Lofty Standards Are Met With Higher Price Tags

By Sara Gebhardt
Saturday, October 28, 2006

Q: I am a 22-year-old recent graduate without a job yet. I plan to get a cosigner, but I am still having problems finding an affordable but nice and safe apartment. I have focused much of my attention on the Connecticut Avenue apartment corridor.

However, many of the apartments I have seen were dirty, poorly maintained and dingy. This is my first apartment and I am a risk-taker, but I don't want to end up living someplace where I feel uncomfortable for a year. Why are D.C. apartments so old, but charge so much for rent, especially if there are rat and roach infestations?

I have seen some old properties with slow elevators, bad plumbing and poor carpeting that just should have been razed or renovated, but are still deemed leasable. How is it possible to lease buildings in such poor condition and expect outrageous rents? Also, would you recommend living with a friend in order to afford a pricier, and probably much cleaner, apartment?

-- Richmond

A: It is unfair to condemn all D.C. apartment buildings as sub-par or write them off as old, dingy and unkempt. Before we tackle the big question of why you have found such conditions during your search, remember that everyone has different standards. One person's "old" or "tired" may be another's "historic." (Many of those buildings along Connecticut Avenue are marketed as charming pieces of the city's history, not as run-down, non-renovated digs.)

Barring differences of opinions about what makes a building nice, however, the basic answer to why so many District buildings seem a bit rusty is because many are. There is enough demand so that landlords can make minimal improvements and still keep their buildings fully leased.

Landlords are running businesses, and they have not had to make major updates to their buildings simply because there are plenty of tenants willing to pay a lot to be close to work, nightlife and city action. Until tenants say no to high rents and poor conditions, landlords will probably not make significant upgrades.

Along the way, however, some property owners have tried to make even more money by providing "luxury" and "upscale" units for people such as you, those who are looking for more pristine environs. There are buildings that have reinvented themselves through major renovations and buildings that have been constructed new. These all try to differentiate themselves from average, older buildings. Still, whether upscale apartments are much better or cleaner than the others is difficult to predict. Just because buildings are new or have fancier amenities does not mean they are well-managed or somehow immune to problems such as roaches or mice.

You definitely should not take an uncomfortable risk on an apartment, as you will have to live there for a year. At least for now, the key is to accept that you may need to take on a roommate or pay more money to have the kind of living experience you seem to desire. But give yourself time to find what you want. There are gems in the city, and there are also plenty of well-kept apartments that might come in a more middling package than you imagine for yourself.

You might also widen your scope by looking at different neighborhoods or different kinds of rentals.

Before you sign a lease, you should feel okay about paying the money each month for what you are getting. You should have done enough research and seen enough apartments to know that you are getting the best deal you can for the standards you want.

I recently came home from a long holiday weekend to find my entire carpet had been cleaned, including my bedroom and walk-in closet. I did not request this service nor did I grant permission for anyone to enter my apartment. I had personal belongings with personal information on my counters and elsewhere that were moved around.

The community manager admitted that a cleaning company that was meant for another apartment was let into my apartment without my permission. I now feel that I am exposed to identity theft and other forms of theft given that documents with my credit card information and Social Security information were in full view on my counters, not to mention other vital information.

I am also now left with a feeling that I cannot leave my apartment without worrying that someone is going to enter again without my permission. I feel I should be compensated for what they admit was a "serious" mistake.

The apartment had their lawyer get in touch with me and basically they are telling me that they understand if I would want to break my lease and they will allow me to do so early. The community manager also told me that I should be happy I got a "free cleaning." Do I have any recourse for damages? Nothing was stolen. -- Alexandria

Because nothing was damaged and you have no actual evidence of losses, you cannot claim any damages. Of course you should be worried about identity theft. That means you should be vigilant in monitoring your personal information, no matter what you decide to do about your apartment.

It is too late to undo the fact that people entered your apartment without your knowledge. Nothing was stolen, and your apartment manager is giving you an out because the workers violated standard practice by coming into your home without giving you proper notice.

The best you can do, especially if you continue to feel unsafe, is to take management up on the offer to let you out of the lease. Although it does not seem likely that you will be able to receive more compensation, you can try to negotiate for a move to a different apartment in the same building or another property the company manages, a rent cut or some nonfinancial perk such as free parking.

If you feel your safety has been compromised, then you should first ask for help with that. You can ask for your locks to be changed, for a written promise that management will not enter your apartment without appropriate notice, for a building-wide meeting with police officers about safety or for help moving to an address where there's no possibility that someone has rooted through your things.

I am a young landlord, and I have become pretty good friends with my tenants. So far, it is a good situation, but sometimes I wonder if I should have a more "professional" relationship. Do you think it matters? -- Cleveland

I think it may matter in the future if you are too close with your tenants. Things might happen -- you might want to raise rent, they may move out without cleaning the property, they may have wild parties and invite you to watch your place getting trashed, etc. Or, they may do nothing of the sort.

Nevertheless, because of the chance that your friendship may hurt your landlord-tenant relationship, it is better to maintain a professional relationship. It's not that landlords and tenants should not like one another, but you should remember that you are involved in a business and owe your tenants professionalism beyond anything else.

Obviously there are different ways of being a landlord, but you will have fewer problems in the future if you do not become overly friendly with your tenants.

Do you have questions, comments or ideas about apartment life? Contact Sara Gebhardt via e-mail at aptlife@gmail.com or by mail, c/o Real Estate Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.