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What Apartment Preparations for a New Tenant Should You Expect in NYC? (Video + Blog: Tip #12)

What Apartment Preparations for a New Tenant Should You Expect in NYC?

Imagine this.  You are so excited.  It’s move in day. You walk in to your new rental apartment, and your heart sinks. You think:  “What? The apartment was supposed to be painted and cleaned before I move in!”.   But what apartment preparations for a new tenant should you expect? 

NOTE: To search for NYC apartments, go to frele.com (free service). Or, click for more rental tips.

Often overlooked when renting an apartment is NYC is what condition the apartment will be in when you move in.  The apartment preparations for a new tenant is something every renter should ask about before they sign the leases. Most expect the apartment to be in a certain condition they may have in their mind’s eye, which is often incorrect.  A good rule of thumb when searching for a NYC apartment in is to throw out any preconceived notions about the apartment preparations for a new tenant, and don’t make any assumptions. Always ask.

Obviously the lease may require that the landlord make certain apartment preparation for a new tenant, but let’s put that aside for now.  I am not an attorney so I can’t offer any legal advice, and most leases do not say too much about this anyway.

Generally speaking, here are the apartment preparations for a new tenant in NYC

Here are some general guidelines regarding apartment preparations for a new tenant based on helping hundreds of renters over the years.  Apartments should be cleared out completely before move in. Also, generally speaking, the landlord will clean the apartment.  Most landlords will also paint the apartment especially if has not been painted recently. A few landlords I know will even always sand and polyurethane the floors before move in. This has a great effect on the “look” of the apartment.  Landlords do this because they believe (rightly so) that if apartments appear to have brand new floors, they will rent more quickly, and for higher rents.

I highly suggest (if possible) you visit the apartment a few days prior to move in so that you can see first hand how the apartment preparations are coming along. This is not always possible, but it would give you some peace of mind that some of these things are being taken care of, and you can catch any issues in advance.  Better not to assume things will be done. Take an active role. Sometimes, especially for very big landlords, any miscues on the apartment preparations for a new tenant are just minor oversights or miscommunications so better to catch any issues as early as possible.

On my website frele, we have thousands of NYC apartments for rent.  Feel free to reach out to the landlord, agent, or tenant who posted. It is totally free to use!

For more NYC rental tips, please go to frele.com/learn.  

This article was written by:
Phil Horigan, NYC Real Estate Veteran
Founder, Frēlē, the free and honest NYC rental marketplace
Producer, Phil’s NYC Rental Tips [YouTube Channel]
Blogger: flowfreely.com
Instagram: @philiphorigan

Phil has been a licensed NYC real estate agent since 2004 working for some of the top real estate brokerage firms in the industry.  He founded Leasebreak.com in 2013, and Frēlē in 2017.  Frēlē and Leasebreak are free and transparent rental marketplaces to search for or post apartments for rent in NYC

Phil shot the video in the blog post with Caroline Bass of The Bass Team from The Corcoran Group.  Caroline can be reached here on Corcoran’s website.

Go to frele.com to search for NYC apartments (free service).

Updated on September 21, 2019

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