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Almost everyone becomes a renter at some point in their lives. It could be you, and it could become your children if you have any. That’s why everyone should know what questions to ask when renting a house.
Learning how to handle the tenant-landlord relationship is crucial to anyone renting a home, so knowing what to look for and what to ask is a cornerstone for navigating what it means to be an adult. To start you and yours on the right path, we’ve compiled a list of questions that you should consider asking as you think about finding housing for rent.
By When Do You Hope To Have The Home Filled?
Start the discussion with the landlord with this question. Having a timeline in place lets you know if you are in a time crunch or if you have some time to make a decision. It also saves you wasted time if you know you won’t be able to meet the deadline they want to achieve.
Even if you’re the ideal tenant, if the landlord needs someone sooner than you’re available, then meeting and talking about the rental isn’t going to do anyone any good.
How Long Is The Lease?
While not quite as open-ended as other questions, this is an important one to ask up front. If you only need some place to live for six months, but the lease requirement is two years, then nothing else really matters from a business perspective.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask if the landlord is willing to make exceptions. Occasionally, they are willing, so you do need to know one way or the other before going forward with getting more information about the property you’re interested in.
You can also extend your question into whether or not the lease can be renewed at the end of the duration or if you can continue to live there on a month-to-month basis.
Can You Clarify Rent?
By asking the landlord to clarify the rent, you give the opportunity for them to let you know what the current rent is for the property along with the expected deposit. If the price has changed from the listing, there are a couple of possibilities.
A higher price in the listing may contradict what the landlord is currently expecting. If the price is lower, you can get a better price than expected. If the rate is higher, you can point out the difference and likely get the lower price.
Can You Please Clarify What Is Included With Rent?
Certain properties also include the cost of utilities with the rent. Theoretically, this should be described in the ad that led you to the landlord, but you should ask just to be sure so that you don’t find out that you can’t afford the monthly cost after the fact.
If utilities are included, make sure you know which ones. Some rental properties will include electricity, but they may not include water or trash pickup. Others will include all of the utilities including certain amenities like cable, satellite, or even wifi.
Can You Tell Me More About Deposits And Other Fees?
This question works the same way the rent questions do because you may find out that the deposit is less than you were expecting to pay. It also lets you know if there are any other fees that you will have to pay. You can find out whether or not there is a non-refundable deposit required, too.
Plot twist! Some states have laws in place that say non-refundable deposits are illegal, so check your state laws before interviewing a landlord to make sure they’re not doing anything they’re not supposed to. You may want to steer clear because they are knowingly doing this or they are not keeping up with the laws, neither of which bodes well for you.
Another answer you should listen for is regarding pet deposits if you have a furry friend that you want to have live with you. Many places do have a no-pet policy while others may have restrictions on specific breeds, sizes, or other various conditions.
How Should I Pay You?
Asking about how the landlord accepts payment can very well make or break your decision to sign a rental agreement. If they require payment methods you don’t have, then you’re going to need to decide if it’s worth it to go forward. As an example, if they require a service like Venmo or Paypal and you don’t have an account, you need to decide if you feel comfortable paying like that.
Alternatively, if they tell you that payment must be cash only, there are precautions that you need to take. The best advice is to stay away from a cash-only rental, but if you don’t have any other options, make sure you always get a written receipt that is dated and signed for every payment you make.
What About Late Fees Or Lease Termination?
Most landlords understand that life happens and that people are going to be late on payments every so often or that the lease may have to be terminated. You also need to understand that when you’re late on your rent or need to end your contract early, you may also be putting your landlord’s financial obligations in jeopardy.
As an example, if your rent pays the mortgage on a rental property, when you’re late, there is likely a late fee that is assessed on the payment. Expect to pay that late fee because it’s only fair. There may also be a fee to terminate a lease early because the landlord needs to be able to meet their obligations, too.
Be wary of a landlord that tells you that you can pay your rent when you can or that you absolutely cannot end your lease early — the first means that they’re not great at following their own rules and the latter means that you could be setting yourself up for failure.
Is There A Subletting Policy?
You need to know if there is a policy in place that allows subletting, so add this one to the list of questions to ask when renting a house or any unit. This is useful in case you do ever need to leave early. What it means is that the landlord allows you to find someone to take your place in the rental unit should you ever need to leave.
How Do You Screen Applicants?
You want the landlord to give you details about how they select their tenants. By asking this question and giving them the opportunity to elaborate on their criteria, it lets you know what they expect from you.
Some landlords also require credit reports as part of the process. Find out what kind of report they pull because a hard report has a negative impact on your credit, and a soft report does not. If they aren’t sure about which report they’re pulling, it’s a safe bet that it is likely a hard pull which will hurt your credit.
How Would You Describe Your Perfect Tenant?
This can be a very telling question. Depending on how the landlord answers, you’ll get a glimpse of how the tenant thinks as well as what the landlord expects of the tenant. It will also help you decide if you’re the type of tenant that the landlord wants.
