[Cirlonde]

We're having a load of trouble with our current apartment (from a very poorly working AC to cruddy cabinets/drawers to snake, spider, and centipede issues). My husband and I have been casually looking around for a house to rent, but we're about to step up the pace. I was just told by the rental company's AC guy that I can't expect the inside temperature to be more than 20 degrees below the outdoor temperature. When it gets to be 110 in August, paying an enormous electric bill to only be able to keep my home at 90 degrees is not going to fly!!

So...as we begin our search, I thought I'd ask if you guys had any suggestions for questions I might ask or things I might keep my eyes peeled for while looking at rent houses. The obvious #1 question is going to be "do you allow pets" of course. But other than that, any advice you can give me would be awesome!! Also, I'm not incredibly knowledgeable on things to look for to make sure the house is structurally sound or that all the appliances work. For example, how do you check to see if a dishwasher works without running a load? Things like that. And are there any signs I can watch for that would indicate whether the property manager is good or bad?

Thank you so much for your help!! I'm a nervous wreck about this and I always tend to feel guilty if I question someone too hard...like I'm implying I don't trust them or something. I totally need to get over that!
-C