Moving into Rental Property-Tips for Tenants

Posted on 01/10/2015

Has the time come for you to leave the family nest and find yourself a new place to learn a bit about freedom and how to live on your own? The natural step to take in that case is to rent a flat or a house somewhere and see what independent life is like. But, of course, you cannot just pick a place at random and then start looking for moving companies for a quick removal and relocation. Like everything in life, moving house requires planning, so you should take careful consideration about everything you do when concerning your future move. You would not like your first taste of independence to be a complete wreck, now would you?

• Choose your real estate agent.
You will need help for your first move, have no doubts there, especially if you are moving to a big city with all the fluctuating flat prices and the grand market where people buy and sell houses all the time. Therefore, you should seek out a reliable real estate agent who will help you find a good place at a good price.

• Choose your area.
Do not pick just any house you like. Think about the surroundings as well. Is it in a communicable area? Are there any shops around? Is there a loud and unhealthy activity around, like a nearby railway or a big factory? These are all things you have to take under consideration and choose wisely when balancing what you want and what you need to find the proper price you should pay.

• Choose your lifestyle.
And even after you choose an area, you need to be aware of the lifestyle of the people who live there. It could be a loud neighbourhood where you couldn’t possibly deal with the noise, so be aware what is going on in the area of your choice and think about whether it is the lifestyle you want or / and can tolerate.

• Do inspections.
However reliable your real estate agent may be, do not take his or her word for absolutely everything and do your own inspections. When you get a flat or house offer, immediately hop over there and see the place for yourself. Be thorough with your inspection of the place and see how well it fits your taste, whether everything is working properly, whether you can handle its maintenance and so on. Never make blind choices and always be fully aware of what is on offer – in many cases the price simply does not match the product.

• Meet the landlord.
Yes, you need to meet the person who will be taking care of your abode while you are there. You should know who you are paying rent to and whether he or she can help with the maintenance of the place. The reliability of the landlord is a big factor when renting, and it is rarely worth it to have a landlord whose only business is to knock on your door once a month, unless you really value your privacy and can take care of plumbing or electricity problems by yourself, or know the right people to do it.

• Clean when moving in.
You can never be too sure if the flat or house had an end of tenancy cleaning, or if the landlord had a pre-tenancy cleaning. So when you pick a place, after you move in your first job is to clean up thoroughly and then claim the abode as your own for as long as you like or can afford it.

The first relocation is always hard, but it gets easier with time. After you overcome the initial stress of the removal van dropping you off at a new and unfamiliar place, soon your independence will take over and lead you towards your new life as a free spirit – one that can really rely on oneself.