Renting a property, whether it is a house, an apartment or an office space can seem straightforward. You look for a property, you contact the rental property owner, sign a lease and the property is yours to use as you see fit and of course as your lease states. However, there are some things that your rental property owner will be reluctant to divulge. Lucky for you, we’ve found the top secrets that rental property owners try their best to keep from any potential or existing tenants they have.
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1. Using a Property Management Company
The person you might be in contact with throughout your whole tenancy may not even be the owner of the property you are renting out. Many property owners choose to have a company take care of the management of their property, including finding tenants, maintenance and repair. The experts at Bricks and Agent property management believe that there is a personal benefit in using a property management company by hiring a professional. It is less stress, more freedom and more free time. Moreover, there was a law that can affect a landlord. But, you also have a federal law, these include property conditions and safety, tenant evictions, unit inspections, signing and terminating leases.
2. Rent-controlled Properties
What many tenants or people looking for rental do not know is that some properties are rent-controlled ones, or at least should be. This means that a rental property owner cannot raise the rent spontaneously or to an unexpected amount. Usually, rental property owners do not inform potential tenants about whether the rental is rent-controlled or not. If it is not, then the rental property owner can raise the rent at his will, and the tenant cannot do much about it, but if it is and the rental property owner tries to raise the rent, it is within the tenant’s right to not agree to pay.
3. Rent May Be Negotiable
Not many people know that rent is negotiable. This also includes the increase in rent increments over the years. You may be surprised to find that two people renting from the same property owner paying completely different amounts, although they may be renting a unit with a very similar layout.
4. How Much the Utilities Are
Sometimes, you might pay higher rent for the decorative aspects in a property, for example, full-length windows, or French doors, when in fact these have a direct effect on utilities. It is rare to find a rental property owner frankly giving away how much you are going to pay for utilities before you sign a lease. A tip here is to ask for figures of past utility bills before signing or getting into contact with the utility company first.
5. Dropping by Your Place
Like it or not, even though you are paying rent, you do not own this property, and a rental property owner is well within their rights to pass by either to check up on repairs or to show potential tenants the property. However, they cannot do so without giving you prior notice.
These are five secrets rental property owners or—if a property management company is the one in charge— a manager will try their best to hide from a tenant. Remember that you as a tenant have your own rights just as rental property owners do, so do not be afraid to ask for them. Make sure to read over the lease a couple of times, or better yet get a lawyer to look it over for you as a precaution.
