Five Things to Do Before Moving into Your First Apartment in San Antonio

Five Things to Do Before Moving into Your First Apartment in San Antonio

Finding and moving into your first apartment in San Antonio is an electrifying, sometimes crazy, and generally chaotic time. Making preparations is the best you can to do keep everything from becoming mind-boggling. If you are moving into your first apartment, here are five things you should think about before you move the first box.

1) Don’t be Afraid to Ask Questions before signing any paperwork.

A lease is a legal, binding record between parties. Oftentimes, the language can get confusing and the terms might not be understandable. Or, maybe, you notice verbiage in the contract that bothers you after you scrutinize it. Perchance you see something in the initial walk-through that you would like to know more about. Whatever your question is, do not hesitate to ask it. A good landlord would rather have you walk away with the answers and not signing a lease than see you sign it and have issues in the future because you were puzzled about something in the beginning and never asked for an explanation.

Landlordology has a good list of questions to ask your landlord prior to signing your lease - 20 Revealing Questions that Every Renter Should Ask (from a Landlord's Perspective).

2) Do a walk-through of the apartment with the landlord, if possible, ahead of moving your stuff in.

On the day you plan to move in San Antonio, before you get occupied with the craziness of moving in everything you own, see if you can get the landlord to do a walk-through of the apartment to look for damages or any other pre-existing issues that might have gone unnoticed when they were readying it for your arrival. This is a good idea for multiple reasons. The first is so that you both can understand what is going on without the jumble of furniture and boxes. The second reason is that once you move your belongings in, your landlord can contend that they have no way to know for sure the problem was there before you arrived. If the damage can be blamed on you instead of the previous tenant, the cost of repairs will possibly come out of your deposit when you get ready to move somewhere else. Depending on what that cost is and the terms of your lease, you might not get anything back.

3) Ask for help.

Part of growing up is being independent, but part of it is also recognizing when you cannot do something on your own and need to ask for support. When it comes to moving, you will always need help - with moving boxes and putting together furniture on move-in day at the very least. If you have family or a friend you trust in the area you are moving to and you cannot do a inspection before you move in, make arrangements to have them do it for you. Be sure they know what information to seek out beforehand.

4) CLEAN before unpacking.

Generally speaking, renters are supposed to make sure an apartment is clean and in acceptable condition before they move out, and most landlords will give the apartment a more thorough cleaning between renters. However, occasionally, an apartment sits vacant for a little while or things get overlooked. Also, there is the mess that can happen when you move in. Cleaning up before you unpack will help you give attention to what might have been neglected. It will also familiarize you with the layout you have and give you a better sense of how you can arrange things than you might have gotten during the walk-through.

5) Be considerate of your neighbors while moving items in.

When you are in the middle of moving in, it is easier to look for convenient ways to get your stuff into your apartment. Unfortunately, the most convenient [methods|ways]166] to do so can make it more difficult for your neighbors to come and go as they need to and give them the wrong initial impression of you as their neighbor. It is their community you are joining when you move in, after all. You will have an easier time assimilating with the community in San Antonio if you are mindful of them from the onset.