My husband and I will be selling our home soon and relocating for his job. We plan to rent until we know for sure if the new position will be permanent. Neither one of us has ever rented. Do you have any advice or tips for first-time renters? We have two small children so we envision a house or condo.
Would you recommend a storage unit for items not used everyday or a home with enough storage to accommodate those items? We would appreciate any advice you can give us. Thank you! -Beth
Hi, Beth!
A lot of people give renting a bad rap, but personally, I think renting can be a great financial move if you are just moving to a new city, aren’t in a position to put a large down payment on a home, or only plan to live in the same area for around two years or less. We rented for the first seven and a half years of marriage and my husband and I both have no regrets about our decision to do so.
Here are a few things I’d encourage you to consider as a first-time renter:
1) Make Sure You Have a Good Landlord
Whether you’re renting an apartment, house, duplex, or condo, your landlord can either make or break your renting experience. We’ve had great landlords and we’ve had really pathetic landlords (one who made many false promises and took over a year to deal with issues).
When you’re considering a potential house or condo, do a search online to see if there is any information on the landlord or property management company. If we had thought to do this in one of our housing situations, it would have saved enormous headache.
If you’re renting an apartment or condo and there are on-site property managers, make sure you feel like they genuinely have your best interests at heart. They are the go-between for landlord and tenant, so if they truly care about their tenants, you’ll likely end up with much quicker service if your hot water tank breaks or your plumbing is clogged.
2) Consider Your Surroundings
For us, this was especially imperative because we had young children. You might love the house, apartment, or condo, but if there’s no place for your children to go out and play, it can become very difficult — especially if you’re squeezed into a cracker box house.
If possible, drive by the house, condo, or apartment at night and during the day to get a feel for what the neighbors and neighborhood is typically like. Also, ask your landlord or property manager what their policy is on loud or obnoxious neighbors. You definitely don’t want someone blaring their music in a room right next to yours at 3 a.m. in the morning if you have young children trying to sleep!
3) Look at the Fine Print on the Lease
Make sure you know the exact terms of your lease. For instance, some leases have strict rules about how many children or pets you can have. If you are planning on having another baby or getting a new pet anytime soon, they could require you to move out because you no longer abide by their rules.
Also, look at the details of what is and isn’t your responsibility as a tenant. What utilities do they pay for? What is their typical process if something breaks? Can you get out of your lease, if need be? What shape do they expect the house or condo to be in after you move out (we forgot to ask this once and ended up getting a few crazy things deducted from our security deposit that they didn’t tell us we needed to make sure and take care of before we moved out)?
4) Downsize Your Belongings
If you’re going to be downsizing in home, it’s the perfect opportunity to take a good, hard look at everything you own and see what you can get rid of. The price of storage units can add up pretty quickly, so it will save you money to just get rid of items you no longer love and/or use at least every few weeks.
Not only will this make your move simpler since you’ll have less stuff to pack and relocate, but de-cluttering your home will help you streamline your life and improve your productivity.
What are your best tips and suggestions for first-timer renters to consider?
My husband and I have rented multiple apartments/homes through our six and a half years of marriage and the biggest advice I can give is to call or visit the local police station and request to have 911 records for your street address and surrounding neighborhood from the last six months (I believe my husband had to pay a small fee, under $5). Before we moved into a rental we did the night time drive through twice to be sure it was quiet, seemed like a very nice place to us, fast forward to three months after we moved in and our neighbors were up at all hours of the night screaming, fighting, drinking, etc. and I had an incident where I heard them talking about “stuff going down”, Long story short I saw one of them pull steak knives out of his pocket when talking about “getting ready, cause they’re coming” and called the police- in trying to prove our case of wanting to either have them evicted (this was definitely not the first, or the last of these types of problems) or giving proof to break our lease we had the previous six months 911 records printed out (to prove I had personally called the police twice) when we looked over the records there had been fifty seven different 911 calls made regarding that apartment. Some of them were hang ups or for noise violations, but there was a domestic disturbance and a shots fired listed as well. Once we had those records we knew if they couldn’t be evicted within a few weeks that we were leaving and ended up breaking our lease to do so. My husband works nights and being alone with our young son I did not feel safe. Had my husband not taken CJ classes we may not have thought to ever look up such records, but we now use them everytime we consider moving. Even though a neighborhood looks quiet and nice one night, you never know what goes on every other night and it is worth it to not be put in a dangerous situation! Hope this helps and happy moving!
I agree that it would be better to downsize rather than put your belongings in storage – unless you can get extra storage where you rent. When we were building our house, we put some items in storage and the unit was broken into – twice!
RENTER’S INSURANCE!!! No if’s or but’s about it! 🙂
That should be…
RENTER’S INSURANCE!!! No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it!
Check out http://www.apartmentratings.com People rate the apartments they’ve lived in.
Stay with an apartment complex. I’ve rented apartments in houses where the landlord lived in part and I had the other part. I did that twice, never again!
Ask if the maintenance personnel live onsite and if they are on call. If something starts leaking at 11:00pm, you don’t want to have to wait till 9am the next morning to be able to call someone. We had a heavy rainfall one night and my ceiling was leaking. Maintenance was here 5 minutes after I called.
If you find a complex, see if there are people milling around and ask them what it’s like living there – what they like or don’t like.
And make sure you read the fine print on the lease. Ours has a stipulation of no noise between 9pm and 9am. If you want to have a party, there is a room available on site that you can sign out. You leave a deposit and as long as it’s cleaned, you get that back.
Also, with children, I’d suggest the bottom floor. Neighbors do not appreciate having children running above their heads. I moved out of an apartment due to that situation. Running and riding tricycles in an apartment is not appreciated by your neighbors.
And above all, remember you are in an apartment, not your own home. You can’t do what you want whenever you want. So do your laundry before 9pm, run the dishwasher, etc. After 9pm, people who work go to bed and do not want to be disturbed if you get the urge to vacuum at 10pm.
