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Renting an Apartment in Connecticut
What You Should Know
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the United States,
located in the northeastern part of the country. Southwestern Connecticut is
part of the Tri-State Region or New York metropolitan area, which also includes
northern New Jersey and southern New York.
Connecticut was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule
in the American Revolution. Residents of Connecticut are sometimes referred to
as Nutmeggers or Yankees.
Connecticut has the highest per capita income in the country, and ranks 1st in
median household income. It also is one of the most densely populated states
in the nation.
Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New
York State, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The
state capital is Hartford, and the other major cities include New Haven, New
London, New Britain, Norwich, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, Danbury and
Bridgeport. There are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut. There is an ongoing
civic pride and economic competition between Hartford and New Haven, which stems back to the days when the two cities shared the state's
capital, and even back to the rivalry between New Haven Colony and Connecticut
Colony.
The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest
corner of the state. The highest point is just east of where Connecticut,
Massachusetts, and New York meet (42 3' N; 73 29' W), on the southern slope of
Mount Frissell, whose peak lies nearby in Massachusetts.
The Connecticut River cuts through the center of the state, flowing into Long
Island Sound, Connecticut's outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.
Despite its size, the state has regional variations in its landscape and culture
from the wealthy estates of Fairfield County's "Gold Coast" to the rolling
mountains and horse-farms of the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut.
Connecticut's rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest corners
of the state contrast sharply with its industrial cities, located along the
coastal highways from the New York border to New Haven, then northwards to
Hartford, as well as further up the coast near New London. Many towns center
around a small park, known as a "green," (such as the New Haven Green). Near the
green may stand a small white church, a town meeting hall, a tavern and several
colonial houses. Forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and a sandy shore add to the
state's beauty.
The northern boundary of the state with Massachusetts is marked by the
distinctive Southwick Jog/Granby Notch, an approximately 2.5 mile (4.0 km)
square detour into Connecticut slightly west of the center of the border.
Somewhat surprisingly, the actual origin of this anomaly is not absolutely
certain, with stories ranging from surveyors who were drunk, attempting to avoid
hostile Native Americans, or taking a shortcut up the Connecticut River;
Massachusetts residents attempting to avoid Massachusetts' high taxes for the
low taxes of Connecticut; Massachusetts' interest in the resources represented
by the Congamond Lakes which lie on the border of the jog; and the need to
compensate Massachusetts for an amount of land given to Connecticut due to
inaccurate survey work. The dispute over the border retarded development in the
region, since neither state would invest in public services for the area until
the dispute had been settled.
The southwestern border of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State, is marked
by a panhandle in Fairfield County, containing Greenwich, Stamford, Fairfield,
Westport, Wilton and Darien. This irregularity in the boundary is the result of
territorial disputes in the late 1600s, culminating with New York giving up its
claim to this area, whose residents considered themselves part of Connecticut,
in exchange for an equivalent area extending northwards from Ridgefield,
Connecticut to the Massachusetts border as well as undisputed claim to Rye, New
York.
Areas maintained by the National Park Service include: Appalachian National
Scenic Trail; Quinebaug & Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor;
and Weir Farm National Historic Site
Some Things to Consider When Looking for an Apartment...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.