Major red flags:
- vagueness on the terms, especially in the event of an accident on the property, insurance, etc.
- dismissing your questions as arrogance- how dare you question me? I'm a land owner!
- wanting to keep all the lease agreement copies themselves "in case of a fire"
- saying, at any point, "we'll figure it out"
- wanting to get out of the meeting.
When in doubt, just walk away. It's not worth it.
I totally agree with your red flags, and i've encountered lots of them. First of all even though it is illegal to discriminate against families with children, pretty much every single landlord asks you about children, and no one wants to rent a two-bedroom to a couple with two children.
some will actually outright say no children, or no more than one child or such, but most before they tell you how much the rent is, they ask, how many people will be living there and how many of them are children, then quote you a ridiculous price if you have children (like $1200 for an $800 apt, and two months security deposit)
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but one landlord that really pissed me off, was the "- dismissing your questions as arrogance- how dare you question me? I'm a land owner!" Kind
I called to inquire about the apartment, and I asked him how many square feet it was. and this offended him. he said "it's a two-bedroom.. what do you mean how many square feet it is? i don't know how many square feet" then he asked me how many people and i said 4, and he said "well its too small for 4 people" .. i ended the phone call because obviously I wasn't going to rent an apt from a landlord with this kind of attitude
i've seen two-bedroom apartments that are under 800 square feet, with others over 1100. It is a huge difference.. a cramped living room and cramped bedrooms that don't fit your furniture or give you enough distance from the television, vs. nice living room, a dining area, rooms with closets and room for a desk in addition to the bed.. or fit two beds for two children.
how is asking how many square feet the apartment is not a valid question? mind you, i am asking over the phone, i haven't actually seen the apt