If you are one of the many college students throughout the greater Boston area and are looking to move off campus NOW is the rush for next September 1st. I tell this to almost every client I work with but here are a few tips to keep in mind. These are directly from the trenches of working the leasing market in and around Boston over the last 5 years

1 – When you meet with a LICENSED real estate agent they have to give you a fee disclosure form to sign. This is required by the license they have. It just states that there is a fee for RENTING and apartment – no matter whether the owner or the tenant is paying it. There is not a fee to look at apartments. If you are not presented with this form at the beginning of the showing I would be very suspicious of the agent. Ask them about the disclosure – it is there job to present this form

2 – Be prepared with the number of people you are going to live with. If you are going to live with 3 other roommates, and try to procure a 4 bedroom apartment, make sure everyone is on the same page with price point, location, and that all parents/co-signers know you are looking at places. The last thing you want to occur is find out after seeing 30 apartments over a week is that one member of the group can’t commit because his or her potential cosigner won’t let them live off campus

3 – Be prepared with a deposit. You don’t go to the mall without your wallet (although this might be a good practice) so don’t go shopping for an apartment without a check book. The fact is apartments in areas such as Symphony, Mission Hill, Allston, the North End, and Beacon Hill are being viewed by multiple groups everyday. Being able to place a deposit (on the spot) for your favorite apartment after you are done previewing a few places can be the difference between getting the apartment and not. Three hours later another group of potential tenants may have already placed a deposit with a different agency and you don’t even know it. I’ve seen this first hand MANY times.

4 – Be realistic. There is no such thing as the perfect apartment. Seriously consider if you could live in the apartment you are looking at and don’t dismiss a certain place based on carpet vs. hardwood floor or being a block or so further than your desired location. Trust me, everyone wants the spacious, fully renovated, multi-level property located 3 minutes from campus. Apartments such as that are gaudy in price point and rent within 24 hours of them being on the market . . . however, if you can think rationally about some apartments that you see that meet a few criteria of your mental list of desired features you may realize that the apartment you want to throw out automatically may indeed make a lot of sense.

5 – Don’t judge the apartment based on how the current tenants keep it. Look at the size and space of the apartment. Don’t get discouraged because certain tenants like to live with dishes piled high, uncleaned bathrooms, and clothes all over the floor. Try to imagine how you would keep the place, and what you would do with the apartment. This can be very difficult but if you can master this a lot of options will open up to you.

6 – Trust your real estate agent. If you don’t feel that they can be trusted then I’d suggest you find another one . . . fast. You can always call me at 617-840-9304

7 – Don’t keep searching for the needle in the haystack. If you want to live on a certain 1 square block section of a neighborhood and have a list of “must have” items that is 10 or more lines long AND you have seen 8 apartments on that block BUT don’t see what you are looking for then I will tell you it doesn’t exist. This is like praying for the genie to come out of the bottle. Time to expand your horizons or shrink the list. While you’ve been search for the perfect apartment ALL the other suitable places have been rented by groups that were more realistic and moved faster.

8 – Have fun. Remember you are only signing a 1 year lease (90% of the time in Boston this is the case). Cell phone contracts and car leases run far longer than 12 months. You are never trapped in a place and if for some reason you found an apartment late in the game one year realize that you can begin looking EARLY next time around and find a place that exceeds your expectations.

9 – Don’t be afraid to make an offer. Most of the time a low ball offer will not work. However, make it the right way and you may have a chance. Write out a deposit check and give it to your agent. Fill out applications and give it to your agent. Get cosigner forms to your real estate agent. Tell them to present it to the owner. Yes, you may get shot down but if presented in the correct format you may indeed have a chance to have the offer accepted. Verbal offers NEVER work.

Filed under: Boston Landlord Tips and Advice, Boston Real Estate Trends and Statistics, Boston Rental Resources, Choosing a Boston real Estate Broker