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Opinions on Apartments from Former Tenants

The rental agencies must keep you informed.
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When you're hunting you don't always get to speak with former tenants. But who could give you better information. How's the parking, neighbors, noise, plumbing, landlord, etc. If the former tenants would fill out a survey or jot something down, that the rental agency or landlord was obliged to post at the apartment or show you, then prospective tenants would potentially make better decisions.
miggavin, Dec 23 2005

Caveat Rentor http://www.imdb.com...0072308/plotsummary
At least there were no poisonous snakes ... [8th of 7, May 24 2011]

[link]






       should be pretty easy to set up a website allowing users to post and access this kind of information.   

       This would work most effectively if it was compulsory to post information about your current abode, so that people checking about their next appartment would leave an up-to-date review of their present appartment (ready for the next tennant).
xaviergisz, Dec 23 2005
  

       I think compulsory survey is a bad way to get objective results. A voluntary exit survey conducted through a third-party web service might do well.
bristolz, Dec 23 2005
  

       Something to review previous housemates would also be good.
idris83, May 24 2011
  

       We had this in my college (a user review of each room in each dorm). Seems obvious to do this for city apartments.   

       I doubt it has to be compulsory. It would be FUN and give people a place to vent or boast. Readers could use their own judgment to decide whether an apartment with 0 votes is good or bad, based on other reviews in the same building.
phundug, May 24 2011
  

       "... and wonderful views of the Obersalzburg. Both Eva and I enjoyed a great little pub we found down in the village, and for a small place Berchtesgaden has a excellent range of shops ..."   

       " ... and where would we have been without Norman, the man who runs the motel next door. So friendly and helpful, and of course devoted to his mother ..."
8th of 7, May 24 2011
  

       Post regarding loft w/11ft. ceilings:   

       "Watch your head."   

       Hilarity ensues.
Alterother, May 24 2011
  

       Would this be useful? If you view a place and you like it, what more would a review from a past resident tell you? It might mention noisy neighbours but perhaps they have moved out since.
tatterdemalion, May 24 2011
  

       // If you view a place and you like it, what more would a review from a past resident tell you?//   

       Mice, mold, flooding, shitty untrustworthy landlord, that weird smell that comes from under the fridge when it rains, poltergeists, high frequency of alien abductions... basically anything you wouldn't be able to spot during a 15-minute walkaround when the person trying to sell you on the place is sweeping all the negative bits under the carpet while your back is turned. That's what.
Alterother, May 24 2011
  

       //what more would a review from a past resident tell you? //   

       Unusually high frequency of car alarms; fire house 1 block away that you didn't know about (= constant sirens); Restaurant outside turns on exhaust fan every night and stinks up the street; this street happens to be the midnight meeting place for the Deaths and the Scars, two dangerous gangs; walls very thin, more so than in other buildings; most of your mail gets delivered to 110 Main Street instead of this building's address of 110 Mian Street; the A/C in this apartment never works no matter how many times they "service" it; you can hear the staircase door slam all the time; smoke from patrons of the bar outside on the sidewalk wafts into this apartment late at night.
phundug, May 24 2011
  

       Ah, I believe my drift has been caught. Further humourus elaborations await...
Alterother, May 24 2011
  

       You sound a tad bitter, [phun]. Are you referring to a personal negative experience?
8th of 7, May 24 2011
  

       [Alterother] & [phundug] - rare would be the apartment review that did not feature such complaints.
tatterdemalion, May 24 2011
  

       it's true that there are many places where reviews are available. the difference is that here, reviews are required to be recorded and actively shown to potential tenants. of course, there might be a few reviews that say, "the landlord didn't show me the reviews before I rented the apartment," but regardless.
fischerman, May 24 2011
  

       I believe Yelp, among others, has reviews for apartment buildings. Not specific to individual units, but it's a start.
MechE, May 24 2011
  

       // Not specific to individual units, but it's a start //   

       Make sure you do your research, even in new properties ... <link>
8th of 7, May 24 2011
  
      
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