How to move out of an apartment in America, not to pay fines

Almost all new immigrants begin their lives in America with rental housing. This may be a small studio in a regular high-rise building (which, for example, there are many in New York), a private house or, most often, an apartment in a large apartment-complex. It has its own administration, accompanying staff (plumbing, repair and fire safety specialists), there is a leasing office and, using familiar terms for Russia, there is a “concierge” in the lobby around the clock.

Фото: Depositphotos

Such complexes are very convenient for the removal of housing, because, in fact, specially designed for this purpose. Of course, people with sufficient funds may, if they wish, buy one of these apartments, but in practice the vast majority of the tenants of these complexes are tenants. The owners of such real estate are, as a rule, large companies that professionally deal with the rental of housing. The undoubted advantages of such apartments are service and reliability. In such complexes, as a rule, you will not be forced to pay a huge advance payment (which “private traders” are often famous for), your packages will be received for you even when you are not at home, and in case of problems, electricians and plumbers will come to you completely free of charge.

But there are some downsides: it is these residential complexes that most closely approach the acceptance of rented apartments.

At the same time, you most likely will have to move in the first years of life in America. Very few can immediately find accommodation at the perfect price. In addition, a job change very often entails a move. We will try to list certain types of "pitfalls" that may occur in the process of changing housing, and give some tips based on personal experience, and on the experience of many of my friends.

How to avoid heavy fines

First, the “renting out” of the apartment to the owner and his representatives most often occurs not just before your departure, but a couple of weeks before. This should be taken into account when you are planning a relocation schedule, especially if you need to link it with workloads. The task of the “auditors” is to see the condition of the housing, which means that you should do two things for their visit: empty the apartment from the furniture so that you can review the condition of the floor, walls, plumbing and so on, and, most importantly, clean all of the above. Be prepared for the fact that American owners are not inclined to forgive the slightest missteps. Simply put, if the "auditor" finds a spot on the CARPET, you are likely to be forced to pay to change the entire carpet. Similarly, indelible traces on the whitewashing entail the cost of painting the walls, scratches on any surface - replacement of the coating, etc.

The advantage is that, by themselves, coverings in rented apartments are usually inexpensive. However, in practice, landlords require the elimination of defectsоLarger amounts than the market price of materials. As a result, the “fines” issued to various acquaintances of mine varied from a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars.

What to do to minimize costs? Some turn to special companies that specialize in cleaning, the benefit, there are quite a few of them in the USA. As a rule, they work very carefully, but nuances are possible here. Are you sure that an employee of the agency who came for a couple of hours will be able to scrub, say, deeply erupted scale on the stove, which only a very strong detergent can handle, and then not the first time?

Does he have, for example, a special solvent that can cope with the drops of heavy-duty glue left by your child, unfortunately, in the most visible place? In short, before inviting a specialist, it is best to inspect the apartment yourself and determine if you have serious problems that require special cleaning.

Фото: Depositphotos

On the other hand, it is important not to overdo it. If your child painted some nice nonsense on the whitewashing of the wall, it's not a fact that you need to do the whitening yourself. In this case, it may be that it will be easier to pay the fine, and not as expensive as you thought.

In any case, even if you do not have enough determination to ask the managers of the complex about the price in advance, you can ask the details of the prices of your friends (in residential complexes owned by one owner, the rates are almost the same). In any case, the best way to save money is to start thinking about the elimination of defects in advance, and even better - by all means avoid their appearance from the very beginning.

Transportation of things

If you are not the happy owner of a roomy truck, you should also think about transporting your belongings in advance, especially if the distance between your current and future residence is large. Not every carrier is ready to take your stuff from one state to another. If you took up the search for a transport company late, the chances that you will find a suitable company that can make the move at a convenient day for you are very small. What to do in this case?

Fortunately, in every American city there are warehouses - storage, where you can rent a room of the right size for any period, and bring things there not only on the day of the move, but also on any day convenient for you. It gives you some mobility. If you are sorely lacking time to transport things right now, and the term of renting an apartment comes to an end, you can transport it to the storage closest to your home for several trips.

If, on the contrary, you have the opportunity to do things before your new home is ready for delivery, you can choose storage near the future home and leave things there. And, again, the universal advice here, as in the previous case, is the same: it is better to start the move earlier.

Concerning choosing a new home, it all depends on your tastes. Priorities can be proximity to work, grocery shopping, silence or, on the contrary, an apartment in close proximity to busy roads or noisy bars if you want to taste the American nightlife. American landlords offer housing for every taste: from luxury complexes with swimming pools and gyms to modest single-storey houses away from the roadway.

Do not forget that America is basically “sharpened” for personal transport, and if you have not mastered driving, it is important to check the proximity of public transport to new housing. It is also useful to read reviews from other clients, because real life sometimes differs significantly from advertising. And, of course, good luck to you in a new place!

And if you want to move not to a demountable housing, but to buy your own, do not miss a unique opportunity!

Understanding the process of buying a home in the US from A to Z will help Lilia Garipova - specialist in buying and selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area, which works with English and Russian clients, as well as Steve Flowers, loan broker, who will answer questions about financing and getting a mortgage and about existing programs for homebuyers for the first time.

Readers of ForumDaily have the opportunity to ask specialists their questions regarding the purchase of housing in the United States. You can leave your questions in the form that you find below in the news, or in the comments to this material. You can also leave questions in the comments to the post on this topic on the page. ForumDaily on facebook. If you want your question to remain anonymous, you can send it in private messages to our Facebook page.

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