David Rifkin

Subletting is a great solution for college students, temporary dwellers and those who don’t want to sign a yearlong lease. Here are some simple codes to follow that ensure the best relationship possible between the renter and the original tenant. Nurturing a healthy relationship can give you a good reference for the future, should you look to sublet again.

Respect the space

While you may want to personalize and decorate the apartment, remember that you will only be staying temporarily. Decorate with that in mind; use easily removable accessories such as wall decals and plants, rather than nailing in artwork or investing in heavy, cumbersome furniture. You’ll have all the time in the future to decorate a permanent home, but now is not that time.

If the original tenant is leaving furniture and you need space, try to negotiate using a self-storage unit. The two of you could share the cost if you both decide to use it.

Designate a monthly check-in

This is pretty easy to do: Every month, check in with the original tenant and give a brief update on the apartment. Whether it’s by phone, text, email or even Facebook, any assurances from your end will let the original tenant know that you’re responsible, respectful and that the apartment is still in good shape.

Keep them in the loop

Let the original tenant know everything that happens apartment-related — it’s still their home, after all. Did you have to call maintenance to fix issues with the toilet? Did you have a fight with the management company over the electricity bill? Is there an increase of crickets in the apartment? Don’t let the original tenant return to their apartment unaware of everything that happened while you were there.

Keep all records

This is just a good practice in any situation: Get in the habit of keeping any documents that could prove or backup your situation, should the need ever arise. In the specific case of subletting, keep copies of any documents and communications with anyone who also deals with the apartment.

Work together

Think of the two of you as a team — you’re essentially roommates, after all. Both of you want the apartment to be the best place to live, and both of you are equally responsible for what happens there. Work with the original tenant, and you’ll find that you can help each other make the subletting process as enjoyable as possible.

If you plan to be a landlord, you should know that owning and managing property is hard work and can be very stressful. All kinds of issues can occur, taking up your time, energy and effort, and possibly making you wish you had never become a landlord. Here are a few thingsrental property owners can do to ease headaches and help reduce the risk of having issues. They don’t always work, but hopefully they will be worth your while to implement and follow.

Put properties in good shape

Properties that are in good shape usually are treated better by your tenants. Everyone wants to live in a nice, clean place, and renters will probably take better care of your properties if you’ve provided them a nice place to live. Try to do the work when you first purchase the unit and it’s still vacant — upgrades when you have a tenant inside will be a major pain for all parties. Items such as newer flooring, paint, appliances, window coverings and landscaping are good bets. They’re expensive, but hopefully you’ll thank yourself for needing to make fewer repairs down the road.

Have plumbing fixtures and valves changed out

Water issues are prevalent in all properties, and they can cause the most damage and be the most time-consuming issues to resolve. If the plumbing valves, supply lines, faucets, toilets or washer/dryer hoses haven’t been changed in years, it’s probably time to do that. Make sure the main water shut-off valve works — and that your tenants know where it is — just in case. Again, these measures are costly, but you’re trading an upfront investment for lowering your risk of problems from a leak.

Be attentive and fix broken items

If something breaks, work hard to resolve it quickly. Obviously water, gas or electric items need immediate attention. Broken appliances might take a few days or a week, but the quicker the response the better the landlord-tenant relationship. Sometimes it’s hard to get to non-emergency items in an expedient manner, but do the best you can to fix the issue. Ultimately your tenants will be much happier and better tenants.

Treat your tenants with respect

All properties have “property” issues like the three above, but they also have “tenant” issues, which are a much bigger hassle and can take a lot longer to resolve. Treating your tenants with respect — and trying to resolve issues in an amicable manner instead of starting a fight — will hopefully have them return the favor toward you. As the landlord, it’s in your best interest to step up to the plate and make sure relations with your tenants stay on a good track. Your life will be a lot easier when a real issue occurs, such as a pipe breaking and flooding the unit.

These tips aren’t easy or quick, and you’re never going to succeed at all of them all the time. If you work hard to keep on top of the issues it should make your landlord life easier, more profitable and with a much higher likelihood of success.

Hunting for an apartment is stressful. What’s important, though, is that you don’t let the stress ruin your decision-making. This can be harder than it sounds: When overwhelmed, some people settle on the first passable apartment they find simply so they can end the hunt (and the stress) as soon as possible. Other people get so jittery and analytical that they’re unable to pull the trigger — and they miss out on their dream place because of it.

While you may not be able to control your level of stress during your apartment hunt, there are a few rules to determine whether an apartment is right for you:

Is this the first place you’ve seen?

If so, don’t take it just yet. See at least three other places. It’s too easy to make a rookie mistake if you don’t have any comparables.

Is this the neighborhood you wanted?

