smarter RENTER
What to Look For In An Apartment That Hasn’t Been Built
A COMPLETE CHECKLIST FOR RENTING NEW CONSTRUCTION OR LONG-DISTANCE
Talk about your nerve-wracking experience. It’s tough
enough to rent a new apartment after you’ve toured
the place. But what if the apartment building hasn’t
even been constructed, or if you’re out-of-town and
can’t take a physical tour?
Renting an apartment sight unseen is becoming a
common challenge in Madison. With a surge in new
apartment buildings in the downtown area, renters
must now rely on blueprints and renderings to
determine if an apartment is a good fit.
The problem with renting sight unseen is that you
won’t have the luxury of a tour, which is where
people usually spot the quirks of an apartment.
Our Checklist Covers It All
To help you cover all the bases of renting sight unseen,
we’ve created this checklist. The checklist allows for
comparisons between three different apartments, but
feel free to print extra copies if you’d like more.
This PDF is interactive: You can enter information right
into this digital form and then save it!
If you’d like a more detailed explanation of what each category means, refer to our Smarter Renter Blog
post – 16 Things You Must Know When Renting Sight-Unseen.
1. 2. 3.
The tour
Did you see a model unit?
Did you see renderings?
Were photos available?
Outdoor spaces
Balcony? Patio? Deck?
View from outdoor space?
Enough privacy? Protected from rain?
Sunny? Shady?
On a busy street? Noisy?
Notes:
Ceilings and windows
Ceiling height?
Windows in each room? Do they open?
How do windows open? Is opening limited?
Notes:
Flooring
Carpeting: Padding? Pile height?
Hardwood floors: Sealed? Special cleaning products?
Tile floors: Ceramic (cracking)?
Notes:
Enter apartment names here >
