NYC Apartment Viewing Checklist: What to Check

Water

• Turn the shower on full, then run the kitchen tap. Weak pressure on a high floor will not improve.
• Time how long hot water takes to arrive. Owners must supply hot water all year at 120 degrees or more.
• Flush the toilet and watch it refill.
• Look at ceilings and the tops of walls for brown rings or fresh paint patches, which point to leaks from above.

Windows and Light

• Open and close every window. They should stay up on their own and lock.
• Note what each one faces: street, courtyard, or a wall a few feet away.
• Stand quietly for a minute with the windows shut and listen for traffic, a bar downstairs, or building machinery.
• Check for screens, and for window guards if a child under 11 will live there. Owners must install guards when a tenant asks in writing.

Heat and Cooling

Ask what kind of heat the apartment has and who pays for it. Steam radiators and hot-water baseboards are usually run by the building and included in rent. Electric baseboards or a wall unit on your own meter mean the heating bill is yours.

Ask whether there is air conditioning, and if not, whether window units are allowed and which windows can take one.

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Outlets, Signal and Internet

• Count the outlets in each room and look for three-prong ones. Older buildings can have one outlet per room.
• Bring a phone charger and test a couple.
• Check your phone’s signal in every room, including the bedroom with the door shut.
• Ask which internet providers serve the building. Some buildings have only one.

Kitchen, Storage and Laundry

• Open the fridge, light every burner, and turn the oven on.
• Measure the closets, or at least open them all.
• Ask where laundry is: in the unit, in the basement, or at a laundromat. If it is down the block, walk there.
• Measure the bedroom and the doorways if you own a bed or a sofa. Count the flights if there is no elevator.

Signs of Pests

• Look under the kitchen and bathroom sinks and behind the stove for droppings, traps or bait stations.
• Check where pipes come through walls. Gaps should be sealed.
• Look along baseboards and the corners of closets.
• Ask about the building’s bedbug history. New York City landlords must give new tenants a bedbug disclosure form covering the past year.

The Building

• Front door: does it lock behind you, and does the buzzer or intercom work.
• Hallways and stairs: lit, clean, clear of stored things.
• Mail and packages: where they are left.
• Trash and recycling: where it goes, and whether the area is kept clean.
• The super: whether one lives in the building and how repairs are reported.

The Walk to the Train

Do the trip, do not estimate it. Walk from the front door to the station you would use, at the time you would leave for work or class, and again after dark. Note the hills, the avenues you cross, and whether the entrance near you is open at all hours.

On the way, find the nearest grocery store, pharmacy and laundromat, and check when they close.

Who the Landlord Is

1. Ask the person showing the apartment who they are: the owner, the management company, a licensed broker, or the current tenant.
2. Look the address up on the city housing department’s building lookup, which shows the registered owner, the managing agent and open violations.
3. Check that the name on the lease and on the payment instructions matches the registered owner or agent.
4. Never pay a deposit before you have seen the inside of the actual unit.

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