Check the water in the showers. Try the lights. Make sure everything is working. Get a breakdown on utilities. For example, washer and dryer may be electric, the stove, gas.
Gas is cheaper than electricity.
Look over the apartment and type up a list of all its imperfections. Make a copy, you keep one and the landlord keeps the other. Now, you both have a list of what the landlord has promised to fix. Constantly update it as things get fixed, getting your landlords signature on it too. Most likely, everything will be fixed when you move in, so you ll only need to get your landlord to sign it one other time.