Online House Hunting

house hunting...?

I am looking for a house to rent. What type of questions should I ask the landlord about the house I am interested in?

Public Comments

1. who pays for water, trash and landscaping. good luck :)
2. if it is a lease by owner , you need to make sure you get a good detailed lease that helps you just as much as the owner. ask him if you will be paying for any repairs. and ask him there is any repairs that need to be done. ask if you can go through house and check it out before signing a lease then check for toilets flushing, leaking faucets, ceiling fan working right, make sure all the appliances work, including the hvac. check the filter. if it has a yard ask who does yard work and what is expected of you . if there are any repairs that need to be done, put it as an addendum to lease that they all will be done prior to move in at owners expense, and before you put any furniture in the place go through and write down everything on a move in inventory form or a note pad, of things like a spot on carpet a nail hole etc... things you can live with and don't need to be repaired but don't want to be charged with when you move out. if there isn't a lease to sign then move on. also ask them how long house has been a lease property and if he wants a long term tenant.
3. What's the rent, what does it include, what are your responsibilities, what do the utilities average (the ones that you have to pay - electric - gas - water etc.). Now the BIG one. Once you settle on a rental, BEFORE you take possession go through the place with the landlord/manager WITH a digital camera or even better with a camcorder, get an image of every flaw big or little, look in drawers, pictures of every stain in the carpet and any chips on a counter, under sinks INSIDE AND OUTSIDE the place - EVERYTHING!!! Consider it this way the more pictures you take now the more security deposit you will get back when you leave (assuming you don't break a lease). All too often landlords/managers must get confused about which unit is which and the way they remember it when you move out is that yours was perfect when you moved in and the other one needed some work - I'm sure it's an honest mistake.