Life, shall we say, can be interesting. Your car gets a flat tire. Your significant other trades you in for another. You get a pink slip with your paycheck.

There’s nothing here that can help you with any of that, but if a bed of nails is what you’re into, we can give you 10 pointers on how to insure your rental experience with your apartment is an utter nightmare. The first five are below. Check here for pitfalls 6-10.

1. Never Talk to Your Landlord

Is your faucet leaking? Toilet running? A little grout missing in your tub surround? If you don’t call these problems into your landlord promptly, these repairs are only going to get worse. Additionally, that leaky faucet is probably leaking hot water, creating further waste. Your landlord might charge you for expensive repairs that might have been less had they been addressed sooner.

2. Rent More Apartment Than You Can Afford

Walk-in showers are nice. Two car garages are too. And there’s nothing like a golf course view. While we try to keep such things as affordable for everyone as we can, ultimately we have many other very nice apartments that anyone would still be proud to call home that are available for less. Make sure that whatever apartment you have, it fits comfortably within your budget.

3. Host Plenty of Wild Parties

Hey, what’s the single life for? If your get-togethers with friends really can’t be accurately described without using the phrase, “drunken debauchery,” know that not everyone shares your enthusiasm about swinging from the chandelier. And if the police are stopping by your place like it was a donut shop, that’s probably a bad sign.

4. Don’t Renew Your License Plates or Fix That Flat Tire

There’s nothing like a car transformed into an automotive igloo to scream, “this apartment complex is a dump.” So at least at Decker Properties, we’re always on the alert for large, obstructive wheeled snow glaciers. If we know who it belongs to, we’ll talk to them. If not, we just have it towed.

5. Move Somebody New Into Your New Berlin Apartment Without Telling The Landlord

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover, or that cool dude you met in the bar last week either. Before you move someone new in, check with the landlord. Your landlord is probably adept at screening people. If your new love interest is an axe murderer, better to find that out before they move in.

Be sure to come back soon for part 2 in this series. In the meantime, take a look at our beautiful apartments for rent in Fond du Lac.