I’ve owned a home in the past…but now we rent. My husband and I got transferred for his temporary job assignment (3 year contract) last year. We started with a generic apartment complex and now are in a house rental. The apartment complex was fine enough, but we did suffer a little on those weekends were nearby tenants had noisy parties. We also picked the complex because of the additional security it offered, but then no one bothered to shut the walk-up gates and the management left the drive-thru gates open quite often. The bonuses were the quick repairs by management and the pool. With our house, we could not have an open-end lease – they wanted 1.5 years max lease, and an individual landlord is going to have those kinds of little issues that you won’t get with an apartment complex. On the other hand, we have a ton more space to spread out…for nearly the same price as our complex rent. If you rent a house, make sure you know who is responsible for what, like the yard and things like that (we negotiated out of the yard thing). During several recent storms, I was afraid a tree was going to fall through our house (not at our expense, but I would still be in a house with a tree in it)…never had to worry about that before in any other apartment! Our utilities with a house are nearly 3x what we paid in our smaller apartment. Also, our landlord has been dragging his feet on replacing the defunct dishwasher…going on two weeks now. 🙁 For our next place, since we have to move by the end of the year, we are going to try for a high rise rental (whether apartment building or condo complex). And here is why: security (something about taking an elevator and having a doorman makes me feel better), ease of parking versus apartment door, more amenities (than your typical, generic rental complex), probably fewer noisy tenants (it’s harder to have a party on the 25th floor with a small balcony than a place where you can spill out into the parking lot) and less worries about home ownership-type problems. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have gone the route of renting a home with an individual landlord. The space is AWESOME, but all the other headaches exceed that plus.
We currently rent from a family member, which is the best rental situation to be in for us. But we still photographed everything when we moved in. Everything. Dinged door jambs, tiny spots on the carpet, a funny crack in the pantry shelving. Then I emailed a set of those photos to our landlords and kept them on our hard drive as well. That way, come move-out day, there are no questions about that kind of stuff.
Get renter’s insurance. Our’s is well under $20/month through USAA and worth every penny.
Meet the neighbors, especially if you’re looking at a duplex or apartment.
We have been renting for a bit now. We started in a house with a garage and used the garage as storage space. We had a garage sale and were able to pare our things down slowly over a year. We now live in an apartment and pay for some storage. (It is so inconvenient, but it was a must.) Given a choice, I would highly recommend the house with garage. Even if you pay a tad more, you’re saving on storage and can use the opportunity to make some extra cash on garage sale/consignment sale items. We moved to save on utilities and travel expenses as my husband works across town now. I miss our little house with the garage!
One other note, be sure to take utilities into consideration. Older houses are cute but are badly insulated and sometimes have only gas utilities. We are saving over a hundred dollars a month now just because we’re in a nicely insulated, all electric apartment.
We just moved to a new city and wanted to get a feel of the city before we started looking at buying a house. We ended up getting a great deal on an apartment, but are not too thrilled with the way the complex is ran now that we are locked into our lease. Definitely check out different websites for info from previous tenants (this way, you’ll be able to find out info that the complex isn’t up front about when you sign your lease). Also, even if you have fantastic landlords, become familiar with your state’s renter’s rights laws. I found a site with our state’s info and have it bookmarked in case I need it. The one thing I do love about living in a much smaller place is downsizing our ‘stuff’. We had WAY too much stuff and we just couldn’t fit it into our apartment, but didn’t love it enough to pay for it to be stored in a storage facility. My husband and I have decided that when we start house hunting next year, we’ll definitely look for something no bigger than what we actually need.
As a landlord, I always tell our renter to be sure they have renter’s insurance for their possessions. Our insurance only covers our property.
When we started looking for the place to rent, my husband was looking at police reports for the past 3-5 years, to make sure nothing bad has happened on that street. If you do not have a garage make sure there was no large amount of car related thefts in the neighborhood.
We rent because we can’t afford a down payment on a house, nor could we afford the inevitable costs of repairs and maintenance on a house. We rent a three-bedroom townhome, and the good things about it are that we don’t have to do yard work or pay for repairs. Also, there’s a large courtyard in front of our house, where the kids can play with other kids from the neighborhood. I do miss the privacy of a one-family house, though. Fortunately, we are on the end of a row of townhomes, so we have neighbors on only one side of our walls.
One thing to think about when considering renting a house from a private owner instead of an apartment or a condo or a townhome is that a house might be more likely to be sold or foreclosed on or something. I’ve had a few friends who’ve been in that situation, and then they had to move. One family lived in a small town and had a very difficult time finding a new place to live when the house they were renting was sold.
We have been renters for awhile and just moved about 10 days ago to get out of a yucky rental situation. My husband is a pastor; we moved to our first call (in a town of 900) last summer. When we got here, there was nowhere to rent (and I mean NOWHERE), so we ended up renting a 4BR house from a church member.
I do not recommend that!!! This summer, she informed us we had two choices: Buy it (for way more than it’s worth, so they could pay off the mortgage). Or move out. Very soon. So I started packing.
Because we refuse to buy anything here, we were faced with moving. It was very tough to find a new place. We finally found a 2BR condo that we really love. We definitely downsized (4 BR to 2 BR, 2 car garage to 1 car garage, full basement to ZERO storage, etc.), but that’s ok with us.
We are storing an extra table and 4 chairs in our church’s garage, but otherwise, everything is in the condo. We never even considered a storage unit – there’s just no way that’s worth the extra $ every month. My theory is, if it can sit in a storage unit for months without you needing it, then you must not really need it!
God’s blessings in your search! I hope you are not in a rural area – finding rentals is so difficult in small towns. There’s nothing wrong with renting – trust me! Many people around our area seem to disagree, but we know we are ok renting. And that’s what matters. 🙂
Definitely downsize your belongings instead of renting a storage unit. I guarantee you, with two small kids and an off-site unit, you will never get anything out of there. If it gives you some comfort, set aside 1 month’s storage rent as an oops account to rebuy things you find you really did need. And don’t toss anything without opening it. Only last week I found my social security card in an envelope I was about to toss.
Also, be aware that neighborhoods aren’t as friendly to renters as they are to home owners. I’m not at all saying they’re unfriendly, but renters are seen as temporary and the renters themselves often keep to themselves rather than trying to be a part of the neighborhood. So folks are less likely to drop-in and introduce themselves to new renters are they are to new homeowners. If you rent a house you may have to make more of an effort to meet neighbors and be a part of things.
As for discrimination, in some areas landlords can be more choosy when they are living in one of the units. They still can’t discriminate based on sex, religion, race, etc. But they can choose not to rent to a family.
We found our apartment by driving through the area we wanted to live in. (That’s how we found our house as well). And be sure to trust your instincts. If anything seems off to you, keep looking. Your landlord is someone you will be having an ongoing business relationship with who has keys to your home.
