Making Better Real Estate Decisions

Before you enter into a lease agreement to rent an apartment, like one at Meadowdale Apartments, you should make sure there aren't any problems that would affect the livability of the apartment. You should carefully inspect the apartment to uncover any issues that you may not notice during a brief walk-around. Here is how to tell if there are cockroaches living in the apartment so you don't end up with cockroaches living in your furniture and other belongings.

What You Will Need:

• Flashlight

Kitchen

Start your inspection around the cupboards and counters near the sink. Cockroaches like moist and dark areas. Open the cupboard doors and shine your flashlight near the water and drain pipes connected to the sink. You are looking for a couple of things: live cockroaches and cockroach droppings.

Cockroaches will huddle together near the cracks and crevices in the corners of the cupboard, and will scatter when you shine light on them. If you don't see any live cockroaches, you will still be able to see their droppings on the outside of the cracks and crevices.

The droppings look like small black and brown spots that are clustered together. You should also check under and behind refrigerators, microwaves, toaster, and along the walls.

Bathroom

Another area of the apartment that cockroaches congregate is the bathroom. You will want to look inside the cabinet around the sink. You also need to check around the bathtub and toilet.

Other Areas of Apartment

If you see signs of cockroaches in the kitchen and bathroom, there is a chance they have  migrated to other areas of the apartment. As you walk from room to room, look at the cracks and crevices along the top of the room walls and ceilings for signs of droppings.

Be sure to check all the coat and bedroom closets for any activity.

Spray Pesticide

Cockroaches will hide during the daytime when you are most likely to be inspecting apartments to lease. If the landlord or rental company will allow it, bring along a can of pesticide so you can spray a little into the cracks and crevices in the apartment. The pesticide will cause the cockroaches to flee when you spray it. This will give you a good idea of how bad a cockroach infestation might be, and help you determine if you really want to move into the apartment.

Taking the time to carefully inspect the apartment for cockroaches can save you a lot of time and frustration later when you try to get rid of the bugs after they have infested your personal belongings.