<p>The problem has been loud partying in the residential area near Cleveland Circle, which is mostly BC students. It really became an issue because it crossed the border into Brookline and the Town cares about this kind of stuff much more than the city of Boston ever can. A crackdown on a couple of landlords controlled things. This is not really an issue in Allston, both for the above and because those neighborhoods are not as rich and are much more student / recent grads. </p>
<p>As for renting, I’d say the biggest issues are whether a fee is charged - in a hot market, they demand a fee just to rent - what else is required upfront (security, last month?/ first month?), what is included and whether they have high speed internet. It’s not legal to charge for water unless there’s a separate meter for that apartment (and that’s not likely at all). Separate gas and electric meters are more common and those are required if the tenant is to pay.</p>