leaky roof/water spots on the ceiling:

we used to live in a building where the landlord lived in the 1st floor and part of the second, with 2 units on the second/top floor (one was ours). there were water spots on the ceiling near the skylight, but the broke insured me it was fixed (BIG mistake in moving forward from this point!!) we rented the unit for just 1 year, and every time it rained we had leaking water. ironically it was normally everywhere BUT the skylight, normally over top of our bed which we had no extra space to move it out of the way. we normally ended up sleeping on the floor in the living room.

moral of the story is: no matter how convenient it is to have a landlord at your becking call when they live just downstairs, if they do "quick fixes" or ignore the problem all together, there's no point in having them available. after the 2nd time (at a minimum) they should have replaced the entire roof, but they didn't, and kept insufficiently patching it. nothing worse than getting woke up in the middle of the night with icky brown water dripping on you.

Water damage. (Which leads to mold.) If there is any sign of water damage AT ALL, don't move in. The damage in our apartment was nicely painted over, so we were clueless, but OH did it emerge later. Some water damage problems, we have learned the hard way, are kind of like physical ailments that while very real are exceptionally difficult to diagnose and cure. Our building management is basically telling us/the wall in the bedroom that it's all in our head, and painting over the trouble annually (it looks perfect after they do this, until the mystery water breaks through).

But most of this stuff you mention, you discover only after you've moved in. The roaches and mold, you'll see on a walk through but you've no idea how cooperative the landlord will be when something goes wrong.

Barking dog next door. We stood in the driveway for five minutes and the dog never stopped barking.

Not sure about running from "move in fees." I'm apartment hunting right now, and I've been shown a lot of perfectly nice places that have no security deposit, no move out fee, but do have a move in fee that's about 1/4 the cost of a month's rent. I would prefer a security deposit to a non-refundable move in fee, but can't see a reason to run from it.

google the landlord! I cannot stress this enough. Had I done this prior to renting my apartment in SF, I would have ran for the hills. Completely non-responsive, rude, and shady. Just for kicks, check out these reviews:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/23/nyregion/neighborhood-report-chelsea-a-hated-landlord-in-hot-water.html

http://www.yelp.com/biz/norcal-holdings-san-francisco-2

BUGS

I've run the gamut with a lot of these problems as I have been usually looking for the cheapest place in every city I've lived. My tip is to look for a good landlord or property mgmt. Even if the apt. isn't as nice as others it makes your life easier. Look at little things such as how long it takes a landlord or property mgmt to return a call or email, I start with email and see. If they don't return a call or email in a few business days (2 at most) move on. If they won't get back to you when you try to spend money they won't when they have to spend money. I had a landlord tell me that refrigerators are supposed to leak water, which pooled in the middle of our kitchen floor.

Talk to neighbors when the landlord isn't around and find out from them. drop letters in mailboxes or just go back and knock on doors. It is weird but helpful and you get to know who lives there.

Speaking from experience, if the landlord/property manager is pressuring you to "sign now before this property gets snatched up!", it's a sign to run. My first apartment was hell (when it didn't have to be) because of the landlord. I was pressured into the place by my mother (who really wanted me to move out on my own). The landlord 1) didn't clean the apartment before my move in date, 2) didn't fix any of the things he said he would fix, including a window that had to be jammed shut with cardboard, and 3) spent the next 8 months dodging all my attempts to get him to fix things. On the plus side, I documented every time I asked him to fix the same things (I sent him a list every time I sent him a rent check, while also mailing myself a copy of the list photocopied with the rent check, which stayed closed). When I went to move out and he tried to keep the security deposit (for things such as "failing to rake the leaves" when the yard was surrounded by oak trees and I moved out at the end of October - also known as, I raked, but that's when they fall, or "too many nail holes in the wall" when we had to pull out rusted nails upon moving in and that was on the repair list), I nailed him with the fact that he had failed to do the things he'd promised, I had documentation, and if he wanted to fight it, I could take it to the attorney general's office. (Plus he lied about the power bill for that apartment - something we should have verified ahead of time, but since we had that in writing, it gave independent proof that he was a liar.) After being confronted with his lies, he chose to cut ties, give me my money, and avoid dealing with me. I at least got out okay, but he taught me a lot about what to look for.

