Apartment viewing checklist: what to inspect before you apply

At a viewing, test the things that are expensive or miserable to live with: water, heat, windows, outlets, pests, locks and safety devices, then check the building's public record before you apply. Use the 30-point checklist below on your phone while you walk through; it saves your progress in this browser.

Many of these items are not just preferences. In New York City, heat, hot water, working locks, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, window guards for young children, and a pest-free home are the owner's legal responsibility. Knowing which is which tells you what to ask the landlord to fix before you sign, and what you can insist on later.

Before you go

Spend five minutes on the address first. Search it on Roofy's building lookup to see open HPD violations, DOB and ECB violations, 311 complaints and the owner of record. If a building has open Class C violations for heat, hot water, mold or vermin, you will know exactly what to look at during the tour. Our 10-minute building check walks through this in detail.

Bring a phone charger (to test outlets), a small ball or marble (to check floors for slope), and a flashlight (for under the sink and inside closets). Visit at a time close to when you would actually be home, if you can: a quiet street at 11am can be loud at 11pm.

Room by room: what to check and why

Kitchen

• Hot water. Run the kitchen tap for a minute. It should get properly hot. NYC requires hot water at a constant minimum of 120°F all year.
• Under the sink. Look for water stains, swollen cabinet bottoms, droppings and gaps around pipes. Gaps are how mice and roaches get in.
• Stove and gas. Turn on each burner. If the stove is gas and you have a child under six, the owner must make stove knob covers (or locking knobs) available; any tenant can request them.
• Appliances. Open the fridge and freezer, run the dishwasher if there is one, and ask who repairs appliances the landlord provides.

Bathroom

• Water pressure. Turn on the shower and the sink at the same time, then flush. A big drop in flow is worth asking about. There is no city pressure standard, so this is a practical check.
• Mold and ventilation. Check grout, the ceiling above the shower and caulk lines. Ask whether the bathroom has a working window or exhaust fan.
• Leaks. Look at the ceiling for brown rings and at the floor around the toilet base for soft spots.

Bedrooms and living room

• Windows. Open and close every window. Check that locks work and that panes are not cracked. In a building with three or more apartments, the owner must install approved window guards if a child 10 or younger lives there, and any tenant can ask for them in writing. Windows onto a fire escape are excluded.
• Outlets. Plug your charger into a few outlets per room. Count them: too few outlets means extension cords.
• Heat source. Find the radiators or heating units. Ask how heat is controlled, and whether you or the landlord pay for it. If you would pay for heat, New York's Energy Law requires the landlord to give a prospective tenant, free and on request, the heating bills (or a summary) for the past two years.
• Cooling. Ask whether air conditioners are allowed in windows and whether the wiring can handle one.
• Closets and floors. Shine a light into closet corners for droppings, and roll your marble across the floor.
• Light and noise. Note which way the windows face and what is below them (a bar, a bus stop, a restaurant exhaust).
• Cell signal. Make a call from the bedroom. Thick prewar walls can kill reception.

Entrance door and safety devices

• Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. HPD says both are required in every apartment in buildings with three or more units, and in one- and two-family homes that aren't owner-occupied. Tenants must keep them working. Look for them and press the test button if the agent allows it.
• Locks, peephole and chain. The owner must provide a key lock on the entrance door and a peephole. In apartment buildings (class A multiple dwellings), the door also needs a deadbolt and a chain door guard. Double-cylinder locks that need a key from inside are illegal.
• Self-closing door. Open the apartment door and let go. HPD says apartment doors should close and latch on their own, because self-closing doors keep fire and smoke from spreading.

Building and common areas

• Is the front door lock and intercom working? Are hallways lit?
• Are trash and recycling areas clean, or overflowing (a pest magnet)?
• Is there an elevator, and does it work today? How many flights would you carry groceries up if it doesn't?
• Where are laundry, bike and package storage? Packages are a real issue in buildings without a doorman.
• Is there a posted notice listing who to call for repairs?

Which problems are the landlord's legal responsibility?

New York's warranty of habitability (Real Property Law §235-b) makes every residential landlord promise the apartment and common areas are fit to live in and free of conditions dangerous to health or safety. A lease clause that waives this is void. The table below separates legal duties from things that are only worth negotiating.

Questions to ask the agent or landlord

1. Who handles repairs, and how do I reach them at night or on weekends?
2. Which utilities do I pay? Can I see the last two years of heating bills if heat is on my account?
3. Has the apartment or building had bedbugs in the past year? (Owners must give new tenants a one-year bedbug history.)
4. I saw open violations for this building. Have they been fixed and certified?
5. Is the unit rent stabilized? (See our step-by-step test.)
6. What fees will I pay, in total, before move-in? Since the FARE Act, the landlord must give you an itemized written list.
7. Will anything I pointed out today be fixed before move-in? Can we put that in the lease?

The 30-point viewing checklist

Tick items off as you walk through. Anything you can't tick is a question for the landlord, in writing.

After the viewing

If the apartment passes, budget the move-in cash with the NYC move-in cost calculator and gather your paperwork with the application documents checklist. Before sending any money, run through the rental scam red flags: a real landlord lets you see the apartment first.

If you move in and something on this list fails, put the request to the landlord in writing first. If it isn't fixed, you can file a complaint through 311; see how to file an HPD complaint. For heat problems in winter, the heat season temperature checker tells you whether your apartment is legally too cold.