Renting Question!

My husband and I are currently looking around at apartments to rent and we’ve heard some scary stories from people around here.

Such as some rental companies just don’t respond or some are just dirty, etc.

This is our first time since before Covid of looking for an apartment to rent so we’re asking everyone what are some things we should look out for or avoid?

Our Budget currently would be $2000-$3000 (with some wiggle room for utilities) We prefer a 2 bedroom but are willing to get a 1 bedroom if that’s all we can find in our budget. And we have a cat!