Sushila, Look how well the common areas around the buildings are maintained. Are the sidewalks clean, are areas under stairwells kept uncongested, is the pool area maintained and clean, is the grass cut and trimmed, are the buildings maintained on the outside, is the apartment, they show you, clean, are the floors in good condition, are the locks on doors in working order, is there a dead bolt, is there aducuate light outside for safety, are the dumpsters emptied on a regular basis or are they over flowing, in the event of a plumbing problem or any other problem on the weekend, what is their policy on repairing on the weekends, is there a grace period in paying rent(you could get sick and need a couple of days to get to the office to pay), are there noise ordinances in effect to maintain noise levels among the residence, are parking areas well lit, again for safety, what type of background check do they do on petentual applicants in order to weed out any undesirables. My easiest advice is to just take time to observe everything around you. Make sure while you are asking the management questions that they are willing to listen and answer to your satisfaction. If management isn't listening to you before you move in, they sure won't listen after you move in. I hope this helps you. Bye