How to Find a Good Rental Apartment

So, the peak season for renting apartments, or August-September, is approaching at a terrifying pace. Therefore, it's the right time to review what to pay attention to when searching for a rental apartment, so that everyone can have a good life and peace in their home afterwards.

Ad-ad: apartment to rent!

Right, start your search for a rental apartment from classified ad portals. For example, on our portal, we've made finding a rental apartment incredibly easy and the filters are applied to the search almost automatically. Try it here >>

Save your preferred search and check regularly for new offers until one day it's there – your new rental home.

Also let people know loudly about your home search desire on Facebook, because sometimes a friend's tenant is just moving out and who wouldn't want a good acquaintance as a tenant!

Check how long the ad has been up

As it's known, the best offers go like hot cakes. With older ads, sometimes there's the story that there might be something wrong with the apartment or the price is too high. Fresher stuff is usually better.

As for the hottest offers, sometimes real estate agents organize so-called open houses to find suitable tenants, where they invite multiple interested parties at once and interview them. Usually, the agent is interested in whether they're dealing with a calm person and whether the tenant candidate makes a decent impression. Well, the goal is to find someone with whom there would be no noise and payment problems.

But where do I put my dog?

Pet owners have a slightly more difficult time finding a rental apartment, because animals pose a potential threat to the apartment's interior and many owners don't want to risk it. But let's say that there are also very many nice apartment owners who have nothing against furry friends. Finding a suitable apartment might just take a bit more time.

What happens to my favorite armchair?

Let's say you have some very nice piece of furniture that you want to bring to your new home. If you've found a nice apartment but there's already a lot of furniture in there, then talk to the owner or the real estate agent who's mediating the apartment. Maybe they're interested in a long-term satisfied tenant who wants to watch football from their personal armchair in the evening, and are therefore willing to remove some furniture. By the way, unfurnished apartments are also a bit cheaper.

Go there definitely

The pictures might make it seem like your dream home, but visiting in person is necessary for several reasons. First, you get the real feeling of the space – whether this is really the right place or not.

Second, you need to identify possible apartment defects so you can fix them in the contract or have them fixed immediately. The latter includes, for example, a clogged sewer and in the former category a scratched door or broken furniture.

Third, check the condition of windows and walls, especially in an older building. We know of cases where, in an otherwise quite nice apartment, winter living turned out to be relatively extreme.

Is the rent price final?

Found a good and sweet offer? To make sure it's really that way, definitely ask to see utility bills for both summer and winter months. Maybe the apartment's maintenance costs are astronomical and that's why they can't ask for much rent either. Be sure to investigate this.

If the rent price seems a bit steep, we'd like to suggest that you haggle it down like any other transaction, although unfortunately your chances of a price reduction for a rental apartment are quite slim. But you can still try.

Check if the person acting as owner is actually the owner

Sometimes there are all kinds of scammers operating in the rental market, and that's why we recommend that you check whether the owner really is who they claim to be. You can get help from the land register.

It will also be useful to you if you get information about the previous residents: how long they lived in this apartment, for example. If that time wasn't longer than a few months, it's worth being cautious. Even better if you can ask them directly what's the deal with this apartment.

What about extras?

Also agree on the use of storage space and parking spot. Sometimes these are included in the price, but that's not always the case.

Always sign a rental agreement

In addition to other terms, write down all the broken things and defects that you notice about the apartment. Otherwise, it may turn out that you pay for defects when you leave the apartment that you didn't cause.

Always pay rent to a bank account

When paying to a bank account, a record of the transaction is left and the transfer can be easily proven later. This way you prevent potential problems.

PS: Check rental offers that aren't yet on other portals from here >>