If the landlord says something you find inappropriate, you may want to think twice. I rented a beautiful apartment in Mill Valley, California, for me and my 14-year-old daughter. When I went to see the place, the landlord asked me all kinds of questions that weren't really pertinent to whether I would be a good tenant. He also told me quite a bit about himself. I thought he was just being friendly, although I remember telling my daughter afterwards that I thought it was strange that he would say his major goal in life was to "sit in a meadow with a naked woman and a bottle of good wine." He said it in the context of a conversation about traveling in Ireland, and it somehow seemed to fit the topic so I wasn't unduly alarmed. Either that, or I wanted the apartment so badly that I ignored the warning signs.

It turned out that he only rented to women in the six-unit building (he had one of the apartments) and that he continually sexually harassed all of us. He knew our work schedules and would wait in the driveway for us to come home so he could block our way and make inappropriate remarks about what we were wearing or insist that we have dinner with him (we didn't). One time, he said to my daughter, "You remind me of a movie that I saw in England in which a man poured a bottle of wine over the head of a naked woman." My daughter didn't mention this to me at the time because she knew I would get upset and she didn't want to move.

Trust your instincts. If the landlord/landlady seems intrusive or weird, you may want to look elsewhere.

We heard our downstairs neighbor-to-be was "crazy" and complained a lot about noise. Unfortunately, we had already put down an offer on the condo. We tried to contact her to discuss noise issues, but she never got back to us. Stupidly, we went ahead with it when we should have run away immediately especially since we have a young kid and 2 cats. We regret it EVERY DAY.

We used to rent in an older hotel that was converted to rental apartments. One day the shower bathtub tiles gave way and you could literally push them inside (so the wall crumbled). Their idea to fix it, was to patch up the small area that caved in. Imagine years of water rot behind those walls all throughout the building. When we moved out, my breathing improved. Not a surprise. Run away from mold.

Also check the walls and floors. Knock on them. See how thick they are. Noise can also be your worse enemy in a rental.

Excessive fees are a dealbreaker, but you can't make that a blanket statement. Each person has their own definition of what is "excessive." When I was apartment hunting, there were some places that charged a $250 nonrefundable pet fee and then $40 a month for pet maintenance. To me, that was very excessive. Almost every place charged $50 a month for garage parking - to me, that's stupid but not entirely excessive because every complex did it. And some places did not charge a security deposit, but did charge a nonrefundable move in fee. Basically, what they have to do is cover the cost of cleaning the apartment the tenant just vacated, before you move in. They clean the carpet (or replace it) and repaint the walls.

Unfortunately, broker fees are a reality in New York City, and you can pay anywhere from a month's rent to 12% of the yearly rent for the privilege of moving in. It sucks, but it's hard to avoid.

What exactly is a landlord supposed to do about noisy neighbors? As a homeowner, I can't fix the problem, so how could a landlord do better?

@pixiedust03 - Every rental agreement should lay out the grounds for fines or evictions.
I think an apartment complex would actually be much more handy than a lone landlord when it comes to these problems. We had problems with a really loud neighbor and she was being very unreasonable. We documented every encounter with her and gave the management company a copy of the letter we left under her door. We asked the management company to visit our floor so they could hear for themselves the noise she was making.The leasing manager came and got an earful of the neighbor's TV. That helped us a lot when the management office sent her a letter to ask her to quiet down or face a fine.

Very timely article for me! Thank you!

My current complex recently tried to start charging people mid-lease for extra storage, which had previously been free. It was handled very poorly, residents nearly rioted, management responded with vindictive complex-wide letters, etc. They finally settled on making that change as people's leases expired. When my lease came due, I didn't trust that they wouldn't change other things mid-lease. I said I would only renew if they would state, in writing, that they would continue to include the utilities that were included when I signed, for the duration of my lease. They refused. So now I'm scrambling to find a new place to live.

I loved my last apartment, but next time I'm searching I will definitely ask about the walls and how much noise you can hear from apartment to apartment. I can tell you from experience that being able to hear your next door neighbor snoring is no bueno.

I didn't have this problem but my brother and his friend did. They rented from a well known rental company in town. They were college students, but very quiet and they kept up the house. Not party people. They let their landlord know they were having some issues with the heat. It wasn't working. They refused to look at it, it was the dead of winter and they were not allowed to use electric heaters! Then they started having electrical problems. They went in and told the landlords and they said they were just college students that didn't know anything! Later my brothers friend was cooking and had a pan on the stove and it electrocuted him and put a huge hole in the thick metal pan! They still would not do anything so they got the campus involved and threatened a lawsuit, and they went and fixed it reluctantly!