This is tough to explain so bear with me: if you rent a single unit house it may not be well suited to renting. We rented a house from someone who wasn’t able to sell it. Great house. Great landlord. But since the house was never set-up as a rental there were some frustrating situations. All the bedrooms lacked overhead lights. There was an outlet linked to the light switch but it was always in an awkward place that did not light the room well. Since we were temporary renters I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on temporary fixes. Same went for curtains in the living room and closet storage in all the bedrooms. I can’t give you any specific advice for avoiding this situation, and I’m not recommending you do. It’s just something to keep in mind when you’re looking at places like that.
My husband and I rented for 4 years and just bought our first house. One thing we found to be helpful, especially with children and with needing storage, we rented duplexes. Both places had basements, which provided the additional storage we needed to keep all of our stuff. The second place also had a finished rec room in the basement for our oldest to run off some energy and to house the vast amount of toys that children come with! We found that the price for the amount of space we got was well worth looking into renting a duplex. Also, look for a place that has a garage. We had one at our first duplex and greatly missed it at the second one-there are many things that we would have preferred to store in a garage vs. inside the house (gas cans, bikes, boat motor, etc).
I agree that it would be a good idea to drive by the place that you are looking to rent at different times of the day. It may even be good to go for walks in that neighborhood as well before you decide. (You can gauge the busyness of the street and how fast cars go by, especially if there aren’t sidewalks.) The first place we rented had a huge backyard (connected to all of the others) and seemed to be just a free-for-all for all of the kids in the neighborhood. We were a bit worried about kids getting hurt on our property and didn’t realize just how many kids were in the area until we lived there.
Good luck!
We too sold our house and downsized to an apartment for 6 months before moving into a rental house. We had a storage unit while living in the apartment because we needed a place to store our outdoor and garage items. My husband is a “Mr. Fix It” and our apartment was on the third floor. We found a storage unit that was within 5 minutes of our apartment and we did not just throw things in it – we made a point to keep it as organized and easy to get around in as possible – we also made sure every box was labeled. The storage complex was also very secure with 24 hour monitoring, completely gated requiring a code to enter and you were allowed to provide you own lock. We made sure that our Renters Insurance also covered the storage unit as well.
As for our apartment living experience – I would probably live in a trailer before I lived in an apartment again. Our girls were 3 and 18 months old when we moved in. Even though this was a “family friendly”complex the man living below us had absolutely no tolerance for children at any time of the day or night and would come up to our door at 10 in the MORNING and tell me that he could hear us walking around and that I needed to keep my children still…… you know like just have them sit and watch TV, and was constantly pounding on the ceiling when ever the girls would get up in the night. It was the most stressful 6 months of our lives and even though we had a long chat with management and the harassing stopped we still were no comfortable there and were so thankful to move out!
Renting a house means more privacy and a yard and for us a garage and basement so we no longer need a storage unit. The house is actually smaller in living space but the “on site” storage makes it worth it and me children are free to play in the middle of the day in the living room without fear of the man downstairs coming up to yell at mommy again.
I forgot to say that I completely agree with the posts about taking pictures before and after. Do it while you’re walking through with the landlord so he/she knows you mean business. Make sure you get anything that’s broken, cracked, or in any kind of disrepair so you won’t get blamed for it after the fact.
To echo what several others have already said – make sure you get a timeframe for when your landlord will return your security deposit IN WRITING before signing anything. We got into a really ugly situation with our landlord after we bought our house. We had to threaten to take him to Small Claims Court because he claimed that we broke the air conditioning unit even though it was working when we left.
It was ridiculous, especially considering we left the place in MUCH better condition than when we moved in! I cleaned the place from top to bottom (even the refrigerator, freezer, oven, and stovetop burners) and we paid to have the walls painted (the same shade that was already on them). He was just playing dirty.
We did end up getting $450 of our $550 deposit back, but we should have gotten all of it. We didn’t end up taking him to Small Claims Court, because it wasn’t worth our time for $100. The moral of the story is, get everything in writing so you won’t have to deal with this situation.
Great suggestions here so far. Hope I can add something (eleven-year renter, seven different apartments here). A few things we’ve found very helpful:
1. During the walk-through, ask about: utility bills, payment methods, your neighbors (above, below, and to the sides), former residents (who they were, why they left), plumbing/electrical (any floods or broken pipes recently?), and the rental’s vermin history and elimination plan. If you’re moving to a major metro area, make sure you bring up bed bugs, and avoid any place with a history of them.
2. If the landlord is making repairs/upgrades, get the date they’ll finish. In writing, if possible.
3. As many other commenters have noted, renter’s insurance is 100% worth it. So is taking pictures before you move anything in.
4. Look at the surrounding neighborhood. Be wary of blocks where first-floor windows are barred. Unless you like lots of noise at weird hours, don’t rent very close/next to a bar, restaurant, hospital, fire department, or bell-happy house of worship. High schools can be an interesting experience if kids tend to hover after classes end, too. Try to find a sweet spot between location, price, and luxury.
5. Use Craigslist, but get to know the lingo a bit before really settling on anything. Cozy = small, a picture taken of only the outside of a house = not much to show inside, no hidden fees = some kind of fees, etc.
Best wishes with your search!
Renter’s Insurance is a must! Not just because it protects your belongings in the event of a loss, but should also provide some liability coverage. Your lease will usually state you are responsible in the event you cause damage. For instance, you are cooking, get distracted by the kids, and there is a kitchen fire. As a former insurance adjuster, even the smallest stove fires can be $10K. Your renter’s policy can provide some coverage in some scenarios (normal wear and tear is not covered). Be sure to read your lease, many will require you have renter’s/liability insurance as the owner will want to protect the property as well.
No one has mentioned this however, you can get a lease writen up that is more favorable to you than the landlord. If you rent from a new landlord bring your own lease. Take a basic rent agreement add a few things that you would like to have , If you plan on staying for two years get a two year lease where they can not raise the rent on you for the second year. (If someone is getting a great tenant someone that is not going to destroy the property then you should get something in return for that !) (Maybe a lower security deposit !!!) Take it to an attorney or at least a Paralegal before everyone signs it. There are some major bad landlords out there truly ! There are also some great ones as well. Storage is not a good idea pare down to fit into whatever tiny space you have to work with or make a deal with a friend to leave some things for a storage fee. I personally have a friend who has a massive home with a massive attic she offered I pay her one time per year (right before the holidays she uses the money to have an amazing Christmas and I get storage 1/12th the price of a storage place and if I were to get behind on paying her she would not sell my things out from under me!) She is like a sister to me and she lucked into the massive home.
