Rental homes become a necessity when the person is on transferable job and has to reside in a particular city or town for a couple of weeks, months, or years. Hotels and motels are an expensive option. Paying guest accommodations are hard to find. Finally, buying and selling homes is not very easy. Different states and countries have different set of rules relating to rental homes.
There are a few things that the owner of the property needs to check about the person to whom he or she is letting the property. Likewise, the person renting the home needs to inspect the home and check whether everything is in order before stepping in. In addition to these, there are some legal obligations for both the parties. The property owner needs to ensure that the home has the entire required infrastructure for being called habitable. Primarily this means that the house has access to water, power, sewerage, and gas.
Apart from these basic amenities, the house structure should be in a good condition so that the building remains in good condition for the entire rental period. Therefore, there should be no walls or roofs, or any part of them that are likely to collapse. In most countries, there are notices given to home owners if their buildings are too risky for living. Such notified buildings should not be rented. If not, there could be legal implications for the rental property owner. Such home owners also need to check the credentials of the person arriving to take the property on rent.
This means:
- that home owners need to confirm
- whether or not the person is employed
- and whether he or she has a good credit score
This is a precautionary measure as it ensures that the rent would be received in time, and there would be fewer hassles. After the bombings of the World Trade Center, many countries have introduced laws for knowing the customer, and this includes knowing the person to whom the property will be leased. There are identification papers, passports, and such documents that have to be checked before letting the property on lease.
A record of all fixtures and fittings is to be maintained by the owner so that when the tenant is leaving, these fixtures and fittings can be recovered. Insurance is another factor that needs to be discussed by the landlord and the tenant. More often than not, in rental homes, landlord insures the infrastructure and the house construction.
Tenant has to incur the insurance for any losses due to thefts, or natural calamities. Such coverage would include the fixtures and fittings belonging to the landlords. Tenant should also inspect the premises at the time of entering to confirm whether or not there are any major repairs that are needed, such as any plumbing job, sewage job, electrical repairs, etc. These should be specified before entering into agreement so that it becomes obligatory on the part of the landlords to take up such works. Even clearing any molds and insect infestation is part of such inspection.
If necessary, services of a qualified property inspector can be taken to ensure that every part of the property being taken on rent is truly habitable. There are several websites these days that list the rental homes in various localities. How much rent is reasonable for a particular locality can be easily determined from these sites. Real estate brokers or agents help people in finding the right type of rental homes.
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