Choosing a New Appartment and Signing a Lease

[Guest guest]

I'm looking for a new appartment and plan to move January 1st. Any practical

tips for me? Obviosuly there should be no sign of molds, but what else could I

do? Like ask the owner and neighboors for signs of water damage? Are they likely

to be honest/knowledgeable?

I'm thinking of going for a building that wasnt built/renovated since 2001

(especially since 2004) because of chinese drywall concerns. Not too old either

because I suppose it increases the chances of water damage. So a building built

in the 90s, and in an area where air quality appears good (In Los Angeles I

think close to the Pacific is better).

No carpet, no leaks, a clean-looking appartment is mandatory. But I'm wondering

what else I could do to protect my health. For example would you ask the owner

to visit the " basement " of the building to see if the plumbing is leaking? Or

would you take a dust sample and send it overnight to a lab like mycometrics to

run the EMRI? I fear that could give false negatives because the appartment was

likely repainted and thoroughly cleaned.

Do you think the landlord would accept that I put a clause in the lease saying

that if at some point 1 of the 36 species tested in the EMRI comes back higher

than (?) then I'm allowed to move out without " lease breaking " penalties?