So weigh all your options and do all your homework before you get into a lease and before you are moved.
Renting can be a wonderful thing!
Here is one additonal tip.
We walked through one place and we loved it / we went back took photos and we noticed the fridg was on it’s last leg.
We had the landlord replace the fridg before we moved in.
This helped us tremedously, the landlord put the old fridg in the garage (we used it for drinks it died about fourteen days after we moved in.) This would have ruined all of our food at a really bad time for us as we were starting to get settled and I likely would have just been to the store and stocked up on food. So look around with an eagle eye!
Also, get two copies of the pictures. You keep one set and give the other to the property manager/landlord.
I haven’t read all the other replies yet but having worked in property management for a couple years the number one thing I tell people who have picked a place and signed a lease- TAKE PICTURES OF EVERYTHING! There’s almost always a move in checklist so as you are filling it out (be beyond thorough) take pictures of every single speck/ding/dust/everything. Do it on the outside of the house/condo as well. These property management companies care more about the owners than the renters so when you move out they will try to get you on anything. Some companies will charge $100 for a “light cleaning” if you forget to dust the top of a stove vent. Just an example. Feel free to email me with any questions. [email protected]
1. When you have your move-in checklist, write down every single thing wrong/broken/dented/scratched with the house. It might look a little paranoid, but you’ll get your security deposit back in the end.
2. Check out the place after it rained to see if there are any leaks. Our 1st apartment flooded twice in 2 months and it was a pain to get out of our lease.
3. Check out how much the utilities have been. You could have a cheap place to rent but pay an astronomical amount to keep it cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
First thing I would recommend is taking pictures of everything before you move in and before/after you do the final cleaning. I cleaned underneath the appliances(lots of cat hair, we did not have a cat) before we moved out and our landlord took half our rental deposit for needing to “clean under the appliances”. Found out later that the only way we could have made them change the charges is if we would have taken pictures.
I also second checking out the area at night. Within the six months of living at one of the apartments there were 2 shootings, a stabbing and bar fights almost every night. And the lady who showed us the apartment told us it was “a very quiet neighborhood”.
If you guys are looking at a church, you could ask the pastor if he knows of anyone in the church who manages apartments or if anyone is wanting to rent out their house. We did that when we moved out east and it was by far our best renting experience. The family who we lived with was amazing and when there were issues they got resolved very quickly.
I CAN NOT stress this enough, RENTERS INSURANCE. Even if the landlord doesn’t require it.Or you could say especially if the landlord DOES NOT require it. It keeps you, your family, pets,and belongings safe. And of course check the fine print like Crystal said to know what you would need to repair when moving out and what you are responsible for while you are there. Also see if it has a clause that would require the landlord to fix an issue within a certain time period. For example a broken pipe immediately, broken water heater within 2 days, and something smaller like a broken bathroom faucet 5 days or so. It helps to have everything outlined. I would also ask about security measures and do a crime check on your neighborhood.Check with local police to find out more about that. Happy Renting!
Now days renters insurance is mandatory in most places.One thing I would look at before renting is where the local high school is.Just like living near a college a high school can be just as bad.Lots of teenagers walking to and from school smoking and doing what ever with their friends of opposite sex is not good to be near,they speed with their cars ,and then having to worry about drug deals .Police will tell you about a neighborhood before you move int it where it is against the law for a landlord to tell you .
We owned, then rented when we had some job problems, now own again. The BEST thing about renting is that the rent is the only house payment. When we own it seems like we’re always buying things to make improvements to our place. When you’re renting you don’t do that. It’s a great way to save money, especially if you don’t need the tax credits from owning.
We had to rent when we moved to SC. We did so until we were sure my husband was staying and we had our house built. In my opinion, I would say to STAY AWAY FROM STORAGE UNITS. It’s a good idea to downsize into the things you need but we all have to face it that we are going to have extra things that we don’t have room for. The place we had had a tiny kitchen and I pulled out what I thought I needed. Yet when the summer came and I didn’t want to turn on the oven, I thought of my beloved old crockpot in the storage unit 5 miles away. I kept going and going without it until the day came at Walmart when they had one on sale for 20. I bought it without thinking. Now granted that 20 dollar crockpot is now the one I use and is better than my old (which has been gone), I think of how I could have saved by putting 30 more a month into a bigger rental to store our stuff than to rent a storage unit down the road. The sad thing, is that the crock pot wasn’t the only thing I purchased because I didn’t want to go down to the storage unit and dig through boxes. I spent A LOT of extra money because of this. I would suggest to rent a house with a garage or a place large enough (with an extra bedroom maybe) where you can store what doesn’t fit. That way, when you need something, it’s there!
The one thing I always do as a renter and has saved me SO much money is to take lots of photos of the new place before you move in. Be careful to document any damages in detail. Snags in carpet, broken blinds, nicked counters, etc. can cost a fortune to fix if you can’t prove that they were there before you moved in.
We just moved from renting to owning, so here are some thoughts on what I miss about renting (and some tips)
1. Look closely at schools in the area, research and ask around. You can often rent in a really great school district that you would not have been able to afford to buy in because of the cost of the homes.
2. Look for perks that would save you money: lawn service, playground, pool, gym, cable tv, a free library of DVDs and books to borrow from, use of a clubhouse for parties, etc. I really miss the convenience of those things being right outside our door.
3. Always notify the landlord right away when something breaks. One reason is that it could take them a while to get around to it. Another is that when you move out you don’t want to be charged for something. Also, often instead of a repair they may just give you a brand new appliance…that happened to us more than once and it was awesome!
4. If you are getting a townhome or such in a big complex, look for one with a garage. There is nothing worse than circling looking for a spot because your neighbor is throwing a party and all the spots are full. A garage also allows you to create a bit more storage, especially for the dirty stuff you don’t want to store inside – car stuff, outdoor toys, etc.
A garage would be a nice convenience, but often it adds to the cost of rent. The complex where we rent has a few garages, but they cost $50 extra per month, and there’s a long waiting list for them because people use them mostly for storage. Fortunately, there’s plenty of parking space near our building, so we’ve rarely had trouble finding parking places for our vehicles.
We just moved last October and are renting in a new city due to relocation of my husband’s job. It really worked out great for the first 8 months….HOWEVER……before I move anywhere again (especially an existing house ~ we moved into a 20 year old home), I would inquire about insects of the area. I know it may seem strange, but this is one question that might make or break the deal for me.
