How can I tell if the apartment I'm about to rent has a roach problem?

I'm moving to Northern Virginia in a week or two and will be looking at apartments. Besides actually spotting roaches, are there any warning signs there is a roach problem? Will my chances of having roaches be less if I live in a high-rise? How else, besides cleaning obviously, can I avoid roach infestation?

Check under/behind the refrigerator and in the kitchen cabinets for roach droppings and/or carcasses. Note the cleanliness or lack of cleanliness of the apartment and the building in general. Take note of where garbage is stored at the facility and how it is stored. Ask a prospective neighbor about their experiences with roaches, if any, at the location. Ask your landlord straight out if there has ever been a problem and what the pest control history has been. Ask if he/she will allow you to obtain services of an exterminator and deduct from your rent with a receipt (this is legal & reasonable in most cases)

Look inside the kitchen cabinets for small killed roaches when the owners sprayed with roach killer.
I moved into a place once that had this problem. I moved as soon as my lease was up.

Roach's can be a problem for ANYONE no matter how clean one is, the fact is that these pests can be carried in from ANY source like, food stores, the daily news paper, the guest you had over last week, etc. They most always can be found in the kitchen. Check behind the stove, fridge, under the sink and they will be behind wall paper too!!! The landlord and/or property owner will most likely handle this for you, so always let him/her know about ANYTHING that concerns the property you rent/buy from them. Good Luck and Live Well.

roaches normally rely on "carriers" this happens when an area (or another dwelling)adhere themselves to a person or thing that is there and moves to another location.The best way to see about roach infestation is to look where they might hide(such as under sinks,closed cabinets)they tend to leave behind "little presents"if you get my drift lol or eggs that look like black dandruff.As far as avoiding infestation roaches are looking for things to eat and lay eggs make sure all your food items are off the floor and when in cabinets and shelves make sure they are sealed properly.A hungry roach is an unhappy roach and will look elsewhere for food.

Look in the kitchen cupboards and drawers. That's where they'll be. After you get your apartment, buy a couple of bug bombs at the local grocery and set them off. Look in the phone book for a pest control place and go there and buy stuff called Max Force. It will kill all roaches. They carry it back to the nest and it kills all of them.

Look around for tiny lil black specs (roach feces) :) thats as good as it gets. avoid an infestion by calling the pest control guy out before you move in and then again after you move in and keep them coming out on a regular (best if monthly ) basis. AND ALWAYS CLEAN KITCHEN WITH CLOROX! :D Good Luck

Ask the neighbors.

Before moving into a new apartment, always get it pest controlled. High rise or not, if any part of the building is infested, you are sure to have roach problems. To ensure there are no roaches, visit the apartment at midnight and silently enter the kitchen or bathroom!

Look at the neighbors.

from the time Evolution has stared cockraches have been there . Now the best way to find out is by staying for a night in the palce u r going to move in.And yes in todays world with so many medicines and insecticides i dont think it woul br difficult to get rid of them.Its only u have to keep ur kitchen clean and spray the sink holes with medicines and all the other adjoining drains, once a week.

Of course, you should be asking such questions anyway, but without reading the reviews, you may not know to ask about a roach problem, flooding in the parking garage or noisy garbage trucks on one side of a building.

So evaluate online reviews the way you would other information on Internet message boards. You don't have to believe everything you read, but you should at least investigate the claims you find so that you save yourself from becoming one of the people who posts negative reviews on the apartment rating sites.