Home Rental Checklist

Considering renting a home? If so there are a few things you should be thinking about as you decide on a home to rent.

There are two aspects of a home rental to think of: inside the home and outside the home.

For outside the home, here is a basic checklist of things to think about. This list is not everything you may think about - use it as a primer for finding the right home to rent.

• If you look at the home, do you feel safe looking at it and do you feel safe looking around the neighborhood. If you get a feeling of being unsafe you may just want to move along to the next place. One of the primary things about renting is safety and feeling secure - if you don't you shouldn't try to convince yourself that it is ok.
• Don't feel afraid to knock on a neighbor's door of the home you are looking to rent and ask them about the neighborhood. You should also stop in at the local police department to see if there are any problems in the area that you should know about.
• What is in the area? Are you used to convenience of location for restaurants or laundrymats or shopping malls? You want to keep in mind where the local amenities are to see if they are close enough for your liking. Location of schools, restaurants and other retail shops are not equally important to everyone so make sure you take a look at what is important to you and do your home rental shopping accordingly.

Inside the home, hopefully if you are considering renting a home you have walked through it. If you haven't walked through it, make sure you do, or make sure you have someone representing you through the home - surprises after you sign the lease can be expensive and are for sure unncessary. The time to find out that there is something wrong with the home is after you have signed your lease and put down your deposit.

• Check for major appliances - does the home come with a refrigerator, washer and dryer? If they are not in the home, is the landlord going to be putting them in, or do you have to get your own? Will the landlord compensate you if you get them?
• Get everything in writing - verbal agreements are the worst thing to overcome between two people who do not know each other. If you think about it, when you are just starting to rent from someone they do not know you and you do not know them - don't trust them to do the right thing. If you agree to something with the landlord, make sure you get the agreement in writing. Let's say you agree that you can take money off your rent for painting expenses. It can almost be bet on that the first check that you send in with less than full payment you will probably have to have a conversation with the landlord about why your check is short. They may "forget" about the verbal agreement - this is especially true if who you rent from is different from the rental company.
• Make sure you check all of the plumbing. One common place where you may have a problem with renting a home is a home that has low water pressure, or backed up sinks. Make sure you check these things if they are important to you. Do the sinks clog up when you leave the water running. Does the toilet cycle after you flush it? All of these things could add up to increase utility bills, or problems after you move in.
• Can you open and close the windows in the home? The worst thing is not being able to open windows when you want to. Some homes, depending on their age, may have the windows painted shut - you may have a hard time opening them. Make sure you check to make sure that you can.
• Ask about the AC Unit and the heater. You should know when the last maintenance was on it so you can make sure it keeps getting done after you move in. Find out whose responsibility it is to have the maintenance done. When was the last time the filter was changed - you may want to change it right away after you move in. Make sure you know where to change the filter.
• Electricity - make sure you ask about the circuit breakers and where are the located. You never know when you need to flip the switch in terms of a blown breaker.