The Guide for First-Time Tenants

Posted on 01/10/2015

One of the rites of passage in a person’s life is becoming independent. In the usual case, that moment comes when he or she moves out of the family nest and attempts living individually by oneself in a rented flat or house. The road to moving house however is a steep one and has its dents, so when you venture that way, you should have one or two things in mind while moving. Relocation is not as easy as flipping through ads until you find the right place at the right price and then calling a moving company to get your things over there. You need to do some planning and calculating to find not simply a place, but the place you want to be in. To do so, you need to follow a few steps.

• Do the math.
You need to know how much the move will cost you and you need a budget for it. Accounting is a very dull job, yes, but it is also necessary unless you want to risk ending up in an unfamiliar place with no money to spare. So sit down with a pen and paper, or a smartphone app, and punch in the numbers for an average rent, a rent’s worth of security deposit that you will have to give to the landlord in case of property damage and a percentage fee for the letting agent. This is the sum you will need to get the place. After that you are only required to pay your one month’s rent and your bills. Additional fees – if any – are a subject of negotiation with the landlord. And consider this an average fee – depending on the place you choose, the price can go up or down.

• Get a letting agent.
Find yourself a trustworthy letting agent who will find you just the place you need. Name specifics of the place – area, storey, whether you want to be alone, or you would like a shared house deal, preferred price to pay, and anything else you can think of. Do not, under any circumstances, just name a price and send him or her looking, or you will simply get a variety of places that fit the price but might not fit your taste. A good letting agent will even be able to recommend you a proper removal company to deal with your relocation.

• Choose the right area and lifestyle.
When your letting agent returns to you with offers, you should see what the area is like. Is it a lively neighbourhood, or a peaceful one? Does it have lots of stores around? Is it near the main street? Are there any things that could be disturbances in the future, like railways or huge factories? You have to pick not only the interior of your new abode, but the exterior as well lest you end up at a nice small flat with lots of noisy neighbours with constant loud gatherings on the street.

• Do a check out.
And never take at face value what your letting agent tells you, no matter how reliable he or she might be. Once you have an offer, go over there and do an inspection of your own. See if you like what you see and if you can – and want to – work with it.

And thus, the difficult part of finding a new abode is complete. Now all you have to do is arrange a date and time for the moving company, start packing, and wait for the removal vans to come over to get your things so that you can enter the brave new world of individualism.