Home Improvement

5 Questions to Ask Before Renting an Apartment

May 2, 2019

Renting an apartment for the first time can be a trying ordeal, but it’s worth the extra effort than to skip the important details and regret it later. On that note, here are five questions that you should always ask before finalizing and signing the lease agreement.

What Facilities are Included in the Rent?


In other words, you are basically asking what costs the rent covers, if any. The electricity bill, gas bil, and water bill are expected to be covered in the rent itself, but certain landlords might throw in some extras such as Wi-Fi and cable TV.
The information helps to not just decide if the particular apartment is a good deal, but it also will make comparing your options easier.

Is There Parking?

Unless you don’t have a car, this is a major concern and, therefore, a very important question to ask.

Is there parking available, and if there is, are the charges included in the rent? If parking is not available, where will you be parking anyway? Unless the answers are satisfactory, it may not be the ideal option for you.

Will Management Change the Air Filters?


This is one of the common confusions that doesn’t become apparent to most people before they have signed the document and have even lived in the apartment for a few weeks because it’s not as obvious as it should be.

In case you are stuck in such a situation, wondering should my apartment change the air filters? The answer would be a yes, under most agreements. The BIGOS webpage linked above goes into more details regarding why it is supposed to be the duty of the apartment caretaking authority and not the tenants, so do check it out as it also has answers to a whole bunch of common questions that people often get confused about while renting an apartment.

Does the Lease Renew Itself Automatically?

There is such a thing as automatic lease renewal and before you sign an agreement, understand if the lease has it in there somewhere and what it might mean for you.
You will have to inform the building authorities in advance about your decision to not renew the lease at the end of its tenure (30 days at least). On failing to do so, you will have no option but to either leave by breaking the terms of the renewed lease and paying a hefty fine for that or stay in the same apartment for the entire lease period again.

What is the Pets Policy?


If you like dogs, cats and/or other pets, then it only makes sense that you ask what their policies are regarding pets in the building. Consider the following to understand why it is such an important question.

  • Some apartment buildings do not allow pets at all
  • Others may allow pets with severe restrictions on the weight, species, etc., of the pets you can keep.
  • The building management may ask for a pet deposit and/or a monthly fee for allowing pets

Do add more questions to this list because these are only meant to set you in the right direction, rather than being comprehensive in their entirety.

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