•San Antonio Apartments & Rentals: We hope you find some helpful information below regarding your lease and other issues. The links to the articles below do not take the place of sound legal advice from a qualified attorney. They should, however, provide some basic information on the leasing process. If you have any questions, give us a call. We don't give legal advice but we can point you in the right direction. We will be glad to help!

• Understanding Your Lease

• Making Sense of Your Lease

• Ten Tips You Should Know

• Should You Have Renter's Insurance?

• Apartment Locators: How Do They Make Their Money?

• Paying Rent With Plastic

• First Time Renter? You May Need Credit

• Apartment Safety Do's And Dont's

• What Are Your Landlord's Responsibilities?

• What Are Your Responsibilities?

• Renting With Pets?

• Make Sure Your Carpet's Clean

• Moving? Follow These Cleaning Tips

• Security Deposit: Getting It Back

• More Tips

 

And the best part about our service is it is 100% FREE. We are paid a small referral fee by the properties at which you lease when you put our name down on the application. Our fee is paid out of the property's advertising budget and in no way increases your rent.

Pitfalls Of Online Searching
by Patrice Poltzer

An apartment search in any large U.S city can be an intimidating experience. Before you suit up and scour the Internet for your perfect urban oasis, let's consider some potential pitfalls.

     

  1. "But the Internet ad said vintage feel, in-unit laundry and new appliances?"

    Sometimes online companies purposefully embellish Internet ads to generate more traffic to a particular property. Know the area you are searching in so you can understand what is reasonable for that neighborhood. Words like 'vintage' or 'new' can be arbitrary.

  2. Pictures can be deceiving.

    Often times the apartment picture you see with the large kitchen island and cathedral ceilings is not the same unit associated with the ad copy. Remember, sometimes the advertisement may be a picture of the model unit and not the actual unit you will be renting.

  3. Searching online is time consuming.

    Many people start searching online for apartments, thinking this is the most effective use of time. However, if you aren't familiar with the neighborhood in larger cities, you could be wasting hours of your precious time by looking at units that are not geographically desirable. Additionally, many units require a landlord or an owner to show you the unit, which means you need to coordinate your schedule with multiple landlords just to step foot in the front door. Finally, the Internet is massive and sifting through all of the different websites is very time consuming. Consider using a broker service in your city to save you frustration, time and energy.

  4. You are not an expert in apartment searching.

    When you search for an apartment on your own, you are relying on your own real estate savvies. Why not make apartment searching a less stressful, successful experience where you are escorted from apartment to apartment, saving you untold hours navigating from location to location, viewing options that might be miles from the local transportation hubs. When you search online, you miss the opportunity to have a professional agent guide you through the process at no charge.

Source: Justin Kling and Michael Pottern, founders of the Chicago-based apartment locating service Apartment Savvy, share their insights on the world of online apartment searching.

Published: June 19, 2007