Tour the building, not the finishes
Every tower looks good at midday. The building you're really leasing is the one at 6pm on a weekday in July. The questions below show you that one.
Here's the full checklist for tours you set up through luxury and high rise locating.
Elevators at peak
Count the elevator cars against the number of units, and find out the wait at 6pm.
Ask directly:
- How many elevators serve the tower, and how many are just for service or freight?
- What is the wait at peak on a weekday?
- Is one car held for people moving in, and how often do moves happen?
- How often is one out of service for repairs?
A tall tower with three cars and one out for service? That's a line every evening for a year.
The package room
Towers use one of two systems. They work very differently.
A locker system assigns a slot and sends a code. Space runs out, and December puts it to the test.
A package room at the front desk is often open only during office hours. That's a problem if your workday runs past them.
Ask what happens when the room or lockers fill up. Do they take oversized items? How long do they hold packages?
Parking, in three parts
Resident parking. What is included, what does a second space cost, and does a reserved spot cost more than an unreserved one?
Guest parking. Does it exist? What is the visitor rate? Is there validation? What happens to a car in a resident space?
EV charging. How many stalls are there, and are they assigned or first come, first served? Is it billed flat, metered, or bundled in? Four chargers for 300 units? Ask if you'll ever get one.
Parking is one of the biggest charges in high rise fees.
Valet trash and services
Ask if valet trash runs, on what nights, whether it's optional, and what the rule is on setting bins out early. At many newer Dallas towers it's required and listed on the fee schedule.
Then ask how pest control gets scheduled and how any advertised dry cleaning or package concierge works. Find out if the front desk is staffed 24 hours or only at set times.
Amenity access
You pay the amenity fee whether you use anything or not. So find out what it buys.
- Are amenity floors open 24 hours or on a schedule?
- Can you bring guests, and how many?
- Is the pool seasonal?
- Can you reserve work spaces or conference rooms, and is there a charge?
- Is anything currently out of service or under renovation?
Ask the renewal question on the tour
“What did this unit renew at last year, and does the concession repeat?” Ask it in the leasing office, not eleven months later. It's the single most useful question on this page, and an easy one to skip.
In the unit
- See the actual unit, not the model. The model is usually the best floorplan in the building.
- Check the window line and which way the unit faces.
- Ask what the summer electric bill runs for that floorplan.
- Ask whether water, sewer, and trash are split among the units (RUBS), and what last year’s average was.
- Ask whether internet is bulk and required, and what speed you get.
- Check sound: run the air conditioning and listen for hallway and elevator noise.
Write the answers down. Five towers blur together by Saturday afternoon.
Bring this checklist to every tower on your list, and ask every question at each stop.