Before you start looking at apartments, you should be scouting neighborhoods. Your neighborhood is going to be one of the primary reasons you like or don’t like your apartment, so it’s important that you stick to those neighborhoods you like. It’s easy to be swayed by a cheaper place a few miles away, or to look at a bargain one-off listing in a neighborhood you’re unfamiliar with. If the neighborhood’s not right, you’re not going to feel right.

Is the management company reputable?

This is the company that will be responsible for fixing any apartment problems you may have, that will hold your security deposit and receive your monthly rent payments. Check it out with the Better Business Bureau, as well as online review sites such as Yelp. If your city has a listing of deadbeatlandlords, check to see if the management company is on it. Why? A bad landlord will make your life miserable, no matter what else is right with the apartment. You should feel comfortable trusting them. If you don’t, you should pass.

How does this place stack up to others you’ve seen?

This is a good litmus test, especially if you’ve been hunting for a while. Think of the two or three best places you’ve seen thus far, and compare them to the one you’re considering. Your final choice should be the best … or as good as the one you just missed out on, if you had a near-miss in your searching past.

Does the place match your top criteria?

Before you head out, you should determine which things are most important to you in an apartment and rank them. Criteria can include price, amount of natural light, whether the place has a doorman, availability of parking — basically, anything that you need in a place to feel happy. You shouldn’t compromise on the top three things on your list. The rest, you should be more flexible with, but try to get as many as possible. If you find a place that hits it out of the park with your top three, with only minor compromises on the rest, then go for it.

Are you receiving a lot of pressure?

While it’s true that in some rental markets you need to decide the same day, be wary of a broker or management company that wants you to decide immediately. Leasing an apartment is a big decision, and you should take some time to think on it (preferably at least a night to sleep on it). If you’re getting undue pressure, take a step back. Hard sales tactics are usually a sign that it’s in thesalesperson’s best interest for you to say yes, not necessarily yours. So call a relative or friend and talk it over. Go through your checklist once more. Just don’t say yes simply because some broker is hounding you.

Does it feel right?

Last, but not least, is the karma or feng shui — or whatever you call that feeling — right? When you walk into a place, it should click. You should be excited, and you shouldn’t have to spend much time talking yourself into it. The vibe will be right, and you’ll immediately be able to picture your couch over there, your dining room table in this nook, your framed photograph on that wall. If you picture yourself walking in after a hard day at work and just feeling at peace, you know you’ve found your place!

More and more landlords these days are requiring renters to have a renter’s insurance policy in place during their tenancy. There are a lot of benefits to both the landlord and the renter as a result of the tenant having a policy. And renter’s policies are inexpensive — about $125-$175 per year — and give a renter decent coverage for the cost. Let’s first talk about why you should have the insurance in place, then answer the question of whether a landlord can require a tenant have renter’s insurance.

Why have a renter’s policy?

Unfortunately, things happen. Houses get robbed, units flood and suffer property damage, fires destroy belongings. The reason you have insurance is so that when these things happen, you don’t have to shoulder the entire cost on your own. The insurance company steps in and helps out, so the problem isn’t as disruptive to your life and livelihood as it would have been if you had not had that policy coverage in place.

And a renter’s policy protects not just your personal property — like TVs, clothing, couches, computers — in case of a loss, but it also provides some liability protection in case the dog bites someone, you cause a flood to other units or a guest at the property gets hurt.

Lastly, many policies will provide cash to cover temporary living costs and rent on another unit in case you cannot live in the apartment due to damages. Talk to your insurance agent regarding this and all the coverage components.

Can insurance be mandatory?

Insurance is a contractual issue between you and the owner of the property. If you have an existing lease that doesn’t require it, then you don’t have to carry it.

But when your lease is up for renewal, the owner can require it as a term of your new lease or any lease extension.

Overall though, it’s a small price to pay for some fair coverage. Before you fight having it, call your insurance agent and get a quote for basic coverage, like $25,000 in personal property coverage. You’ll probably get a lot more information from your agent, and hopefully decide that getting the coverage is really a good idea to give you some added insurance protection in life.

By Graham Wood

Just because you keep your own apartmentsmoke-free doesn’t mean that you’re not still breathing in secondhand smoke from your neighbor. Cigarette smoke can easily seep into next-door apartments in multi-unit buildings, and millions of Americans are affected by this every day, according to a new study. But is there anything you can do to keep your neighbor from puffing inside? Well, there are a few courses of action you can take — even suing your neighbor, if it comes down to it.

As many as 29 million Americans who live in multi-unit buildings and don’t smoke in their own apartments are affected by secondhand smoke from somewhere else in the building — either neighboring apartments or common areas — according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was published in the Nicotine and Tobacco Research journal.

“It’s a big deal. … There’s air seepage between one unit and another,” Tim McAfee, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, told USA Today. Smoke from one apartment can get into others via insulation, cracks and power outlets, McAfee said.

Smoke-free laws are commonplace in public areas, but there are few rules on the books keeping people from smoking in their own homes. Though more and more individual landlords are adopting smoke-free policies in their apartment buildings, such laws are still rare.