They moved out as soon as their lease was up, the house burnt down because of electrical problems 3 months after they left! If you are a college student make sure the landlords treat you with respect and you ask other tenants about the company!

I will look for a non-smoking building next time. Living above two heavy smokers, with central air, in a vintage building, ruined all of my stuff. There's was nothing I could do, and I tried everything - air purifiers, furnace filters, opening windows in the dead of winter. I understand everybody has their right to live how they want. But it's tough to live with a 24 hour a day nuisance.

I learned the mold thing the hard way. ALWAYS perform the necessary checks mentioned (vents, under carpets) etc. Ours was in a crawl space that we didn't even begin to occupy until about a week into unpacking, when we needed storage. It was crawling with black mold, and the professional we called in to the test the area deemed the space inhabitable after finding unsafe levels of mold in the air. We had to vacate the space immediately and have all of our belongings (that had only been in there for a week) professionally HEPA-vacuumed. We spent the next month couch surfing while looking for a new place and the next six months in court with the landlords trying to get our first/last month's rent/deposit back.

Though they had Febrezed the hell out of it upon viewing, the musky smell upon moving in should have tipped us off earlier. Trust your instincts. Do your research.

He deemed in UNinhabitable*, actually, but I think you get the point.

@Pi - I WISH my building charged $50/mo for parking. To park at my building in DTLA, they expect us to pay $200/mo! And trust me, the amount is not practical based on what we are paying as renters. Ripoff!

My poor sister is 9 months pregnant and looking for a new apartment because the neighbors are heavy pot smokers. As in all day, every day since she moved in this past December. The landlords must have known this, it's a tiny building and you can smell it when you're standing on the street. But they won't do anything about it, so my sis and her husband have to find a new apartment and move- at the same time their baby is due. Not fun.

I'm currently running away from my cute, historic duplex because of a shocking lack of insulation and (I suspect) rotting floors.

One of the most annoying things I've experienced in a few of my places was nosey, busy body (same building) neighbors. I pay rent just like you do, mind your damn business.

They are the same type of people that fuss about the fact that you are moving your furniture in because they may have to take a few extra steps to get around your couch that is being moved up the stairs.

GET OVER IT, you live in an apartment building. If you want to be a hermit, buy your own damn house.

To expand on #4 Broken Appliances and Faulty Wiring... This advice may sound like overkill but it would have saved me a year of grief, check out all of the appliances, outlets, and switches prior to signing any kind of lease. Bring a small lamp or something to plug into every outlet when you do your first walk through. Flip every switch. Run the washing machine (I thought that would be weird but wish I had), dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, check refrigerator controls, turn on the heat, A/C, flush toilets, run faucets, run hot water in the shower, etc.

I moved into an apartment advertised with washer and dryer in unit and learned after I moved in that they didn't work (and the dryer never would, it was gas and there was no gas connection), I regretably didn't notice before signing the lease that the items were not listed and therefore not the landlord's responsibility. The water heater broke (and landlord took 10 days to replace it), A/C units didn't work, and several outlets needed to be replaced. It was my first time moving into my own place and it never occurred to me that these things would not be disclosed during a walk through, but I learned the hard way. Things will break, but the response time was unacceptable and I would have passed on the apartment had I checked all of these things in advance, hoping others will benefit from my rooky mistakes.

After all was said and done, obtained the apartment after meeting and speaking with 'agent', handed over first and last, I had the meeting with the landlord to sign the lease and meet in person. Nice little meet, then as i was leaving, he said, oh I'll need the security. NOT mentioned in ad or by the agent. I told him that and he pouted and said, 'oh I have to have it'. Did i take the lease back and rip it up? no, i said, I can't pay that now..he said, 'Oh I have to have it' then reduced it. Bait and switch...I instinctively KNEW then that Mr. Crunchy Granola kindly landlord was a scumbag and should of done what my hard earned instincts told me to do....grab that lease out of his hand and ripped it up, hand it back and leave..........clear conscience..If a landlord's or co.'s behavior shows a trace, even, of unethical behavior as a person...smile and nicely walk away..but grab that lease you signed first.. : ) ohh yes.., I regretted it this whollllle year..trashy character continued onto other situations...OF COURSE..

I didn't think much of the pre-school next door (by that I mean 7 feet away from my windows), until i moved in and discovered the joys of screaming children all day.

Also, there is a shocking amount of noise that travels from the footsteps of my neighbors above, and I can hear word for word conversations from next door. It's infuriating!

