Galilite

My wife and I just arrived a couple of days ago. We contacted a realtor, she found a handful of matches, many of which we spotted on Zillow and Realtor earlier.

We visited one of the apartments and it looks pretty nice by the local standards (we're in Massachusetts outside of Boston). It has everything we need, great location, fairly spacious (1,000+ sq ft 2 bedrooms), even has two parking spaces in a communal garage (which is great as far as we're concerned - no need to fight the snow), etc. However, it's the first apartment we saw, and we noticed that it was 90 days on the market.

I'm wondering what's the catch. Why nobody wants it? Do people prefer a detached home or a townhouse, is this why?

sherbert

How much is the deposit? Did you catch a glimpse of the neighbours? Did the realtor insist on showing it to you at a certain time of the day?

LonelyCloud

Just ask yourself the same questions as if you were looking a place in the UK. As Sherbert suggests, Neighbours, timing of the viewing.

One thing that we didn't check, and quickly regretted, was the location of the parking spaces. We had a hyperactive 18 month old and another on the way and the space we were issued was literally the other end of the garage next to two pillars. Eventually I had to pull the old 'health and safety' card.

NatashaB

is there an owners association? (not sure that's the right word, I know apartment blocks often have the equivalent of a homeowners association but call it something different). maybe they have very strict rules compared to other places?

robin1234

Why not just get the realtor to show you several more comparable ones, then go back to the first one? Plus spend some time in the vicinity of the one you're interested in, in the evening etc. The worst that can happen is you lose the opportunity to rent it, because someone else said "yes" !!

Pulaski

It may be something as simple as an "overly picky" landlord, whether or not that is legal.

RoadWarriorFromLP

Ask the real estate agent. You may actually get an honest answer (although you may not.)

bruceba

Maybe it is overpriced for the market.

Tarkak9

... could be a host of reasons, may be or may be not adverse about the particular about the place.

I always encourage all my clients (and its amazing how many don't actually bother) to go back around rush hour or whatever and see how the traffic, noise etc is like and if its acceptable to your standards. Neighbors - try to talk to them .... 1. The ones who know the best about the area/'hood are the ones who live there 2. They may know something about the place. 3 - most importantly, if you don't like them, best to find out before you move in.
Talk to the PD .. they can give a crime snapshot of the area or voice an opinion about an area, if given an address they can see too if they've ever been called to the place.
Rent .... negotiable as anything else in the world; worst anyone will say is no, its either 'yes', 'no' or a 'counter' .... get an idea what 'typical' rent for the area etc goes for. Price is always a determinate whether or not a place rents/sells - it is plausible that the LL has advertised a high rent to 'weed out' risky prospects with shaky rental history per se; some people tend to think, the lower the rent, the higher the risk of crappy tenants. Serious tenants will apply with a rent offer, especially if they think its overpriced for the market etc.
Your agent would be the best to give insight about the situation.

scrubbedexpat091

Hows the rental market in the area? Might be too much supply and not enough demand so units are sitting?

Up until about 18 months ago, landlords had to pretty much give away the rentals because there was no demand, our complex had brand new units sitting for 12 months empty, simply was no demand.

Now it's the opposite, vacant units are rare and the few that come up are rented quickly, its a view it, if you like it apply, and hope your better then the dozens of other applicants. If you wait you have no chance.


I've never found rent to be negotiable, not anywhere I have lived, and I have tried, it's always been a take it or leave it type thing. But never used a real estate agent to find a rental, using one here isn't the norm, and real estate agents have few if any leads on rentals if they even deal with rentals, funny how different regions do things.

Bob

One reason might be wanting to get as many people to apply as possible and then decide, as it's a good little earner on those application fee's as they can be $25-60 a adult.

What's the situation with rubbish pick up?

Is there zoned winter parking on the street? That might make it a pain in the arse to get into the place during winter and for guests.

What's the heat? Oil will be well expensive, gas the cheapest. If the windows aren't that well insulated, it'll also make a massive difference to the cost of heating and cooling. You can call the suppliers with the address and get the last years high/low and average cost.

Also, heading into winter, which means landlord can't evict someone till next March, so they tend to be more picky at this point in the year.

Another thing, might be how much the realtor fee might be, if you're in Boston, you could be on the hook for a month or two's worth of rent as the finders fee for the landlord. If you're more in the metro area, it'll be more likely to be a months worth. If you're outside the 495 ring, chances are you won't have to pay the realtors fee and the landlord will.

scrubbedexpat091

I am so glad they don't allow application fees here, they are a right rip off in the US where allowed.

scrubbedexpat099

Never heard of them either.

Galilite

Exactly what we did.

Anyway, it turned out that it was just "a bit high" (maybe a couple of hundreds higher than other ones in the same building because of additional options - but we wanted them).

We looked at other places around, had a shock at what passes here for an upscale apartment, and went back to the first one.

Galilite

We have to pay a month's rent, which is fine with us. (It's in Arlington.) All the rest is fine and we saw nice BMWs parked in the communal garage.

Honestly, we are dismayed at the early 20th century houses that can easily be used as a prop for horror movies with rickety steep stairs smelling like rat urine renting for $2,000+.