We used to live in Wisconsin and never had to spray for insects in or outside our home. We were no stranger to bugs, but, for the most part, they stayed outdoors. Well, we moved last fall to a beautiful rental home in a southern midwestern state and all throughout the fall and winter everything was lovely. However, spring came along and now we have a problem with brown recluse spiders in this rental home that are native and flourish in this state. We’ve been here just over 8 months, and one month ago….we started to see them around the house. Neither the owner nor the realtor mentioned to us before we moved that there was a spider issue with this house/area. However, a couple of weeks before June arrived, the owner/landlord mentioned to us to “spray for spiders”. That’s all that was said. Assuming the owner must of meant outside, my husband sprayed around the perimeter of the outside of the home. As it turns out, the owners who moved out of this house later told us after we called them again to inquire that they routinely sprayed inside and outside every 6 months for spiders. We had no idea as we never had to do that before! Now we are battling trying to keep away a poisonous spider and the poison used to kill them away from our three children! And these spiders like to hide in boxes….which we have several in the storage area of the lowest level because we didn’t totally unpack our belongings as this was to be temporary housing which probably now has the most spiders. This isn’t much fun.
Anyway, this is one question that will be high on my list before we ever move again! Something I never would have thought of, but, had we known, we never would’ve moved into this home!
Great post ~ thanks for the other tips!
Katie
Welcome to the South! We, also, moved from WI and unfortunately have been introduced to the infamous brown recluse spider. From what we have been told, every house in the South will have the dreaded things. We have just learned to be diligent and do as many preventive measures to try and keep them under control. A common place to find them is in the bathtub (especially now that it is extremely hot) because they need the water.
One thing we have decided – if we ever move north again, we would rather move in winter and hope the brown recluses who may be lurking in some of our boxes freeze to death before they make it into our new home.
We moved in January from the southwest to the northeast. We brought a few roaches and black widows with us. Because they were inside the house, it was warm enough for them to survive. Thankfully, they seem to have died after the first summer.
I moved to KY from MN and my big surprise was roaches. I was unpacking a box one night and there was a huge roach inside. I screamed, slammed the box closed and put my foot on it. Then I called my husband and told him to come home immediately and take care of it. These are the huge American roaches, not the little German ones the infest your kitchen. They will apparently just wander through occasionally, especially if you have a damp crawl space or your gutters are clogged. Just because you see a big one wandering through it does not mean there are thousands more living in your walls. These are outside roaches and they don’t tend to infest living areas. We saw about one every 2 weeks until we got the crawl space dried out and then they were gone.
I’m also from MN, and we lived in ND for 10 years. We never had to worry about cockroaches up north, but where we live now in KS, we’ve had big problems with them. These were Oriental cockroaches, and they were also coming in from outside. They were getting in through the spaces between our front door and the frame, and nothing we did was helping. Our rental managers sent an exterminator over, but since they weren’t infesting our place from the inside, it didn’t do any good other than to poison our townhome for a while. Sometimes when I would go outside at night, I would see cockroach conventions on our front porch–hordes of them just waiting to sneak in under the door. I was getting so frustrated until I found some fabric covered foam things that you slide under the door to keep bugs out.
Here is what we have learned in renting!:
Renting Privately (aka a basement rental or one person, renting a house to you) can become a sticky and frustrating situation fast. Unless you have a TON of sparkling references don’t do it! The first apt we rented was private, and a basement/half a house and our landlady felt that since she did OWN it and we were only renting she could come into our home whenever she please and that she could have landscapers and other people come into our apt whenever she wanted without giving us notice!
When we rented an apt at an apt complex, own and run by several older ladies it was MUCH more professional and ran efficiently. Whenever something broke they sent someone RIGHT AWAY and call and told us when that person was in our apt! MUCH better!
Also, DEFINITELY downside your belongings. Then take the things you do want to have/keep just in case or for future but no everyday use and store them creatively in your home. IF your bed has space under it, get storage boxes or bags that will fit under it. Store things under the kids bed too! You’d be amazed how much stuff fits under the bed!!
I know this has been said but I can’t say it enough – RENTER’S INSURANCE! Even if the place you rent is supposedly covered under some other policy, get renter’s insurance! It’s only about $100/yr and so worth it. Also, ask questions like “if the washer or dryer give out, are you responsible to replace those or not?” I once rented a place where the basics such as stove and fridge were covered but not the extras such as dishwasher, washer, etc. I would try not to get a storage unit. Everyone I have ever known who has gotten one either still has it YEARS later (paying far more for storage than the stuff it’s holding is worth) or they regret it b/c they realize they didn’t need to keep 1/2 of the stuff they thought they couldn’t live without. Is there anyone – family or friend – who might let you keep some things in an attic or basement or somewhere while you get settled and see what life brings your way?
Defnitely get renter’s insurance. Dave RAmsey recommends that. …and make sure you read the lease agreement carefully! We had a rental unit for overflow stuff for awhile. I guess it depends on the amount and your sentimental attachment to your stuff. Definitely have a garage sale and get rid of stuff ahead of time.
We moved from NY to NC and had two weeks to pack and figure out where in the world we would live(apartment, townhouse, etc.). I did a lot of research on-line and googled the places I was interested in and read the reviews of people who lived there. That really gave an accurate reflection of the places I was researching. You read the best and worst and can come to a conclusion somewhere in the middle. Not only did we get the best neighbors ever(they brought us homemade cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood!), but we had a heads up about what people really thought.
We also got a fuel card for signing a rental agreement(that was the deal at the time). See what perks are out there!
Make sure you read your rental agreement carefully. When we moved out of our townhouse, we had to give a written 30 day’s notice when we were moving out. Some places require a written 60 day’s notice that you are moving out.
Best wishes!
We are renters in the last year, after owning a home for 5 years. We downsized into a more expensive area, so we have the same housing payment, less space, but a much, much better area for us to live in. It’s definitely been a good thing for us.
In our case, we looked for a very hands-off landlord. This means that we can do pretty much whatever we want. Paint? Sure. Power wash the house? Sure. Minor repairs on our own? You bet. Landscape? Build gardens and a sandbox? Yep. He doesn’t really notice any of that. When we moved in, we replaced the existing appliances (old and not that great) with our appliances (also older, but in good condition), knowing that we’d have to leave ours when we move in 5-6 years. Our landlord was actually happy about the upgrade.
