You probably thought getting your kid into a college was the hardest thing about college, and, well, it probably was. But as you've likely discovered, your young adult is still young and could use your help at times – like when it's time to look for an apartment .

Your kid is finally entering the real world, and as you know, the real world isn't always as warm and friendly as we'd like it to be. So if you'd like your kid to avoid renting from a con artist or signing a lease that he or she doesn't understand, you have a lot to think about.

See:

Research, research, research. Dominique Henderson is a financial consultant and father of three; his oldest just finished her first year at Texas State University, about a four-hour drive from home. He began helping with her apartment hunt by calling the housing program at the college. He spoke with an official about the partnership the university has with more than 30 apartments in the surrounding area.

"I read tons of online reviews and went to every website of the candidate list of apartments," Henderson says. He looked at which apartments paid for utilities, how far they were from campus and which ones were on a bus line. He also made sure his daughter was doing her own research, too.

"This helps them own the decision ... After all, this is where they will be living," Henderson says.

Decide if you'll co-sign a lease. Nothing wrong with this in theory, since you may have little choice. Many landlords and apartment companies are reluctant to sign on a college kid who doesn't have a full-time job, has no credit history and isn't co-signing with his or her parents. But before you sign, you'd better know your kid well and have a serious talk with him or her about how the condition of the apartment needs to be in as good of shape on the last day as the first. If you know you have a kid who isn't all that responsible, you probably shouldn't co-sign.

"If your kid, or his or her friends, creates damage, parents are on the hook if they're on the lease. Basically, anyone on the lease has the same liability, even if they don't live in the unit," says Dan Laufer, CEO of RentLingo.com, an apartment and housing search engine.

Stacy Brown, operations manager for Real Property Management, headquartered in Salt Lake City, agrees: "Parents may also think nothing will happen in their role as co-signor because they trust their particular college student. However, co-signing for their child also grants them responsibility for the other tenants of the apartment."

Brown adds: "If you must be a co-signer, negotiate the provisions of the lease that you are guaranteeing to limit your liability. Sign for only your child, and not on behalf of any other roommates in the home."

[See: 9 Scary Things Consumers Do With Their Money .]

Recognize that you may be required to sign a yearlong lease. Right now, you're probably thinking: S o what? After all, that's standard with apartments.

And it's standard that school years last about nine months.

Yeah, so? Oh.

Julie Phillippi-Whitney, a mom in Cincinnati, Ohio, has a son attending the University of South Carolina; while her son was studying abroad in Hong Kong, it recently fell to her to look for a house for him to rent with two other roommates. She finally found one, and she just started paying the rent on June 1, even though he won't be moving in until August.

"We are obligated to pay through the end of May 2017 even though they graduate in early May," Phillippi-Whitney says. "Landlords don't have time to sublet or whatever for the months kids are not staying there so you end up paying for about three months where no one is even living there."

Of course, your college kid may be able to get permission from the landlord to find a tenant to sublet during those summer months, but that, too, opens up a new can of worms. If you think there's any chance you would want your kid to sublet to another tenant , Laufer suggests broaching that with the landlord at the start, before you sign the lease.

"If your kid sublets the unit and the landlord is not a party to the contract, then you can still be on the hook for damages from the subletter," Laufer says.

Engage your kid in the process. When Henderson and his wife toured their daughter's apartment, they played the role of dutiful parents and asked a lot of questions. Especially, apparently, Henderson, who says he talked to random residents about living at the apartments and even interrogated employees, asking what they enjoyed about working at the property.

But Henderson says that as involved as he was, he made sure his daughter was present when he asked his questions, and he kept asking his daughter how she felt about the visit and what her impressions were of the property, the people they met and the apartment's amenities. Again, he says, it's all about the kid owning, or co-owning, the decision to move into the apartment .

See:

Educate your kid on what to look for if you can't come along for apartment tours. Discuss anything you think your child should be on the lookout for, such as red flags of a bad neighborhood.

"Parents need to know that off-campus college housing is not all the same, and some may be in poor condition or overpriced," she says.

You also should be aware of potential scams , Phillippi-Whitney says. She found an apartment for her son, who is interning this summer in Boston; during her long-distance research, she learned to be on the lookout for swindlers.

"Although Craigslist is still the number one way to find apartments, sadly, it is filled with crooks," Phillippi-Whitney says. "So people mail in deposits and then arrive and there is either no apartment or no furniture or no such address. I spotted the scams right away."

She offers up this thought and warning: "If it looks too good to be true and looks like an interior decorator designed the place, it is bogus. If it looks lived in and messy, it is usually legit."

[See: How to Live on $13,000 a Year .]

In any case, before Phillippi-Whitney sent in money, she wisely enlisted the help of a friend's daughter who lives in Boston to aid with her on-the-ground apartment search. Phillippi-Whitney paid for the young lady's Uber fees, plus $25 per apartment.

"She looked at five places and took photos for me," Phillippi-Whitney says. Ultimately, the pair picked a winner for her son.

Compare Offers

Compare Offers

Raymond Mitchell, Author

Post a Comment