Applying for an apartment?  You can bet your landlord will be checking you out.  More than likely, there will be an income verification, criminal background check, credit check and landlord reference.

Maybe you should check out your landlord as well.  And it isn’t hard.  What do you think the internet is for anyway?

Do an internet search on the company.  Check the Better Business Bureau.  Do a search on the apartment complex if it’s large enough to have an internet presence.

Take what you find with a grain of salt.  It’s so easy for someone that’s frustrated to drop an electronic bomb on anyone.  Look for patterns, not single instances of complaints or compliments.

At Decker Properties, Inc., we have an A+ rating with the BBB.  Our Google reviews average four out of five stars.  In fact, all our reviews are either five star or one star.  That’s what you would expect to find from any well-run company.  Most interactions are positive, but it is impossible to please everyone.

I invite you to search any of the Decker Properties locations, like Catalina Crossing in McFarland/Madison or The Oaks at 8100 in Oak Creek.

Question One: Why are you moving?

At first, it may seem like this is none of the landlords business. However, your landlord may ask a question like this because she is trolling for red flags. An answer like, “because I’m getting evicted” or “I lost my security deposit” is not going to impress your new landlord. Neither is going on at length about what a jerk your old landlord is. Continue reading →

Continuing on with the conclusion of the article from ApartmentTherapy.com that we started with last time. Here are some more tips on how to avoid bad landlords, something you won’t find at a Decker Property.

5. Read your lease very carefully. All that legalese may be boring, but it’s really important to know what you’re signing. If you’re month-to-month, ask your landlord how often he intends to raise your rent. If you have a longer lease, make sure you understand the penalty for breaking it, just in case.

6. Photograph every room the day you sign the contract, paying particular attention to existing problems, like scratched floors or a hole in the wall. Landlords have been known to accuse tenants of destroying things that were already in disrepair. If you leave your apartment in the same state you found it (or better), and have proof of it, your landlord will be hard-pressed to keep your deposit. Continue reading →

Here’s another great article from our friends at ApartmentTherapy.com. I’ve edited it only to change the bullet points to numbered items, otherwise it’s unchanged. Once again, it reads like the horror story experience you get from not renting from Decker Properties. Just so you don’t get too scared (or scarred), we’re including points 5-9 in our next post.

Don Knotts as Ralph Furley (Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

On hit ’70s sitcom Three’s Company, flamboyant and wise-cracking Ralph Furley replaced nosy original landlord Stanley Roper. Both were good for laughs on TV; in real life, maybe not so much.

In an ideal world, landlords would do more than cash your checks every month. They’d replace shoddy cabinets and stained carpet, let you paint your walls, and make sure all their tenants were respectful and courteous to each other. In reality, renting can be a harrowing experience. Landlords are occasionally nosy, creepy, absentee, or just plain incompetent. Got a great one? You’re lucky! Continue reading →