Both of these things would have affected my decision to rent, had I realized them in advance.

Thank you Aprilco.............very good reminders...going on 'the list' I'm taking with me along with other great points here..I have an outlet..but it's behind a counter/cabinet set that's not accessible...but I do have another...one plug works...............tsk tsk said the landlord...last year..

Please learn from my mistakes -- you absolutely have to find out if a building has had or is dealing with bedbugs. I was wholly uneducated moving in my last place in Koreatown, Los Angeles, and now I am seriously paying the price trying to stop the tiny monsters from following me.

Check the bedbug registry online while hunting and be certain to point blank ask about it when you go to view a space -- in most states they are required by law to tell you.

I moved into a cute little cottage in St. Pete a few years ago. Though I am fully aware that FL is infested with lizards, I did not expect to have them as roommates. I stayed there (did not sleep, most of time perched on a stool) one night. $3000 in lease breaking fees later, I was equipped with a valuable lesson in FL renting. Cold blooded animals come inside when its chilly outside... make sure the place is well sealed!!!!

I would add to count the number of outlets//their locations...I only have four outlets in my entire apartment (kitchen/bath/living room/bedroom/dining area), and one of mine (the only possible one for the fridge) shoots blue sparks when something goes into it, yet my landlord won't get it actually fixed.

I procrastinated on finding my place last year, and ended up with what's (now) a (mostly) amazing apartment, but I wish I'd taken a closer look when I first saw it before signing a lease. My buliding was built in the 1800s, and evidently there's buildup in the pipes...I'm on the top/3rd floor, (there'd only be a trickle coming out of my hot water faucet, yet, my friend on the first floor had perfect hot water). I finally complained enough that by October, they installed a line from the heater to my bathroom, but my kitchen and bath sink are still ice cold. I also get splinters from my floors when I walk around barefoot. Despite this (and 5-6 other huge issues), it's somehow still better than most of my other friends who are college renters.

When multiple people, including the listing agent, warns you that the downstairs neighbor is crazy.

Listen to them.

There's this really awesome website for NYC -- http://stablerenters.com/ which lets tenants put up information about their landlords, so that prospective tenants can search and see if they have past offenses and also to see who actually owns the property. It's a great resource though it definitely needs more people's input

My last rental was in a condo building, and the management company charged the owner (my landlord) a $300 moving fee to cover the cost of an employee to put up protective drapes in the elevator and floor coverings in the hall, as well as hold the door and elevator for the movers.

In that neighborhood, it's fairly standard for the tenant to pay move-in and move-out fees to cover those costs. I'd definitely ask what any fee like that was paying for, though.

As a renter. I cannot stress this enough know your rights. Find out what the laws are for your state and county for renting and who you should call if your landlord is being sneaky.
Best advice ever from my mother-in-law who happens to be a landlord. Take pictures of everything in the place before you move in and mail them in a certified envelope to yourself. Don't open it, but keep it just in case you need documentation for getting your security deposit back. Document your calls/emails to your landlord about complaints/getting things fixed in case they don't follow through. This will spare you a whole lot of grief and money if worse case scenario you have to go to court.
My husband and I are moving out of our apartment in 2 months, hoping everything works out and we get our deposit back.

I had pretty horrible experiences with my first apartment in Baltimore, so I recommend that all my friends test apartments out before signing anything. Turn on faucets, open windows, open cabinets, open and close all doors, flip on all light switches, etc. I didn't do that, and my only window to my fire escape wouldn't open and the cold water knob in my shower was broken. I discovered these things after I moved in, and it took two months for maintenance to fix the shower problem and they never fixed my window. The way I see it, if a management company doesn't see fit to address these sorts of problems before they rent an apartment, how can you trust them to fix any issues in a timely fashion? If something's broken from the get go, you don't know how long it was broken and how long it could take to get it fixed.

First apartment in Chicago we had a landlord who painted over mold instead of getting rid of it, we had a gnat problem but that was our fault, the stove didn't work due to faulty wiring im sure- but he replaced the stove. He answered phone calls and emails eventually... needless to say I moved... he was a new landlord and definitely needed to learn how to manage better...

We rented a house that had a SERIOUS mold problem. It's a long story but we lost everything. We were sick the entire time we lived there, and our son has asthma which really made him sick. We had no idea when we moved in. We have had no legal recourse either. We moved in with my inlaws after that and three months later we have finally found a house to move into.

