Important things to look for when renting a house

It can be really daunting to pack all your stuff and move to another house. But a question always strikes your mind, where to rent a house? Getting an appropriate answer to this question would require much of your energy and time. From preparing the budget to obtaining rental insurance you need to consider a different set of things. And with this big move, you also need to ponder what things to look for when renting a house.

Here’s a list of few considerable options that you need to think of when renting a house for you and your family.

What’s in this guide?

Things to look at when renting a house
Location of your rental house
Your budget
Needs & wants
Rent Inclusions
A negotiation is an option
Lease Term Length
Insurance requirement
Maintenance Liability
Selling the property while you rent
Protip

Things to look at when renting a house

Location of your rental house

When planning to move into a new rental house, the first thing that surely comes to your mind is to find an appropriate place where you want to rent. You should first begin to jot down your preferred location and narrow your location-based preferences such as the attractions of the city along with other factors that you may consider valuable and ease your decision-making process.

Your budget

Having identified the place where you want to rent out your new house, the next most important thing in your rental planning is to finalize your budget. You want a place that you can afford in your budget. This significantly means determining the money you can comfortably spend in your housing facility, how much you can cut the expenses if your desired location doesn’t fall into your existing spending, or how much you can save if you rent a cheaper house. By narrowing down your budget constraints, it would be easier for you to get a clearer picture of what type of house you can rent and what location.

Needs & wants

Your budget and house choice greatly depend on your family’s wants and needs. What do you want in a house, do you need two restrooms or would you settle for one if you find it in your budget? Determining priority needs will help you focus on what’s more important and will save much of your time.

Rent inclusions

Indeed, you’ll consider what your landlord is adding to the price of rent. While utilities are included in the rent, however, there are other things that are not included which means you’ll have to estimate the cost of the additional utilities. You can estimate the cost on the basis of the current utility and allocate an extra amount in your budget for those additional utilities just in case it costs you more than you think.

Negotiation is an option

After finalizing your budget, rental location, and house, negotiating over the rental price is not necessarily possible. But you may negotiate on your lease agreement. For instance, if your lease agreement date tells you to shift on December 1^st but you could not move to your new house till the 15^th but showed dire interest in renting, you can request a later date for lease. If things went smoothly then the landlord may wait for you and accommodate you for your interest.

Lease term agreement

Oftentimes a residential lease agreement lasts up to twelve months or even for six months depending on your type of purchase. However, every lease agreement does not comply with the same requirements so the needs can be different. Before you sign your lease agreement, find out the terms and lease length. If you think that you can afford to rent the house for more than a year, ask your landlord if you can sign a longer agreement and avoid paying raised rental charges or an updated version of lease terms and conditions.

Insurance requirement

Mostly, the insurance companies obligate the landlords to ensure the property. The residential property insurance covers the damages done by fire, lightning, hail, snow, or other natural hazards. However, the policy may not cover the belongings inside the house. For this, a few landlords may require you to purchase the renter’s insurance to protect the belongings. If you think your landlord would ask you to get one, clear things upfront.

Maintenance liability

Once again, you must also consider the lease requirement before you sign your lease agreement. It also includes the liability of property maintenance and repairs. Possibly the landlord will agree to pay the bills for the repairs or personally bring someone to repair. You are also likely to be stuck with the bill if your landlord doesn’t pay for the repairs. Whatever it could be, be sure to see every clause that your landlord has added to the lease agreement.

Selling the property while you rent

Your lease agreement can also protect you from uninvited events where your landlord tells you to vacate the house as he wants to sell it. Protect yourself from such lease agreements that do not provide you with the security to rent the house for at least one year or until the lease agreement expires.

Protip

Once you figure out every detail and liability for your new rental property, keep everything in writing so you don’t miss any important thing when you opt for a house for rent. Protect yourself from additional expenses and hidden costs that may exceed your budget and you regret making a decision later.

Hope this guide will help you find your dream house where you can live peacefully!