Should I rent from Bob the landlord on Craigslist?

Bob the landlord, might have a really great apartment above his garage or duplex for rent on Craigslist.  Bob the landlord might also be a really great guy, but he is usually not a professional property manager.  Unfortunately, lots of Bob the landlords think that because they own the property, they can do what ever they want; they own it.  They don't realize that as tenants, you have lots of legal rights.  The main one being that they must give you 24 hour notice before they come into your apartment.  Unless you give them permission, or there is an emergency (fire, flood, etc..).  As with any place you are going to rent, make sure to thoroughly read the lease before you sign it and don't be afraid to ask questions or make changes.  You can find nice places on craigslist and you might get a nice Bob the landlord.  However, if you rent an apartment on a larger community (usually bigger than 20 apartments) you are almost always going to get a professional management team.  The professional management team knows the laws and will probably have maintenance people on staff.  So any problems can be taken care of right away by trained technicians, not Bob the landlords second cousin (in 2-3 days).
These are the opinions of writers and not the opinions of SunStateApartments.com or any of our advertising partners.