It’s crucial to ask questions before renting a house to your rental estate agent. We have seen people who get excited after spotting their ideal house and forget about the required questions which need to be asked. It’s only after moving on, they realized that things aren’t quite the way they imagined and regret not asking more questions. The real estate market moves fast and changes overnight, so you need to be secure with your money. Here are the basic questions you need to ask your rental estate agent before handing your money to them.
- Who will pay for what?
If you’ve rented a flat, there are areas which need maintenance such as the kitchen, gardens, or courtyards. You might also have a garden to enjoy, but the main question is whose responsibility is to maintain these areas and whether it will cost you extra money. Are these things mentioned in your tenancy agreement or not? And if yes, how much money is the landlord giving for maintenance?. You need to be sure of all these things because after moving in you will not be in the position of complaining. And if the landlord is not paying for the maintenance you need to look for cheaper solutions such as using online discount codes for getting maintenance.
- What is included in the Agreement?
Usually, agents show pictures of houses or flats which include furniture, washing machines, curtains, and other home-based items. This may not be the same for you because some properties are unfurnished. You need to ask the agent which furniture of the pictures would stay after moving in or they are the previous tenant’s belongings who is in the process of moving out. Some properties are furnished and the rental doesn’t need to bring his furniture and other kinds of stuff. If you already own furniture, you can ask the landlord to replace theirs with your own. Most landlords don’t have a problem with it, but they will have a problem if you throw out their stuff. If you’re using the landlord’s furniture, it’s important to have warranty plans which can offer protection against it. Usually, people use choice home warranty discount codes to buy the plans at a discount price.
- Can I decorate the room?
Some people want to live in the house of their interest, such as walls colors, erect shelves, putting any pictures, or changing decor. But, tenancy agreements mostly state that you can’t do any of these so, it’s always worth asking this question before renting the house and removing this clause from the contract. If the landlord doesn’t agree you can simply ask him if you can put some picture hooks and hang pictures without damaging the walls. Another solution is wallpaper pictures which you can paste into your surroundings without paying anything from your deposit money.
- Where can I put my things?
You need to look carefully at the storage solutions in the property because the room without furniture always looks big. If you own stuff more than the available space, then you should ask whether you can put up shelves. Make sure to measure if your drawers or wardrobes will fit into the place you want them to, and don’t forget routes to doors, stairs, etc.
- Who lives in neighbor?
Before paying the deposit money, you should have an idea of what type of people are living in your neighborhood. Are they noisy, elderly, teenagers, quiet, etc.? Many people don’t focus on it, but it makes a large impact on you when noises from neighbors don’t let you sleep or rest. Especially, if your property is attached to the neighbor’s property, it’s important to understand how your neighbor’s lifestyle habits could impact you.
- What’s the environment at night?
Most of the time you’ll be returning from your job at night, so it’s important to ask the question before renting a house whether the neighborhood is safe alone at night. Are there any bars, clubs, nearby your house, and if their voices reach your house? These all are valid questions to ask to make your position clear. If you use public transport, what are the times of them in your area? You need to know all of these things because safety is the top priority any house should offer you.
- How are the heating and water?
You need to check what type of boiler they already have and ask if you can check whether hot water comes out of the taps, and the radiators work or not. A combi boiler works well for everyone, you will have hot water but it isn’t then you will not have access to hot water. You also need to check if the landlord has a service agreement for your boiler. What happens if it breaks? Who will repair it and pay for it? What if the pipe burst in the night? It’s good to have all the information with you to sort out all the problems as soon as possible.
- How much is the rent?
You’ll probably know what would be the rent of the property, but sometimes there could be hidden or other fees. You need to ask how much deposit they require as well as how much rent is needed upfront. Also, ask them about the bills whether they’re paid or not because you don’t want to pay for someone else. Then you’ll be able to decide the worth of the property and whether the property is worth the cost or not.
Last Words
Nowadays, renting a house isn’t an easy task because you need to look at a lot of things. Ask all of the above questions before renting the house to avoid any problems after moving into the property. It’s not easy to resolve the matters after being moved in, so it’s better to ask the questions at the same time you’re visiting the property.
