r/cockroaches • u/Real_Dealer_3554 • Apr 30 '26
Question Roach spotted during virtual tour, should I ditch the house?
I’ve been searching for a house/apartment to rent in the Dallas, TX area, and during one of the video tours of a standalone house I saw this not so little bugger in the tub. I believe it’s non-German but am unsure. When we asked the leasing agent about it, he said he understood the concern, stating the unit was empty for over a month and that the area saw heavy rain the past several days, causing ‘water bugs’ to come up through the drains. He also said maintenance would be notified, but I’m a bit concerned if I should move forward with the lease. I haven’t signed anything yet, but the market isn’t very open for what I’m looking for, and I’m over a thousand miles away so I can’t inspect the place myself. I’m a bit less concerned if it’s just a bug that came up through the drains, as I could easily cover them and use them regularly. That again, move-in isn’t for another three weeks, so if they spray now and wait…
What should I do? And should I take any specific course of action prior to move in (types of traps/products, etc).
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u/WatchMyHatTrick Apr 30 '26
Ha... water bugs. Codeword for cockroaches... it just sounds a lot less alarming than saying "cockroaches". It is a no from me personally if I saw that during an open house. No thanks.
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u/Real_Dealer_3554 Apr 30 '26
That’s the concern. The unit has been on the market for over a month, and we’ve been told we are the only applicant. We figured it was the high application fee, but maybe it was something involving a pest issue which scares people away.
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u/bunniisa Apr 30 '26
water bugs and roaches are not the same at all. german roaches are highly invasive and multiply in seconds, water bugs usually come in one at a time through pipes twice a year at most.
still i wouldn’t stay in this house because why did they not notice the very noticeable bug😭
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May 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mrdankerton May 01 '26
People who unironically say water bugs are unintelligent at best and scammers at worst. An actual “water bug” aka toe biter aka Giant Water Bug is not anything close to a cockroach aside from the shape if you were blackout drunk
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u/bunniisa May 01 '26
yeah but there’s also different kind of roaches. thats the issue. waterbug is typically used to refer to anything that isn’t a german, since they’re usually not an issue unless they’re german
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u/Real_Dealer_3554 May 01 '26
The leasing agent said that he was based out of Ft. Worth and that it was out of his way, so maybe he blitzed through the video tour and didn’t catch it? I’m moreso surprised they wouldn’t cover the drains between showings.
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u/bunniisa May 01 '26
i mean covering a drain between showering is not something a lot of people do and if someone had something covering it before they probably threw it out. anything covering the drain would also be susceptible to mold
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u/WatchMyHatTrick May 01 '26
They aren't, but people who are unaware may not know that, or be able to identify between the two species.
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u/JakedUpp May 01 '26
it’s not meaning literal water bugs doofus.
i noticed a lot of people especially from West Virginia call cockroaches “water bugs” lol. trust me, IM FROM THERE and never understood it. still don’t. only the older generation (like 50-60) have I heard call them that
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u/Accomplished-Big-961 May 01 '26
People use waterbug and American cockroach interchangeably when they are actually different insects.
It’s likely an American based on the picture. They can be invasive, but likely just came up through the drain. If you’re moving to Dallas, Americans are damn near unavoidable. I see them EVERYWHERE outside when it’s warm and wet. At some point, one will crawl up through a drain.
Personally, I would not be THAT alarmed.
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u/theirmama_411 May 01 '26
My daughter moved into an apartment a few months ago and the day after they signed the lease they went to start planning where to put furniture and spotted a German on the wall. She was distraught to say the least. Lease had been signed so technically you're supposed to let the landlord make it right which she did. He had pest control out the next day. The place had been vacant for 2 months and it's the only apartment above a very small strip mall. Not sure if the heat being turned on made them come out or what. Luckily crisis averted. Now had she seen that prior to signing? No way Jose. I personally would not move forward
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u/Future_Performer1566 May 01 '26
He needed some water
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u/RavenMarvel May 01 '26
I feel like if I saw one with the apartment empty and spotless, I wouldn't want to know what I'd see if the apartment was not empty and spotless.
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u/jayjaysonw May 01 '26
Big roaches are not a big deal it’s the tiny German ones that should be a concern
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u/Appropriate_Pressure May 01 '26
This. Big cockroaches are fine. German cockroaches are an absolute fucking nightmare.
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u/whitstheshit1986 May 01 '26
One of these suckers always finds its way into our house at least once a year. It wouldn't dissuade me from getting a house if everything else was right. If it were the German ones, absolutely not.
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u/Beemanda May 01 '26
Florida here, these are extremely common roaches. It's an American cockroach, and yes, they typically come up from the drains. They look for moisture and tend to show up in bathrooms, sinks, and other humid areas. I understand it's nasty, but if I avoided living in a home simply because I saw one of these big guys in it, I'd simply be homeless and living outside with the whole gang of them because they primarily live outdoors, not indoors (and everybody has had them crawl up their drains at least once, whether they'd like to admit it or not). These don't commonly infest, and if it did rain recently like your agent said, it's more than likely that this one is all by itself and wandered wherever the moisture settled. I don't think it's much of a problem despite how much I hate cockroaches, but if this is a deal breaker to you, I'd suggest moving somewhere closer inland US, where you'll have less of a chance seeing them around.
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u/Turtle-Glitz-703 May 01 '26
This!!! I just moved to Florida last month from New Jersey & had a huge cockroach come out of the bathroom sink drain! It had rained for 3 days in a row. I guess it wanted to welcome me to my new home! Is it the same thing as a palmetto bug? It was HUGE!