Hands off landlords aren’t that common (and you probably won’t find one in a new house), but for us, this is the 2nd one we’ve had like this, and it is GREAT. So, if that’s what you desire, just keep looking until you find it.
Something I am going through now: If your landlord is a private person vs. property management co, ensure that all owners of the property sign off on the lease and by nosy about what the landlord’s background is. We signed a lease with a guy that seemed really nice, and were told that he & his wife owned the property & she was working out of state. When we received the keys, he mentioned that they were splitting and he would let us know who ended up with the house. Then she showed up at the house wanting the rent check, and we began to find out what a nasty divorce they are having. We are planning on moving at the end of the lease.
When it comes to renting, it pays to be very straighforward and ask the tough questions!
I would suggest checking out craigslist. I know some people think it’s a bad but we are in our second rental house and found both on craigslist and both have been a great experience! We have found that prices can be lower if you go through and private landlord vs a property management group. Also, we have found with both of our landlords that care a lot about maintaining the place and making sure they get good tenants because it’s their own personal place. Just be careful and use discretion when you meet the landlord and chat with them. I definitely agree about checking out the neighborhood, our first place was great and the landlord was great, but the neighborhood was not so great. It’s was surprisingly loud at all hours of the night.
After owning 2 homes, my family is currently renting. We have 2 small kids are live in a smaller (than any of our other houses) home we rent directly from the owner. It has a been a great financial move for us. We are saving more money now and taking our time to see if we want to buy a home again. We have downsized a lot of our belongings and learning we really don’t’ need too much stuff. My advice is this: find a home with a yard. The kids will thank you. Our yard is the highlight of our home. THe kids love it. Also, don’t be afraid to negotiate the rent. We simply asked for $100 less per month and he said OK.
One idea I haven’t seen mentioned yet is to be a conscientious renter. I rented for 7 years and lived in larger apartment complexes. I tried very hard to take good care of my unit, but couldn’t help but notice the number of units that were trashed when people left + a large number of people would open the windows in winter when the “free” heat was on, etc. One of my husband’s customers is a landlord that is always needing something fixed due to tenant damage.
It is important to remember that the rental unit is not our own. The rental home or apartment is someone else’s property and and we should strive to treat it well. We of course can’t help normal wear and tear, but renting does not mean we destroy the carpet in 2 years (even cheap carpet should last 7-8 years), waste water, heat and electricity, stove things down the toilet or garbage disposal that don’t belong there and not reporting maintenance problems immediately – especially any kind of a water leak.
Thank you for adding this! My family has a few rental houses & I’ve been amazed at how some tenants leave them trashed. It’s very frustrating when you’ve worked hard to fix up the place & make it nice & then someone trashes it (kool-aid stains, every shelf in refrigerator broken, bleach on carpet, windows/doors/cabinets broken, ect) in less than a year.
I agree. My husband and I live in a duplex that we have rented for the past 4 1/2 years. When I was unable to work do to health issues, our landlord offered to lower our rent by $100 until we could afford the normal amout. He told us he would help us out since we take care of the place as if it was our own. I just thought it is normal to treat other people’s property the same or better than your own.
Just another tip, when you are going to view the house make sure to view it from top to bottom with you eyes wide open. If you see any stains or marks on the walls or carperts check on the property details form that your land lord will give you and clarify this with him.
My husband and I ended up losing a quater of our rental deposit because we did not speak out when we first entered out last property. We saw a broken kitchen cupboard door when we entered the property and asummed the land lord knew about this. When it was time for us to leave the property the land lord told us we had to pay for this. We trie to dispute this but with no evidence it was difficult for us to win. So we ended up pay for something we were not supposed to pay for.
Definitely Renter’s Insurance. You can also talk to the Landlord about providing coverage through a Rental Maintenance Insurance policy. Our Landlord in Houston actually proactively provided this for us, and then decided to upgrade it as well (at his expense). It allowed us to call their number and they provided the maintenance people for everything from our fridge breaking down to air-con malfunction, with a flat $55 call-out fee. It saved us heaps!
Not only is it a great idea to drive thru areas at different times, but talk to potential neighbors! We actually knocked on the doors of people on either side of houses we were looking at to ask them questions about schools, friendliness of the neighborhood and town, access to driving into Downtown, etc. It was actually thru doing this that we decided where NOT to live!
I would do a couple of things
1. Talk to HR where your husband is going. A lot of times apartment communities will give you extra’s if you are coming from a large company. I once got 1/2 a month of rent free!
2. I agree with driving by at night but I think it is more important to get out and walk down the street. Would you feel comfortable taking the trash out when it is dark? I once got locked out of my condo (without my cellphone) at midnight. I was packing up my car for a business trip in my pj’s. It was a long night….
3. Drive by in the evening. Most people with kids are out that time of night and they are happy to talk to you and tell you what it is REALLY like.
4. Don’t be afraid to negotiate if they don’t have the unit you want. See if you can negotiate a low rent price on a larger place so you won’t have to have a storage unit or so you can have a play room for your children.
Good luck!
Nancy
When we moved from Michigan to Texas, we lived in a nice rental home for almost two years when there was a knock at the door. Apparently our landlord was not using our rent to pay the mortgage and a representative of the bank came by to inform us that the house was foreclosed on. Luckily there are laws in place to protect renters and the bank was required to either honor the remaining terms of our lease or buy us out (but only if we agreed to the lease buyout terms).
If you are renting a house, I’d say do what you can to find out about the owner… How long he/she has owned the house, if they have other rental properties, etc. There isn’t any way to prevent something like this, I suppose. But be as informed as possible about the person you are renting from. We didn’t lose any money, but it was a huge headache to relocate a family of 7! Not fun.
Be sure to get copies (paper or downloaded online) of your Renter’s Laws/Rights from the state you live in. It has a plethora of information, and I have had to reference more than once.
Downsizing is definitely wise, but if you have to have a storage unit, go climate-controlled. I live in the South where it is hot and humid. Not good for storing paintings and pictures, or photos, or candles…and lots of other things. I tried to go with a “cheap” but secure storage unit and found that a lot of decorative items melted or warped and also that framed pictures didn’t withstand the heat, as well as photos that became stuck together. It never crossed my mind to consider how hot it would get in the storage unit!
