartment application less stressful and will impress the staff at the apartment.

Day Two

Apartment shopping is a process of narrowing the options. In day one, you selected the type of apartment and the area of town. Use a high-quality online apartment search service to further narrow the apartment options. Be sure to use an apartment search service which has all apartments available in Houston. Some of the Houston online apartment search services only have information for 5 to 20% of the Houston apartments available for lease. It simply is not realistic to find the apartment which best fits your requirements when only considering 5 to 20% of the available apartments.

The Houston online apartment search service should also allow you to narrow your apartment search by geographic area, rental rates, unit type, unit size, unit amenities and property amenities. Attempt to narrow your search to five or 10 apartment projects by the end of day two.

Summarize these in a one-page table. Put the name of the apartment property across the top of the page and the features important to you along the left column. This will provide a simple but meaningful reference of the apartments are considering.

Day Three
Call the apartments which best fit requirements. Gather information from the on-site staff by phone. Focus on getting the information you need, rather then answering the questions they want to ask. Be polite but the firm. Have a list of questions for the features which are important to you. You’ll want to include items such as application fee, deposit, first month’s rent, monthly rent, any move in specials, unit amenities, property amenities and any other apartment features which are important to you.

In addition to listening to what is said by the apartment staff, listen to how they say it. Are they knowledgeable, polite and attentive? Does the apartment staff give the impression of a professionally run apartment complex?

Narrow your list to two or three Houston apartment complexes on day three.

Day Four
Meet the on-site apartment staff and tour the apartments on day four. Before going to the apartment office, drive around the perimeter of the property. If possible, drive through the property. Is the property clean and well maintained? Does it meet your minimum standards? If not, drive to the next apartment complex.

Visit the apartment office. Is the apartment office clean and well organized? Is the apartment leasing staff friendly and appropriately dressed? In addition to the model apartment, ask to see your apartment unit. (It might not be as nice as the model J) Also ask the leasing staff to give you an extensive walking tour of the apartment courtyards. Is the property well-maintained? Is it clean? Ask about their maintenance policy. Are there any work orders which have been outstanding more than one week? Does the property have a regular courtesy patrol? If there are limited access gates, are they typically working?

Finally, ask about the financial details for the apartment complex. These include the application fee, deposit, first months rent, and the monthly rent. Make sure you understand the offer or special they are proposing. Ask if there is a look and the lease special if you sign a lease tomorrow.

Day Five
Decide which apartment is best for you. Finish negotiating the lease terms. If two or three apartments are acceptable, call each and ask for their best offer if you lease today. Select an apartment property and negotiate the lease. The lease is a legal agreement. You should read it. Don’t be bashful about asking questions for portions you do not understand. The lease was written by an attorney for the benefit of the apartment complex. If items in the lease do not seem reasonable, ask if they can be changed. In many cases, portions of the lease are negotiable.

Congratulations, you have used an organized process to select an apartment which fits which best fits your criteria. You have also been a careful shopper and have probably gotten a great deal.

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Finding a Quiet Houston Apartment

Get up to $1107 in cash when you lease a Houston apartment

Houston apartments can offer quiet idyllic conditions. However, many Houston apartments are not quiet. This article provides insights into finding a quiet Houston apartment at an affordable price.

Quiet Houston apartments are most difficult to find when you are on a tight budget. If you can afford several thousand dollars per month for an apartment, it is easy to find a nice quiet apartment complex. While some of the tips in here will apply to upscale apartments, most will be focused on moderate priced apartments.

Look for well-maintained Houston apartments which are not on a major thoroughfare and which are not near a huge number of other apartments. Quiet Houston apartments also often have limited access gates and probably will not be the least expensive apartment in the area. Limited access gates will not keep someone out of the property. If a criminal is determined to get into the property, they will find a way around the limited access gates. In most cases, they can simply follow another car into the property. However, the limited access gates limit traffic of people who are not residents or guests of apartment residents.

There are groups of apartments clustered very close to each other. In some cases, there are 50 to 100 apartment complexes all within 1 mile of each other. While there are quiet apartments in such areas, you’re less likely to find in a quiet apartment in such an area. The ideal candidate for a quiet apartment is a property at least 1 mile from the closest apartment complex. Ideally, it is not located on a major thoroughfare. It is somewhat difficult to find these properties since you do not observe them when driving around Houston. Try looking for apartments on streets whose name you do not recognize when using the online service. If you are familiar with Houston, you should recognize most of the apartment streets in the area where you are seeking an apartment. Apartments located on streets whose name is not familiar are more likely to be in a quiet neighborhood. They are also more likely to not be close to other apartments.

Start searching for a quiet Houston apartment by selecting a quality online apartment search service. It should have access to all available Houston apartment projects. It should also allow you to search by rent, location, unit type, unit size, unit amenities, and property amenities. Many Houston apartment search services only have information on 10 to 15% of the available Houston apartments. You are less likely to find an affordable quiet Houston apartment when starting with such a small sample of properties. Ideally, it will also give you a $100 move-in rebate.

First, identify the area for your Houston apartment. Then identify perhaps 10 to 20 Houston apartments which fit your price range and have the unit type and the amenities you want.

Think about what features are important to you for your Houston apartment. Develop a list of questions to you use when you call the on-site staff. When you ask questions regarding if the property is quiet, listen both to what is said and how it is said. Is the person comfortable and enthusiastic about the property being quiet?

The next step is to drive and see the properties. At this point you just want to do an exterior drive by to see if the property seems likely to be quiet and is acceptably maintained. Try driving around the perimeter of each property and then driving through the property. You get a lot of information by driving around the perimeter and driving through the Houston apartment properties you are considering. Are they well-maintained? Are they clean? Do they appear quiet? Are groups of people hanging out during the middle of the day?

At this point you have probably limited your list of Houston apartments to perhaps two or three properties. The best test of whether a property is quiet can be conducted on Friday or Saturday night at nine or 10 o’clock in the evening. Drive around and drive through the properties at nine or 10 o’clock on a Friday or Saturday night. If they are quiet then, you can be fairly comfortable they will be quiet during the balance of the week.

My now, you should have found a quiet Houston apartment property. If not, start with a new group of properties and repeat the process. Assuming you have found an attractive apartment, negotiate the application fee, deposit, first months rent and monthly rental rate. Be sure to read the lease. It is a legal document. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand a section. Also, make sure you understand what is required to have your deposit returned.

When you accept the apartment and move in, do a careful walk-through with the apartment representative. If possible, do the walk-through several days before you plan to move and so any problems can be fixed before you move.