Renting Tips for Finding the Best Athens Ohio Apartments

Athens Ohio Apartments: Finding a Great Place to Live

Renting Athens Ohio apartments is an art. Ask any Ohio University student. Athens, Ohio is a town like any other, in just as many good ways as there are bad. Renting blindly in this market can land you in a cockroach city if you're not careful. Put some strategy and research into the apartment hunt, however, and you just might land the perfect college dream house. Consider these tips before ever signing your name to a lease.

Start Early

Procrastinate finding Athens Ohio apartments, and you'll wind up living in a shack. Athens is a competitive market. It's no secret that it's rental market is flooded. As enrollment in Ohio University continues to increase, you'll be competing with an ever expanding mass of students for pretty much the same rental opportunities. It's not just your imagination that it gets harder and harder every year to find a decent place to live.  Competition in this town is cut-throat. Start as early as fall the year before to find the best rental opportunities.

Make the Five Spot Tour

Always tour at least five Athens Ohio apartments in your search. The quality of living in these places will vary widely. You'll find slums, but you can also locate some really sweet gems if you look hard enough. Having a selection of rental possibilities gives you more to compare and choose from. Don't take the first one that comes along. Remember, this is at least a year of your life, and you want it to be one of the best.

Athens Ohio Apartments: Talk with Current Residents

Whenever touring Athens Ohio apartments, chat up the current residents. Ask them about the landlord. Did they repair things on time? Was it clean? Where there unexpected heating costs, or charges for damage they didn't do? Avoid slum lords by finding out if the current tenants are happy.

Read the Lease Carefully

A lease is a legal agreement, and the tricks may lie in the details. Read up on pet rules and what you're responsible for. Find out how much rent is due and if there are any penalties on lateness. How much of a security deposit is required, and what does it take to get it back?

Research Online

Slumlords make their own reputations, often leaving a trail online. Look up the landlord online and find out if they have any legal liens against them. Are they being sued by their tenants? You can even read reviews of landlords to find out how they treated their tenants.

Network with Realtors

Talk to a realtor about the Athens Ohio apartments available. Often, they'll have the latest listings, so you can tour opportunities that haven't even hit the rental listings.