Real Estate

Renting is an option that many people choose when finding a home. They choose this over buying because they find it easier. As with everything there are things to keep in mind and to remember when renting. You should always be prepared to create a renter’s re’sume’ with your current and previous five addresses and landlord phone numbers, your employer and length of employment, your current salary and other income, personal references, among other information and include a copy of your credit report. Most renter’s want to look at your background to make sure that you don’t skip out on people and that you are someone they would want to rent to.

You always need to consider how much you can afford to pay before you go shopping. A good rule of thumb is no more than 30 percent of your take-home monthly income. If you need to enlist a rental agent to help you narrow your search. Depending on the market, this service may be free (paid for by landlords) or cost you a percentage of your rent when you land the house.

Always inspect each place before you make any decisions. If there’s any damage, you not only want to ask that it be fixed, but don’t want to be blamed for it later. Make sure such problem areas are addressed in a lease, either by your agreeing to live with it, or the landlord agreeing to fix it by a certain date.

Make sure that you understand your lease before you sign on anything. How much notice is required prior to moving, how large a deposit you have to make, how much cleaning is required upon leaving to get your deposit back, and other provisions. Some agreements require first and last months’ rent plus a security deposit, a significant chunk of change. Is the lease month to month, or a 6- or 12-month period?

All these things are essential to know. That way if you can’t comply with some of them you can bring it up for discussion. Something to consider is to ask for a lease with an option to buy if you’d be interested in purchasing the property down the line.