If you’re worried about the effects of your neighbor’s cigarette smoke coming into your apartment, here are a few things you can do:

Make your apartment airtight

Try to pinpoint the sources of where the smoke is coming from. Often, these will be small gaps around electrical outlets, under doors, light fixtures, pipes, etc. You can use silicone caulk or insulating foam to close gaps and keep the smoke out. Vents are another big source of smoke seepage, and in older buildings especially, they often are no longer in use. Fit a sheet of plastic inside the vent (behind the grate). Door draft excluders will keep smoke from coming in through doors.

Remind building management of the economic costs

You might be able to get your landlord to institute a smoking ban in the building, but they’re more likely to respond if you talk less about why you’re upset with your neighbor’s smoking and more about what’s at stake for the landlord. Cigarettes pose a very real and significant fire hazard to the building. Smoking is the leading cause of home fires, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, and causes billions of dollars in property damage every year. That’s likely to get your landlord’s attention.

Last resort: Sue

Every single renter has what’s called the right to “peaceful enjoyment” of an apartment during the term of occupancy. It may be possible to prove that secondhand smoke is keeping you from this right, and building management may be on the hook for this. Although many apartment dwellers have sued over secondhand smoke on the basis of nuisance, the building becoming uninhabitable because of the smoke, negligence and other causes, there have been mixed results for the plaintiffs. Not all cases have gone in their favor.

Moving cross-country can be stressful, particularly when you don’t know much about the city where you’re moving. However, a few simple steps can help ensure that your search is successful.

Basic tips

• Panicking won’t help. Easier said than done, but take a deep breath and realize that tens of thousands of people move cross-country every year. If you have a plan and you’re patient and stick to it, there’s no reason you, too, can’t make a successful move.
• Use networking to your advantage. Tell your friends, your relatives and your co-workers that you’re searching for a place; tell everyone. Asking around costs nothing and may yield immense benefits. In addition, use email, phone and social media to expand your networking reach.
• Time your search appropriately. Different cities have different lead times for finding anapartment. For example, if you’re moving to New York City, apartments aren’t on the market until a month or less before the move-in date. Conversely, many college towns put apartments on the market three or even five or six months before the move-in date. Go online and look at the listings in the area where you’re moving and figure out how far in advance you need to begin your search.
• Research neighborhoods first. Before you start seriously honing in on an apartment, study the neighborhoods in the city where you’re moving and get a sense of which ones are right for you. The key categories: the personality of the neighborhood, the price of the neighborhood and the time it will take you to commute to work.
  Do some research online: Read the local papers and look through brokers’ and real estate agents’ websites. They’ll give you a taste for what each neighborhood is like, as well as approximate pricing. If you’re worried about crime, most city police departments will provide crime statistics for each neighborhood. Also use an online mapping website to check the commute times.

Conducting the actual search

• Fly out to hunt (if you can afford it). Nothing beats being there and seeing the apartments, meeting the potential roommates and walking through neighborhoods. But one weekend is a short period of time, so if you’re planning to fly out, make sure you’re prepared well before you arrive. This means doing research, having neighborhoods in mind, setting up showings and having your paperwork ready.
• Find a short-term sublet. If you can’t fly out to look around, or you’re unsure of where you want to live even after your visit, try taking a one- to three-month sublet to get your feet on the ground. Then, you can use that as a home base for a proper apartment search once you arrive.
• Do it remotely. Flying out is expensive, and you’ll need a place to stay while you hunt. If your employer isn’t paying for the move, you don’t know anybody to crash with and you don’t have spare cash to spring for a hotel room, doing the search remotely is a viable option. You can get virtual tours of places, talk to potential roommates over the phone and communicate with your future landlord online. You need to be doubly careful if you’re not planning to search in person, but it’s certainly doable.

A few words of caution

• Research the management company. A good management company is a great boon, and a bad management company can cause serious problems. Most management companies are listed with the Better Business Bureau as well as on consumer review sites such as Yelp, and most major cities have listings of known slumlords. Use these tools to do at least a cursory online search to make sure you’re not committing to an obviously bad situation. Also, type the address of the building into a search engine to see if it has been subject of any troubling news articles.
• Review everything before you sign. This is just a good idea in general, but you’ll be particularly vulnerable if you’re from out of town, so it pays to make sure you understand what you’re getting into before you sign on the dotted line.
• If something seems fishy, it probably is. This is especially true if you’re doing your search remotely. If a listing seems too good to be true, be suspicious. Find someone who’s willing to vet the place personally, such as a friend or relative who lives in the area and would be willing to check out the apartment. Better to be patient than find yourself in a bad situation.

If you follow these tips, you’ll be on the path to finding the right place. It will take some time and work, but there’s no reason a long-distance apartment hunt can’t turn into a successful apartment search.