Hunting For Flats – Mistakes You Totally Want To Avoid

When hunting for apartments, it is easy to quickly lose sight of important things you need to look out for to ensure that the place you end up renting is not going to be a place you want to leave within a week or two. Below are some helpful reminders when it comes to apartment-hunting:

•    Read the lease! – You (or anyone else for that part) definitely might not bother to read the terms and agreements of applications you install. And you might certainly not feel inclined to read the fine print of your lease. But that is a grave mistake. If you do not read your lease thoroughly before signing it, you might end up being held accountable for things your landlord did not inform you of previously.

•    How is the landlord? – This is a very common advice. Many people who have lived in apartments recommend people on apartment-hunting to first find a landlord they can get along with. Having a landlord that is hard to get along with is going to only worsen your life, as you will find yourself getting into a number of arguments and disagreements.

•    Check for infestations of any sort – Check the cabinets (both below them and their corners), corners of the rooms and near fridges and other appliances for any signs of bugs and infestations. If a room smells of bug spray, that is a dead giveaway that it is infested with bugs (and a reason to drop the apartment without further thought).

•    Check the water pressure, draining, etc. – Make sure that faucets, showers and the toilets all work properly. Fill them all up and drain them at once, flush the toilets at the same time, see how powerfully water comes from the shower, check the time it takes for hot water to come out, etc.

•    Check that all power outlets work – you’ll need to make sure that the apartment has accommodation for all the various electrical appliances you have – from the fridges and ovens to the routers and chargers. We live in a modern era closely related with electricity, so this has become a point of extreme importance nowadays. Make sure to individually check that each and every power outlet works, and that there are enough in every room (at least two or three).

•    Do a background check on other services – check what internet service providers are available in the area, how and where stations for public transport are, where grocery shops and other shops are. Also, within the apartment itself, make sure to confirm the policies they have: if you have plans to buy pets, you might want pet friendly apartments, for example.

• Take proof of all damages! – Last but not least, make sure to take digital photos of the state of the apartment before you moved in. These will serve as proof that you have not damaged the apartment when it’s time to move out, and help you to get back your deposit from the landlord.