Pets are one thing, but I know you can’t discriminate based on “familial status”, and I’m pretty sure that includes number of children, as well as whether or not you have children. So if a landlord is limiting the number of children allowed in a rental, you’ve got a whole separate issue. I don’t think that’s legal.
A landlord cannot discriminate on certain things (marital status, etc) but they have the right to limit the amount of people per rental unit.
In some areas, there are state laws and city ordinances regulating the number of people allowed in a rental, typically based on the number of bedrooms. In some cases, landlords can legally refuse to rent to anyone with children if there is lead paint in the building.
I have 5 children and am finding that some places do limit the number of persons living in a dwelling. I am looking at single family homes with 3 bedrooms and some only allow 5 persons. Frustrating as I haven’t looked for rentals in 12 years, didn’t realize this would be an issue.
so yes there are some city’s that have rules about square footage/bedrooms.
We’ll be moving to a different rental in a few weeks and yes they can refuse to allow you to rent based on the number of people in your family. We have 3 children ages 4 and under with another due in August. Many places we have looked at would not let us rent based on the number of bedrooms and the number of children we have.
Larger rental companies may follow a law about the number of people per bedroom over a certain age. Private landlords may simply think that a 1200 sq foot house is too small for a family with 4 kids. Either way, you don’t really have a say. You also wouldn’t want to get on a future landlord’s bad side by trying to “force” them to let you rent 🙂
If you end up in an apartment, get a ground floor. I’ve heard stories of people with young children dealing with complaints due to the pitter patter of little feet, so to speak. Plus carrying in groceries will be easier!
Ground floor rent is usually less expensive, in part because break-ins are more common at street level. Depending on the layout, you might also have to deal with lots of noise from people walking by, car noise, slamming doors (if it is shared entry) and headlights shining in your windows.
And the pitter patter of the people above you! I was in a middle unit at one point. The people upstairs had a walker and were nigth owls. I would hear that thing scraping across the floor at all hours of the night.
And I could not pee in the middle of the night without the people below me complaining!
I always thought we would prefer a ground floor (which my parents now rent) and we are on the third floor, it does make for a long haul when there are groceries involved, but we never hear anyone walking or jumping above us (my parents can clearly hear the small dog that lives above them scurry across the tile floors) and at first I complained about all the stairs, but I figure by the end of our fourteen months here my backside should be in fairly good shape! 🙂
Ask about bugs and if pest ctrl is part of the deal!
Thanks for this post. We are moving to a new city and are planning on renting for the first year or two at least.
Take pictures!!! If you see ANYTHING wrong at all with the space you are renting then take a picture on it with the correct date. This came in very handy with the first apartment my husband and I ever rented. There was a dispute about loose tiles. Out came the pictures, the problem was dropped, and we got our full deposit back.
Also, hold a yard sale before you move. It helps you pare down your belongings ahead of time while making a little extra money to spend on take out while your kitchen is in shambles during the move.
GOOD LUCK!
I agree with all those who recommended taking pictures. Not only when you move in, but when you move out and have cleaned the place thoroughly, document again with tons of pictures. The last time we moved out of a rental unit the picture that I took of the inside of the toilet was the one that saved us money…you never know what a landlord will complain about or find wrong with the place. When you take good care of the place, clean it well before moving out, and have the pictures, you are covered.
Be sure to check the local sex offender website. We were about to sign the lease when the landlord informed us of the neighbors conviction. Needless to say we ended up passing on that house.
I agree about passing on storage, in most cases it’s unnecessary.
Take pictures, of every room, when the landlord is present. That way you can refer to them if need be. It’s a MUST. Don’t trust in memory, write it all down!
Along these lines, get EVERYTHING in writing. We rented for a year from a “sweet old lady” who lived next door. We had a refundable deposit based on the condition of the house when we left. In addition, we had a non-refundable pet deposit. We soon realized she had no prior experience renting and her expectations were way out of line. She refused to return half of our deposit for things that we knew were not reasonable (the furniture left divets – not holes – in the carpet, the top of the refrigerator was dusty, etc..). Some things were pet related and should have been considered part of the pet deposit but she took it out of the refundable deposit. We even asked advice from other landlords and a lawyer friend to make sure we weren’t at fault. It was very frustrating, since we had worked hard the whole time to keep the place up. We had even mowed the whole acre lot faithfully.
Sorry for the rant! It still gets under my skin to think about it! Learn from our mistake and be sure to get very detailed specifics of what is required for the deposit to be returned.
Wow. I know exactly how you feel. I cleaned everything but they did not want to return any of my deposit. I left the place so much cleaner than when I moved in but because I did not use a toothbrush to clean a window track there went my deposit. !!! Total run around not having time to deal with all the added frustration and stress I just eventually dropped it all and took it as a lesson learned. Yes, like everyone has suggested Always take pictures and document things. It happens to many of us.
Make sure you contact your insurance agent and get Renter’s Insurance. You never know when you’ll need it (and I did on my first rental – the condo behind me burned to the ground; my unit only sustained “minor” water and smoke damage, but all my belongings that were affected were covered). It’s worth the peace of mind – some policies cover major stolen loss as well. (keep a photo inventory of your items, just as you would for a home you own).
Your insurance agent can also provide feedback on area crime (typically a combo of property and auto claims) based on zip code, which can help you as you assess rental properties in an area new to you.
I’ve rented for almost half of my life. My advice: downsize instead of paying for storage, get renters insurance and check out the neighborhood several times. Don’t rent close to a fire station or a hospital (in a big town anyway), as the sirens are unpredictable.
We actually lived right up the street from a very active fire station when we had our first son. Not only did he learn to sleep through noise, he also loved watching the fire stations race up and down the street. We ourselves, however, were happy to move to a quieter place later on :).
Renter’s Insurance! and Check out the neighborhood around the place you are renting….It’s always good to have good neighbors!
I 100% agree with Lindsay about renters insurance!
For getting rid of things, for the things that are just sentimental but not in good shape – take a picture of them! I’m a scrapbooker, so I make a page about the item, and then I have the memory but not the clutter!
Think about the amenities you want, and what you can do without.
Good luck!
Make sure you have an agreed on list of prior damage, and take time stamped pictures of the entire house documenting said damage.
