So, friends, planning to move out of parents’ home; or looking for a perfect rental home to move to with your sweet little family? Whatever is your excuse to be moving, it is necessary to make a plan and stick to it before moving, it is like the way you look for quality car rental services or anything. Use your office Planning and Organizing skills to good use to look for that perfect place you would like to call your Home.
Here we present to you the easy steps to find just the right place:
Step One: Need analysis & prioritizing
Are you looking for a place to stay alone or with family or for that matter with friends? Accordingly, put down pointers on what kind of rental are you looking for. For eg If you have a family and kids then you would want an independent space with multiple rooms and open space (if you can afford) where kids can play and have fun. If you’re alone but don’t like to be alone, then looking for shared spaces would be best. Whatever be the needs, jot them down. It is also good to prioritize them. Like mentioned earlier, you find that perfect rental with a backyard and swimming pool but there are safety concerns in the neighborhood then it is better to let it go and find a safer option. Hence it is important to prioritize the jotted needs.
Step Two: Decide your budget
To get the best place to find home rental, the first thing you should think of is your budget. Whatever be your personal or family income, you should make a budget and spend accordingly. It is always better to save up for that rainy day. All investment gurus and financial analysts swear by the rule that first invest and then spend. Decide a percentage of your income that you could spend on finding a rental; it should have a floor price and ceiling price. Floor price could be what minimum you can spend so that you can put up in the budget detail in that website or mention it to the real estate agent. However never give your ceiling price to the agent. Aim to find a house 20% below your ceiling price so that when you actually find one, that 20% can be used for missing furniture or that perfect décor item you desperately wanted or just to put in your savings.
Step Three: Choose the Neighborhood
Shortlist the neighborhood or areas that you would like to live in. This step is interchangeable with step two if the most basic of all that is safety concerns. If your budget is not enough for a safe neighbourhood you would most likely end up being mugged or worse! But apart from safety, there are other factors to consider like accessibility and connectivity to the basic necessities like hospitals & drug stores, grocery stores, parks, etc. If you have kids, is there a school nearby or day-care centers for them. If your old parents live with you, is there a good library or recreational places for them in the neighbourhood. In addition, you also should consider renting house facilities.
Step Four: Go Look!
I mean it….. If you want to find that perfect rental home it won’t come looking for you, you will have to put efforts to find that perfect place. Looking online will help you initiate the search as per your budget and preferable neighborhoods but it should not be the only way. You should go down there and see the place for yourself, visit, and analyze the neighborhood. Oh, and while looking for it, don’t get conned! There are so many scams like you found that perfect place but the agent says he’s out of town so cannot show you the place but you should pay deposit RIGHT NOW otherwise you lose the house! NEVER, EVER pay any kind of deposit or security money before actually visiting the place and meeting in person whom you are going to pay. You can also use social media and friend references to find a place, never shy away from asking for it.
Step Five: Acceptance v/s Uptightness
Neither of these two is going to do you any good. Do not say yes to the first place you come across. If you have really liked one in initial searches itself, you’re in luck! But keep that on hold and look for a few more places, who knows if your luck is doing you so well, you might actually find that perfect rental with aaaaalll the needs you had jotted down in step one in the budget determined by you… But at the same time, don’t be too uptight either. If you have a limited list of neighborhoods or have been looking for too long but nothing seems to be perfect, you’re being too hard one the landlords… Let yourself loose and select one already!!
Once you find the one, don’t finalize the deal just yet. Discuss the basics with the landlord – like furnishings cable internet, etc. If you have preferences be upfront and honest about them otherwise it might come up as an issue later.
