What to look for when renting a home - Lifehacker readers say

Miscellaneous / by admin / April 04, 2023

How not to run into scammers, with which landlord you should not make a deal, and what should be written in the contract.

«Let me know” is a rubric for the stories of our readers. Every week we launch a survey and look forward to your comments. The most interesting of them end up in articles and collections.

Last week, one of our readers asked for tips for those who are looking for rental housing. Our other readers sent us some useful life hacks and shared their experiences. We publish!

Where to look for rental housing

First you need to decide on the area, the number of rooms and the cost that you can pull. Most often on aggregator sites like “Avito», «cyan», «Yandex Real Estate» there are filters with which it is convenient to sort the options you need.

When it comes to searching housing abroad, use local venues. In Armenia, for example, there is List, In Kazakhstan - "Roof", in Georgia - My home. In addition, there are many groups on VKontakte and Telegram with ads for finding and renting apartments.

instagram viewer

Christina

A life hack from an apartment nomad: you can go to groups like “Blacklist *city name*”, look through posts about rent and write to people on whose behalf they were published. Thus, you can get to the owner and get an idea about a particular apartment.

The only negative is that often the publications in these communities are anonymous. But you can find, for example, separate discussions on rent.

It makes no sense for scammers to post posts with bad apartments in such groups. Therefore, they are usually not found there.

If in the city where you moved, you have friends, it is best to look for housing through them. Throw a call to your buddies - maybe they or their friends are just looking for tenants.

What should alert

It is worth being wary of the underestimated cost of rent, excessive scrupulousness of the owner and the mysterious "additional conditions".

1. Too low cost

Sometimes, during a period of high demand, apartments are deliberately put up cheap. However, because of this, you can become a victim of "bargaining" - when many potential tenants come to view and the realtor offers each of them to name their price. In the end, they will hand over to the one who pays more.

If everything else in the apartment suits you, it makes sense to call the ad and ask directly: “Why is it so cheap?”

2. Host misbehavior

When meeting with the owner, pay attention to how he behaves. In the future, you will have to interact with him a lot. If he says: “I can come to the apartment whenever I want without warning you,” this communication is unlikely to be successful.

Andrey

It is easier to contact a light and open person than to bark with a hypocritical pedant because of a scratch on the wallpaper.

3. Additional terms

It happens that an apartment is offered to rent at a good price, but with reservations. For example, they set a condition that before arrival, the tenant will need to make repairs at your own expense. Or, during the entire stay, take care of an elderly relative in the next room.

Sometimes there are ads like “I will rent a studio to an attractive young girl. 2,000 rubles a month and a little female warmth. All of this should be avoided.

4. Listing an apartment for sale

See if the apartment is for sale. Perhaps the owner is looking for new owners for housing, and at the same time wants to make money on rent until a buyer appears. In this case, you may find yourself in a situation where they will tell you: "Check out within a week." And if this turns out to be legal under the contract, you really have to urgently look for new apartments.

5. Interaction only with realtors or agencies

Even if you communicate with the landlord through a realtor, it is important to insist on a personal meeting. The owner must come to her with a passport and property documents.

If intermediaries do not let you see the owner, this should cause concern: perhaps the true owner does not know that his apartment is being rented out. Therefore, in no case should you give money to anyone before signing the contract, meeting with the owner and handing over the keys.

Alfina

Once I fell for scammers: I came to the agency, paid, signed the contract. They told me: “Call after dinner. We will show you available apartments.” I called - the connection was cut off, and then the subscriber became completely unavailable.

Everything went much more successfully when I agreed to meet immediately with both the agent and the owner of the apartment, who had documents confirming ownership in his hands.

There are agencies that employ conscientious people. Therefore, in order not to get into an annoying situation, it is worth reading reviews about a particular organization on independent aggregators in advance.

What else is worth paying attention to

The condition of the apartment, the infrastructure and the area are, of course, important. But besides this, when renting a home, you should carefully read the contract, not being afraid to ask the owner questions, even if they seem to you stupid.

1. Pledge

Most likely, in the first month you will have to pay more than the agreed amount. Often landlords ask for payment immediately for the first and last months of the stay.

And if the owner uses the services of a realtor, then, among other things, it will be necessary to include a commission of 50-100% of the monthly amount in the check. The landlord may step in and allow the deposit to be paid in instalments, but this is not always the case.

2. Owner's documents

The owner of the apartment must have documents for it. Ask to provide them and check the data with the passport. If there are several owners, the contract must be signed by each. Or one of them if you have powers of attorney. All evidence must be requested and carefully checked.

3. An agreement that spells out all the nuances

Having a contract is a must. In it, if possible, all worldly Problems and ways to solve them.

Andrey

Mandatory clause that the rent should not increase every month. For example, it is written for me: “Not more than once a year and in the amount of not more than 1,000 rubles.” It is also desirable to add to the document the conditions for visiting the apartment by the owner: how many times a year, at what time, by what preliminary agreement. Otherwise, especially incredulous will come every week without warning.

Also indicate what is included in the monthly payment: a fixed amount or a fixed amount plus bill payments.

4. Furniture and appliances

Pay attention to the situation in the apartment - does it match the pictures attached in the ad? It happens that the owner takes pictures of housing with all the necessary furniture and appliances, and then takes them out. It is important to clarify whether everything remains for your use. If not, it makes sense haggle. Even an ordinary microwave slightly increases the cost of rent.

Also check the electrical and plumbing. At first glance, the apartment may look good if you are not aware that the toilet sometimes leaks, and the light bulbs in the kitchen constantly burn out.

5. Presence of animals

if you have pet, the search for an apartment is complicated. However, it is not worth excluding options that strictly state “no animals”. If you are sure that your dog or cat is behaving well, try to negotiate with the owner and offer him your full liability for damage that your pet.

6. Neighbours

Owners are often cunning and do not tell the whole truth about the contingent living nearby. Therefore, in addition to inspecting the apartment and talking with its owner, you can talk to your neighbors on your own, find out if they like their area, if it is calm, if someone makes noise at night.

Grandmothers at the entrance are your strength. They will most likely be willing to tell you about the owners of the apartment you are going to rent.

It is also worth paying attention to the year the house was built. If it was recently delivered, there is a possibility that neighbours will actively repair.