I cannot stress enough that you must get *everything* in writing beforehand. That includes prior damage to the house that you will not be held accountable for, what pest control or repairs the landlord will cover and a designated amount of time after you report the issue that they have to resolve it, exactly when they will inspect the house and return your deposit after you vacate, and restrictions on their access to any or all areas of the property when you are not home, especially areas occupied by pets. Also find out how many properties they manage and whether they have adequate staff or contract with a reputable service person to deal with billing or maintenance issues. For instance if you have one landlord who owns 50 properties and does it all himself, or a entire apt. complex with one handyman, not so good. All that being said, I have never owned a home and am not in a hurry to! As long as you do your homework first, it is such a blessing to have someone else take care of all the issues that come up, and all you have to pay is rent, not the cost of new plumbing, grading, termite service etc. Good luck in your new rental home! 🙂
Don’t forget to purchase renters insurance. The owners insurance should protect the house, but not your belongings in the house. Also, if the neighborhood has HOA fees or condo association fees, see if those are included in the rent price or extra. Some fees are quite hefty. Lastly, I second Crystal on reading the fine print. A friend of mine is renting. In her contract she is responsible for pipes breaking in a freeze. This is crazy to me! As a renter she cannot get the insurance riders to cover that. Those riders would have to attach to the owners policy. Not the renters policy. Obviously if she’s in town, there are precautions she can take, but what if she’s traveling during a winter storm and not home to drip faucets, etc.?
We always left our cabinets open and the faucets dripping as a precaution when going out of town for any length of time. (And living in Colorado, we ended up doing that regardless of the time of year… a hassle yes, but worth it just in case!)
I would also never go without renters insurance. It covers your belongings – the landlord’s insurance doesn’t. It’s cheap and totally worth it.
I second the renters insurance! Very inexpensive and well worth it.
I agree with that
You usually get a discount on your car insurance if you get renters insurance. When I moved into my first apartment, It was cheaper to have renters and car insurance than to only have car insurance.
I was disappointed that this didn’t make the initial list that Crystal wrote. Renters insurance is very important, even though, like home owners insurance, most people never use it.
A large apartment complex burned to the ground 3 blocks from our apartment when we were first married. There were a very small handful of salvagable items (a pair of wedding rings, a few pieces of furniture) from the whole complex and everyone had to start over. Most didn’t have renters insurance and were in a financial pickle since they assumed the landlord’s insurance covered their belongings. It was heartbreaking to watch.
Please, please get renters insurance. As Lindsay said, the cost is cheap (especially compared to home owner’s insurance) and it really is totally worth it!
Best $12/mo we ever spent. The neighbors below started a fire which completely destroyed our apartment and 2 others. We were SO lucky to have renters insurance. We lost everything, but had a small amount to start over.
We have been renting a 2 bed room apartment since Nov 2010. This is our first experience at renting and so far it is great. Our property manager is really good about getting things fixed when we call. We are getting ready to move again so we can be closer to my hubbys job. Again we have found a 2 br apartment. I would highly recomemd using the apartment ratings….if that is what you go with … And also drive through the complex at different times… see what it is like. We even stopped a couple of residents and asked them about the complex… How fast They fix things etc… We move into our new apartment in 22 days. I would also recommend downsizing your belongings and either selling them or giving them away ( the things you don’t need or use any more) We downsized before we moved and will probably be getting rid of a few more things as we move again. Good Luck !
I second this- we will always talk to the neighbors from here on out. Also, personally, we like to share as few walls as possible.
Definitely check the location at different times of day. When we were first married and renting an apartment, it was only blocks from the local college (where I was finishing up my degree), and it was great during the day. Very quiet because all the students were in class. But, every Friday and Saturday night, the parties lasted until 4am. I wish we would have checked that out before signing the lease. We didn’t have a storage unit, and didn’t need one. Downsizing really helped us clear the clutter and simplify our lives!
1. Check the National Sex Offender Registry http://www.familywatchdog.us/
2. Check the county record to make sure the house is not in foreclosure. We learned that the hard way. We moved into a rental while our house was being built. The grass wasn’t cut for 3 weeks (grass grows fast in South Carolina in June) because the owners were behind with the lawn service company. Then, debt collectors called asking for the owner. Finally, someone tried to serve US with foreclosure papers!
3. Like Crystal said, read the contract carefully and read the part about getting the deposit back twice.
It doesn’t hurt to look at the registry, but don’t let it give you a false sense of security. The vast majority of sex offenses are perpetrated by someone the child knows and trusts, not a random stranger.
When choosing a place to rent.
1) see if your husband can network through work for recommendations on good neighborhoods to live.
2) I second previous reviewers use of apartmentreviews.com but remember to read the reviews like you would an amazon product review, some reviewers are really from competitor apartments or they have an axe to grind with the management company.
3) If you are concerned about crime check out spotcrime.com. My old neighborhood had a handful of sex offenders living within .25 of my home, but much more crime than my new neighborhood which doesn’t have any sex offenders. I should also note, that my new place FEELS much more pleasant to walk around at night, but in reality is more dangerous (risk is relative though and I still love my neighborhood).
4) regarding the storage closet decision–How long are you planning to rent in your new town? 6 months? a year? 2 years? If the move is temporary that should pay a role in your decision to rent a storage unit. My advice is to check out the real estate market in the area you will be moving to and find out if homes similarly sized to your old home are available in your new town. For example, when my husband and I moved to a new area we realized that the real estate market here is 5X what it is in our old midwest town (yes a 100k house would cost 500k here–eep!). We downsized to fit our new space since we will likely be in small sized apartments/condo’s/houses for a long time. If the reverse was the case (we moved somewhere cheaper) even if we needed a short term storage closet to get us through the first 6 months, long term we wouldn’t be as worried about down sizing.
Also, if you do check the registry, look at the specifics for the offenders. Not all of them will be on there because of acts against children.
So true. Mike Tyson is in the Nevada registry.
When moving to a new place, even if I check it out in person, I always go to http://www.apartmentratings.com/ and it’s pretty helpful.
Thanks for advice my husband and I are doing the same thing soon
I second the idea that a storage unit would not be a good idea. We used one for about a year and found that we lived just fine without those things we were paying each month to store. We cleaned out the boxes straight from our storage unit into a dumpster.
Unless you have a large amount of deeply sentimental items, I would definitely not recommend the storage option.
Just my .02. 🙂
I agree. We also had a storage unit for about a year after our last move. Eventually we decided that we weren’t going to be able to move into a bigger home anytime soon, and storage was costing too much, so we cleaned out our storage unit and gave away or threw away most of the stuff in it. De-cluttering is the way to go when you have to rent a small place.