Every year, millions of young Americans leave the loving embrace of their parents’ home or student housing for an apartment of their own, and it takes only a little education to keep this rite of passage from turning into a hazing. Here are 10 things that experts say you should know (and that experienced renters say they learned the hard way).

· Location Matters. Visit potential neighborhoods a few times, at different times of day, before settling down. “It might look fine on a Wednesday afternoon, but factors like noise, parking and security can change at night or on weekends,” said Peggy Luers, coordinator of off-campus housing services at California State University at Sacramento. Luers’s office, and others like it at universities around the country, are great places for first-time renters to find legal information, advice, even apartment listings. These offices also have insider information you won’t get from friends or family — for example, that neighborhoods near college campuses might not be the best places to rent.

· The landlord is not your buddy. Your landlord might be perfectly nice, but your relationship is about business, not friendship. “First-time renters tend to be somewhat naive,” Boysen said. “You need a dose of cynicism.” That means checking into your potential landlord’s reputation before you sign a lease. Even if the landlord passes this test, Boysen cautions that you still shouldn’t let your guard down. Get everything in writing, even something as simple as an assurance of when a problem will be fixed, and keep copies of all documentation and correspondence between you and the landlord.

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