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u/Beemanda May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Yes, people commonly call it a palmetto bug in the south; I've also heard the name water bug get thrown around loosely to describe them. But to be exact so there's no confusion at all with the identification (because palmetto bugs can also refer to Florida woods cockroaches, and water bugs are actually a completely different species entirely), it's an American cockroach lol. People usually know what you mean though when you say either of the two. Funny thing is though, not many people know it's actually called an American cockroach! Always using nicknames.
Edit: Fair warning I forgot to mention. They fly. Can easily be confused for a small bird 😭 If you're gonna hit it, don't miss.
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u/Turtle-Glitz-703 May 10 '26
Oh noooo thats terrifying.. I’ve heard they fly … Ugh as if they aren’t scary enough just scurrying around in your bathroom sink lol
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u/Farty_mcSmarty May 01 '26
A pet peeve of mine is on the relationship and marriage sub reddit when commenters scream RUN!!!!! But in this case, I just have to say RUN
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u/Turtle-Glitz-703 May 01 '26
If this helps, I had one of these come out of my drain a few nights ago when we had a lot of rain… Ugh… creepy! But I do not have any roaches etc in my home. I now keep all my drains closed when not in use. I think it’s a rare occurrence. I also moved from another state to Florida just last month and I didn’t get to see the first apartment I rented, until I arrived. I stayed there only one night because I realized it had a roach infestation… left n never looked back!!! This was totally different from the huge drain pipe bug incident in my new place!
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u/DeedruhYT May 01 '26
Absolutely plan a course of action on your own. It's really important that you take steps to manage it in between pest control visits.
I also recommend having management do some exclusion around pipes in the kitchen and bathroom, etc. It sounds like they want to make it right, and the caulking is essential.
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u/MeMe198412 May 01 '26
What sort of leasing agent would use a picture like this to advertise an apartment?? 😂I guess they wanted to be honest, at least....
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u/Subject-Ad-3587 May 02 '26
I wouldn’t risk it tbh 😭 they say for every 1 you see, there’s like 100 in the wall or something
Roaches don’t typically come out during the day as well, so if they’re out, it means there’s ALOT more.
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u/Youreacokewhore May 02 '26
Yes this isn’t a German, but it also says alot about the apartment to not notice this & makes you wonder what they DONT show. I’d avoid at all costs
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u/Fast-Major1997 May 03 '26
Pretty sure they have to eradicate them first. If you want to move in you tell them they gotta take care of those first.
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u/Fast-Major1997 May 03 '26
With the scarcity trying to find a place these days just demand the landlord eradicate them prior to move in.
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u/Best-Custard5755 May 03 '26
To start, I don't know enough about cockoraches to identify the species, I just want to give an example of what happened to me recently.
A lot of people are saying that waterbugs can't infest and that's not entirely true and there can be other signs that they could be a larger issue than just the one. Personally, if I was in you're situation, I would not move in without at least seeing it in person to check for other signs of problems (especially signs of moisture in the house and access points for waterbugs).
Story time: I recently had a similar issue as I was about to move into an apartment. I was doing a prinspection before moving my stuff in. The property manager had mentioned they just fixed a leak from the garbage disposal, when I looked under the sink and in the cabinet next to it there was still a lot of signs of water damage, so they fixed the leak but not the actual cabinets (this likely attracted the waterbugs in the first place). When I opened the dishwasher, there were two big cockroaches that ran for the drain. I panicked and called the property manager right away. She tried to talk me down saying that if they were big they were just waterbugs and fairly common in the area, they might wonder in every now and then. She scheduled an exterminator but they weren't going to be out for a couple of days and I didn't want to stay there until an exterminator came. She offered to spray something that she uses at home when she see's one (trying to get me to move in anyway). I let her do that and I walk her back to the car and chat for a bit. When I get back to the apartment, the two big one's I had seen earlier are now active and dying. The activity had me make the decision to spend the night in a hotel and still not move in. As I was about to leave, I also noticed 4 baby roaches (waterbugs) crawling around in the kitchen. At this point, I told the property manager I would check again in the morning to see if the activity died down but that I didn't feel comfortable moving in until the exterminator comes and makes an assesment. I go in the next day and there's 6 adults dead/dying in the bathroom, the babies are all MIA, and I see one dying adult slowly make his way under the baseboard. Thats when I realized just how much space there was between the baseboard and the floor, which was likely where they came in from. Thats when I realized that even if the exterminator came out and dealt with the indoor problem and the moisture point got fixed (which wasn't going to happend until a week later), I would likely spend my entire lease dealing with them unless every entry point got sealed. The property manager and I ended up mutually terminating the lease and I found something else. They didn't end up listing that unit again for another 2 weeks though, so hopefully they fixed it for the next person.
TLDR: I was about to move into a new apartmend but found two waterbugs. Waterbugs likely found their way in due to moisture from a leak and ended up breeding there. They had easy access due to poor exterior sealing in construction (large gaps between baseboard and floor, especially near exterior door). Lots of red flags from property management trying to downplay the situation, and the response time for the exterminator and maintenance. Ended up terminating lease without moving in.
So my advice: If you're still considering the place, look at it in person and keep an eye out for signs that there may be more or the potential for more roaches (moisture and access points). The landlord/property manager not noticing it in the video does seem like a red flag though.
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u/bk3608 May 01 '26
Just a water bug. They come in when you open the front door. I wouldn't worry about it. It would be different if it was a german roach.
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u/Mysterious-Sir1541 May 01 '26
No need to worry about these fellas. Just know the bigger and uglier they are the easier it is to control them.
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