Kelly,

I've been around the block quite a few times when it comes to renting. You've gotten some great advice here. I can only offer a few more suggestions.

1. Never rent a place where the landlord is nearby or on the premises. Why? Because they can see everything that goes on, i.e., your comings and goings, WHO spends the night, your lifestyle, etc.

2. Check the rooms for phone jacks. When I moved into my current apartment, I had to go by what my sister-in-law found because I lived 663 miles away. I fell in love with it the minute I finally saw it, but am annoyed that there is only 1 phone jack. Thank goodness for cordless phones!!

3. Never rent a first floor apartment. There is nothing worse than having to live under someone who has a heavy foot when walking, or..in my case when I lived in CT, a woman with 2 small children who were never allowed to play outside. Need I say more? When she finally moved out, I moved upstairs.

4. Check to see what the policy is on cats. When I was looking for a place in Michigan, MOST of the complexes had a clause that required you to DECLAW your cats!!! There should be a law against that.

Good luck with your search. If I didn't live so far away, I'd help ya look. I hate searching for a place to live. It's a pain and comparable to looking for a new car!!!