Tenant In A Rent-By-Room Apartment? Here Are Some Tips For You
As explained in the previous article, rent by room is a strategy wherein the landlord rents out each room in the property to different individuals. Here the landlord earns higher rentals, while the tenants can get a room to live in at a much affordable rent when compared to renting a complete apartment.
In such a set up while each tenant has their room as their private space, the living area, terrace, and kitchen are common to all.
While we shared some tips for landlords earlier, here is some advice the tenants need to follow to such a property:
A clean slate
To begin with, in a property where you are living with other unknown individuals, it becomes imperative for the landlord to know that you are disciplined and have a good behaviour to live in such a setup. The landlord screens tenants for such properties more closely to ensure that there are no conflicts between the tenants. Moreover, the safety of each tenant is the priority of the landlord, hence, ensure that you have a clean slate in terms of behaviour.
Ready to stay?
Landlords face a constant problem of tenants moving out within a matter few months, and not completing their usual 11 month period. So, before you think of opting for a rent-by-room property think through. Can you live with other unknown individuals? Do you like interference in your work? What if someone is using your grocery? Can you keep a check on your belongings? If the answer to all of this is yes, you might be able to live here. Moreover, it would be difficult for you to host get-togethers with your friends at this property. Think through all these situations before you sign the dotted line.
Compatibility
If you have established that you can live with the small challenges, it is time to meet your co-tenants and understand whether or not you are compatible with them. Do chat with them and understand their preferences and share yours. All of you together could even set up time for the other to use the common areas. Or, if you get along together, fix a time where you all can sit together to have a nice time together when living in the property.
Screen the landlord
This is equally important as is the screening of the co-tenants. A landlord, in a scenario where he is handling multiple tenants in one go, should be a patient listener and an easy-to-go-to person. Check with your landlord about how he would handle a conflict, what about repairs and maintenance, how quick he can respond to queries or tenants' urgent needs. If you think the landlord is not proactive, think about moving into the property once again.