There are many, many reasons I can give you. But I'll start with this one. Surely, everybody has a best friend. Surely, everyone realizes that if you're with them too long, they begin to irritate you. Now think about what it would be like to live with them. You'll begin to notice little things they do that can be nerve-racking. Whether it's biting their nails, constantly flipping through TV channels, or always brushing their hair. In case of living with them, maybe you didn't know that they snore loudly, or that their bodily functions could smell so bad.

Those are just little things. Did you ever think about bigger and more important issues? Think about rent payments, electricity bills, and water bills. I've had some friends that were pretty bad at keeping a job. Even if they did have a job, they were never there. If they can't keep a job, they definitely couldn't keep up on payments. Sooner or later they'd be mooching gas money off you after they've carelessly spent what little money they had on candy bars, pizza, or video games.

* Ask landlord how many vacant units are in building.

* Bring a competitors ad with you when you view apartment.

* Ask for a “move-in special” if building is ne or under construction.

* Ask for a two or three year lease (if you need a longer than a typical one year lease) with current rate locked in for duration of entire lease. Be careful of this. Some two year leases can come up for an increase at end of first year.