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While you should plan to stay for the duration of your lease, sometimes life happens. If you need to vacate your apartment before you anticipated, you could be on the hook for rent until the landlord finds a new tenant. While many residential leases last for 12 months, don't automatically assume that your lease will last a year. Find out specifically how long your lease term is because you'll be obligated for rent for the duration -- and protected from changes such as the landlord raising rent. Knowing your total monthly cost is key to determining if an apartment will fit in your budget, so don't assume utilities are the only expenses you'll have to pay. This may seem like an obvious question, but it's important to know how much you'll have to pay on a monthly basis.
Something often not listed on the house rental flyer, but vital to know is any past break-ins. Clarify this both in person and through the lease agreement to make sure you open the correct accounts. Ask during your showing what utilities are your responsibility every month. For example, the landlord may take care of water and trash , and you're in charge of everything else. You may not immediately this of this question to ask when renting a house, but it's important for your safety.
Ask your landlord the right questions when renting a home
Ask about water, sewer, gas, garbage pickup, Internet, and cable TV. You'll also want to find out how heat is provided if you're responsible for paying for it. Most people tend to get overexcited over their first house rent. Don’t be most people; instead of getting too excited, you better prepare some questions to ask beforehand to verify that you’re renting the best house for you.
Some landlords will allow you to make major changes like painting the walls, while others won’t. The good news is that even if your landlord won’t allow you to paint, there are plenty of other renter-friendly ways to upgrade your apartment. Ask this earlier in the process if you already know that you’ll have to sublet during your lease. As you tour your prospective rental, take note of any red or green flags. Pay attention to whether common areas, like a front lobby, have proper security (ex. locked doors, working buzzers, and callboxes).
Will you be able to pay for the application fee?
If the move-in date is two weeks after your previous lease ends, you'd have to figure out where to live for two weeks. No matter what your reason is for renting a home rather than buying one outright, it’s important to do your research and know exactly what you’re getting into before you sign! If you ask yourself these questions before you sign a lease, it will help set you up for success in your new home!
Related to potential roommates, make sure to look over the clauses for subletting. Ensure that if you see a future when you'd like to sublet your room, your lease allows it and what kind of information you need to share with the landlord. Depending on previous experiences, landlords tend to have specific restrictions regarding what type of tenant can live in their property. If you're responsible, make sure that this service fits your budget. Also, the neighborhood may have specific landscaping requirements, so confirm this with the landlord, if applicable.
questions you should ask before signing your lease
Whether your building offers maintenance 24/7 or just upon request, find out what the policies are so that you know what to do if any maintenance issues arise. You don’t want to be scrambling to figure out next steps if your sink starts to leak or your central air stops working in the heat of summer. There may be different policies around general repairs and emergency repairs, and it’s important to know both.
Knowing your landlord is going to update something is exciting, but it often comes with its own challenges. Some updates take weeks or months, so prepare to live without something for a little bit while it's being updated. Or if things aren't updated and need work, you can negotiate the lease to specify that something gets updated in a timely manner. On the other hand, you might not have renters insurance and don't want to buy it, so this place isn't the one.
While you probably don’t have plans to sublet your home, unexpected circumstances might arise that require you to use this option. In many cases, the security deposit is refundable following the end of your lease. If this is the case for you, you’ll also want to ask about what the process for having the security deposit returned to you will be when it’s time to move out. About the maximum security deposit allowed, so in some cases your landlord can charge you a security deposit equal to two or three months of your rent. Other landlords may decide to only charge less than a month's rent as a security deposit, or may not charge a deposit at all.
Knowing your monthly expenses is necessary when figuring out which rental home fits your budget. Before signing a lease, make sure to ask about extra fees and if they are refundable. In Park City, Utah, notes that you should ask your landlord about their subletting policy before signing the lease.
Also, it is essential to ask if the landlord is open to renewals. The cost of utilities is a question that can affect the house budget. Renting a home use for the first time is often a big and scary decision. But you can determine whether or not the house fits your lifestyle by asking the right questions before you sign a lease. In addition, you can prevent hidden lease scams with these 15 questions to ask before renting a house. While it may seem odd to ask about this before you even have a lease signed, it could be important down the line.
If you wish to report an issue or seek an accommodation, please let us know. No-smoking policy and deny an applicant if they or a co-applicant smoke. Your first step in the search for your next rental home is at HomeFinder, a great resource to search for the rental home of your dreams. The Daily Upside Newsletter Investment news and high-quality insights delivered straight to your inboxGet Started Investing You can do it. I hope to help you solve that problem and share my knowledge and research resources on perfect questions to ask and the ones not to ask.
Best of all, it’s free for the landlord and just $29 for the applicant. You might feel pressured to say yes to a rental before you've looked into it thoroughly due to the often competitive rental housing market. Be prepared when you go to look at a potential rental home by knowing which questions to ask when renting a house. As such, it is one of the most essential questions to ask when renting a house or apartment.
You want the peace of mind of knowing you can stay put at least until the end of your lease, so it's important to find out what happens if the building changes ownership. A guaranteer agrees to be responsible if you don't pay the bills, which is a big financial risk for whomever signs your guarantee. If you can avoid having a guaranteer, all the better as you won't have to put a family member or friend in a difficult position of putting their credit on the line for you. Your landlord will almost definitely do a credit check and will want proof of income from you. In some cases, landlords will decide you can't qualify on your own and will ask you to get someone to guarantee the loan for you. Typically, your rent cannot go up for the duration of the lease term, but if you have a short-term lease, the landlord can increase the rent on a periodic basis if your lease allows it.
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