Realtors' Realm

Renting a house, be it a big city or a small one, is a big deal as there are many details and complications that come attached to it. If you are moving into a new city or moving into a new house or plan to rent a house in Miami or New York or elsewhere for the first time, you need to know a lot of things about renting houses. Because as said above, they are not as easy as packing and unpacking a suitcase full of clothes. Here’s a comprehensive list of 10 essential tips that will help you get started, rent and move into your new house.

1. The first and foremost thing you need to worry about is the location of the house. Before contacting the landlord and proceeding with renting procedures, make sure the house is located according to your preferences and helps your daily life in all ways possible. Also, ensure that the house is nearby to a hospital, local store, school, bus stop etc.

2. If you are pleased with the location of the house, contact the landlord to talk about the formalities such as rent, deposit and other legal procedures involved with renting. Get to know the landlord, their full names, occupation and other basic information. Judge if you would be comfortable with the person over the renting period and don’t proceed if you feel something is fishy about the landlord’s behavior.

3. If you are pleased with both the location and the landlord, proceed to make a quick survey of the condition of the house. Do not, at any case enter into the tenancy agreement without seeing the condition of the house. Make a list of all the inventory present in the house in the presence of the landlord and check if all the white goods provided (washing machine, microwave, cooker, fridge, dishwasher) are in proper working condition.

4. Apart from the white goods, also ensure that the electric connections, switch boards and plumbing of the house is in the working condition. Also notify the landlord if there has to any repainting and vacuuming to be done before entering into the tenancy agreement and paying the advance amount.

5. Now that you have thoroughly checked the condition and location of the house, don’t think your job ends here, as there are many other things that you need to get a clarification about. Few landlords have a very strict no-pet, no-guests, no-loud music and other weird policies that are often not mentioned in the tenancy agreement. To avoid any misunderstandings in the future, ensure to ask if pets and guests are allowed.

6. Also, few owners are very uptight about the appearance of their house and are completely against any modification, paintjob, wall art or any other form of decoration. Before signing the tenancy agreement, ensure to ask if any modification of the house is allowed and if there is any fine or reduction in the deposit while vacating the house.

7. If you are renting a flat in an apartment, make sure to familiarize with the rules of the apartment concerning parking, garbage disposal, water connectivity etc. Here you are not only coming to terms with the landlord, but also with other tenants living in the building. Sign the agreement only if you can live in such an environment, bearing a few constraints.

8. Upon completion of all the above safety checks, sit down with the landlord and negotiate on the rent to be paid and deposit amount to be paid before renting. Also discuss the tenure of the tenancy i.e. the starting and ending period, notice period and so on. Insist that all of these details be mentioned in the tenancy agreement in writing.

9. Before signing the agreement with the landlord or realtor, ensure to ask about the rise in the rent and how often will this rise be made. Also, the time of the month during which the rent has to be paid. Insist on including these aspects of the rent in the tenancy agreement. Also, clarify all the details regarding the release clause i.e. formalities to be followed while vacating the house.

10. Lastly, before signing the tenancy agreement ensure that your deposit money is saved in a deposit protection scheme and inform the landlord that he/she is required to protect your deposits so that the repayment can be done without any hassles or delay while you vacate the house.

Not everyone can afford to have their own houses, especially youngsters who are still new to the adult life and have a long way to go before owning a house. Hence, there are a lot of people who live in rented houses and go about their daily life. Moreover, with changing economy and skyrocketing inflation all around, many people prefer to live in rented houses rather than spending all of their savings on big investments like owning a house. This articles explores the 8 easiest ways one can find homes for rent.

1. Real Estate Agents

We certainly live in a busy world today and surround ourselves with so many things to do on a daily basis that we hardly find time for anything else. If you are a busy person and can’t afford to waste your time and energy looking for houses for rent in South Florida or desired location in the U.S., you could contact the local real estate agent and assign the job to him/her. You can get hold of a good real estate agent on real estate sites, listings or just Google search for all the nearby real estate agents.

2. Drive Around

This is the best way to rent a home if you don’t want to take anybody’s help or don’t want to depend on anybody. A lot of homeowners put ‘For Rent’ boards in front of their unoccupied homes and if you are looking to reside in a small town or city, it won’t be hard to drive around the blocks and find the homes for rent by yourself. In fact many owners appreciate the direct interaction and avoid a third party’s intervention.

3. Word of Mouth Advertising

Continuing the above point, if you are looking for a home in a particular area or part of the city, you could ask someone you remotely know who resides in that area to inform you about any vacancies. This works better than you think, as word of mouth advertising is one of the best and most powerful means of communication that gives results within days. People talk to people and within no time, you’ll get many leads on the available homes for rent in that neighborhood.

4. Friends and Family

If you are too shy to inform your distant relatives or colleagues to inform you about any available vacancies, you could always rely on your family and close friends to help you out in finding a home. Your friends and family could inform their family or friends and within no time, the word gets out that you are looking for a house to rent.

5. Fliers, Banners and Posters

If you don’t want to trouble your family or friends or don’t have any in the area you are planning to reside, you could always rely on ‘For Rent’ fliers and posters found in subway stations, bus stops, hotels and other public places. Some owners really go the extra mile to advertise their homes available for rent.

6. Craigslist and Classified Ads

Few home owners who don’t want to advertise their homes for rent on streets go for more sophisticated ways by advertising on craigslist and classified ads found in newspapers. Just pick up the latest local newspaper and make a list of all the homes available for rent, call up the owners and set up a meeting.

7. Real Estate Websites

With technological revolution, a million sites have popped up on the internet and with services like GPS it is easier than ever to locate landmarks and roads. If you are even remotely tech savvy, you can find the homes for rent on websites or apps that act as online listings of houses for rent (http://www.ehow.com/how_2288436_house-rent.html). These listings are regularly updated and well furnished with the contact details of the owners as well.

8. Neighborhood Associations

Least preferred of all the ways mentioned above, every neighborhood has an association which maintains a regularly updated record of the all the residents living in that neighborhood, houses that are occupied, houses that are vacant etc. Although it is difficult and time consuming to gather all the necessary details from such civic associations, you can give it a try if none of the above mentioned methods work out for you.