I moved into an apt in 2009 and before I did, I toured the apt and asked the landlord directly if there is or ever was a problem with cockroaches and bedbugs. They said no.
Bloody liar.
I moved in only to find cockroaches AND infested with bedbugs. It became so bad I had to go to my doctors as my skin was severely allergic to them.
I even woke one morning to have a bedbug IN my EAR and my back was covered in bites.
No matter how much I issued a complaint, nothing was done.
I got the heck out, but unfortunately had to toss ALL my soft furnishing out and start again.
Always, ALWAYS be careful when looking at a rental and never take the landlord's say so as gospel.

http://bedbugregistry.com/

Sounds crazy, but look for the THERMOSTAT; if you don't see one, run! I fell in love with my current apartment (one of four in a lovely antebellum home turned quadruplex) and snapped it up. Got sweaty from moving boxes and went to turn the heat down... uh, no thermostat controls. The reason the cost of all utilities, cable and internet were included in the rent? My landlord "forgot to mention" that the HVAC wasn't split off. Ditto for the cable/wifi, Oh, and no emergency land line wiring either. Thank goodness for cell phones and a nice enough tenant in unit 1 who suddenly found herself responsible for the heating, cooling, cable and wi-fi reception for all 4 units! (Not sure which is worse, her plight or mine...) Learn from my blunder and check all systems before signing, folks.

I have rented various properties through my single life and i have to say the worst was when I rented a house with 5 friends. It seemed a good idea at the time but i made the mistake of not asking enough questions generally about the place. It used to rain into our footwell at the bottom of the stairs as there was a 6" gap at the bottom of the back door. One of the rooms rented out was the old wash house and the poor girl who lived in their ended up in hospital because it was so damp. Our landlord was a russian lady who was resided in Florida and whilst over their we had to use her friend as a stand in Landlord who turned out had mental health issues and everytime we had to deal with this chap we had to get him to sign documented evidence of what was said at each tenant review/meeting so that he couldnt go back on his word and the worst part of all was one day the electric fuses blew through the entire house. I was away at the time on work experience from uni, it turned out our wiring had been wired entirely to the earth and through to the off license next door. Don't ask me how they managed that one but apparently the fire brigade/ british gas said that the wiring was so bad that if we had of had gas present in the house for heating/cooking, When the fuses blew, it would have blown the house and half of the street up with it!! VERY SCARY!!
The really annoying thing about it was that it happened at the early part of our uni term and we had to pay our term's rent up front. We lost our deposits and our rent and the girls ended up having to do a moonlight flit for all of us, my stuff included. Which was all shoved into black bin bags...nice!! The russian landlady refused to pay any of our monies back as she said the fault laid with us although it clearly wasn't us and it should have been her responsibilty to of had the electrics properly sorted.
I'd liked to say you live and learn but i still rented from a further dodgy 3 landlords....hmmm!! I'd like to think that i have learnt since. I now own my house with my husband and not a rented property in sight!

I am always researching online reviews when looking for an apartment. Granted, there could be a disgruntled person making unfounded claims, but if you see several saying the same thing, then it's likely true. Reading reviews can be a great way to screen a new apartment.

My boyfriend and I have lived in several places over the years, both good and bad, and we've come up with a checklist:

1. Sniff the air. If you notice bad smells, try to locate the source. And always ask, "What's that smell?" We didn't ask that at our current place, and now we're dealing with marijuana smoke every day.
2. Make sure the windows are double-paned. Our last place had single-paned windows, which contributed to the mold problem (which is what forced us out). Double-paned windows are more energy efficient and will cut down on noise.
3. Make sure the outlets have been updated the the newer, 3-pronged type. Not only is this an indication that the entire electrical system has been updated, it almost means you won't have to buy a bunch of adapters for your electronics.
4. Make sure you get a good sense of the layout and the rules. Make sure you understand which areas are yours, which are common areas, and which belong to neighbors. Figure out which walls are shared walls.
5. If the place is even a little dirty when you're first viewing it, it is a good indication that the landlord doesn't care much about the place and probably won't be too responsive to your complaints down the road.
6. Trust your gut. If the place seems great on paper, but you just feel uncomfortable, let it go.

Parking & safety are 2 major issues...if your apt doesn't come w/ a garage or parking space make sure u are guaranteed a spot on the street & run if the parking area doesn't seem safe or well lit. Same goes for hallways, stairwells & laundry rooms...make sure they are safe & well lit.