As an example, if the landlord tells you that the ideal tenant doesn’t have kids or pets, if you have either one of those, then you may as well be out of the running. The landlord may also show discriminatory preferences, so if that’s a problem for you, you’ll have a chance to hear it and decide.
Don’t Be Afraid To Ask The Questions
If you’re new to renting, you may feel a bit intimidated, so remember that asking the questions can make your life easier in the future. Open-ended questions are the best because you can get your potential landlord to give more information than was initially intended.
Letting the landlord ramble about the property can give you some insight into the property, the landlord, and how they might handle tenants or issues that may arise. If you go in knowing what questions to ask when renting a house, you’ll be ahead of the game.
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But, that’s OK. I eventually learned to become honest with myself. And then I went out and hired a nice property manager to handle all my rental units….dealing with the tenant complaints, collecting rents, selecting tenants when old ones left, keeping my vacancy rate down, maintaining my properties, and inspecting them on a regular basis. Oh – and supplying me with monthly accounting statements as well. Let’s face it – if you don’t have the right temperament for the job, fire yourself! And hire a property management company. While you’ll be paying a management company fifteen percent of your gross rent roll, it may well be worth it in your time – and more importantly – your sanity – saved.
include being entrepreneurial, being decisive, and having a proper aptitude (though not genius-level) with math, as well as being meticulous, grounded, and having stick-to-itiveness. These are some of the basic qualities a good property investor will display. Notice I did not include: being good with people, or being a “wheeler-dealer” type. These two traits are not something you need…and they can be learned, as well as delegated to others. That’s what property managers , as well as real estate agents come in and can do for you.
business to take on the added risks. Rather, hands-on property investors enjoy wearing many different hats: being the site locator, searching for properties, then being good numbers crunchers to see which are the most attractive properties available at any given time.
understand that this is no simple task. Here are the most basic responsibilities of property managers: Maintaining your rental property – As your own manager, you’ll be responsible for regular on-site checks on your building(s) to ensure proper safety and regular upkeep/maintenance. Also, you’ll be responsible for all emergencies (ie. – emergency calls from tenants), and making sure the right tradesperson is called to fix the problem, as well as follow-up to ensure the problem was fixed properly, quickly, and resolved to the satisfaction of your tenant – all at the most affordable cost to you. Ask yourself if you’re okay with these emergency calls from tenants – whether in the daytime, or in the middle of the night and on weekends. If you’re a calm person who’s good at “putting out fires” without it taking an emotional toll on you, then by all means you’ll be a good property manager for your own real estate holdings. If not, look towards hiring a professional property management company.
handyman you’re comfortable with can suffice, as he can perform many of these tasks as a general all-in-one repair/maintenance service person who‘s “on call” for you. In addition, you’ll need to advertise, locate, screen and approve all tenants. Show your rental units that are vacant. Prepare all leases, and have them signed. Collect rent from all tenants. Make all collection calls on delinquent tenants. Represent yourself in any tenant eviction process, if necessary. Work with your attorney to aid in a smooth eviction. And keep all accounting for each property – you’ll need to deliver to your accountant each tax season a proper set of books ( or files) for each building you own.
cash flow problems paying your expenses. As part of your job as your own property manager, you’ll also want to stay in regular (at least once a month) contact with your tenants. Many times, tenants will not tell you about “small” problems they’ve been having with your property – until it’s a big problem. By being pro-active, you can scope out these problems when they are indeed small. So, for example, you can ask each tenant each month if there are any issues you should be aware of – for example, any small leaks going on in the unit, any bug problems they’re seeing, any safety-related issues (say, a constant flickering light that would indicate a potential electrical wiring fire hazard). By asking you’ll stay way ahead of the curve – and be able to jump on any potentially big problems when they’re still small – and easily (and cheaply) corrected!
best for you to better understand the rigors that come with managing your own properties. And in the process, you will develop a finer appreciation for the sheer amount of work and expertise required of the job. Even with property management software readily available online, it’s still going to be a learning experience for you. And this experience will only help serve you in good stead as you move forward, and purchase your next investment property. You’ll know from limited experience how demanding property management can be – and time consuming as well. You may find that it will be much smarter for you to hire a property manager as you grow your investment property empire. By doing so, the extra cost for their services should be outweighed by your time costs, as a property management company will aid in providing you more time to search for new property acquisitions.
truly is no such thing as privacy in our world anymore due to the internet, it is now ridiculously easy to gather intel, er….I mean…background information, on anyone. This makes screening tenants a cinch. In fact, any property investor who decides to manage their own properties can simply and inexpensively utilize the services of independent, online tenant screening companies who will do the leg work for you. Not that this leg work is all that difficult to begin with…but if you like to delegate this kind of simple, but time-consuming work, then by all means use these services.
meticulously interview current and former landlords and employers of any prospective tenant. Rather obviously, this would be a time consuming process. But today, you have many options available for screening good tenants, and weeding out the bad ones from the quality ones. I have even written in a much older prior article here (from several years ago – ie., the days of yore) about doing one’s own reference checks. I went on to elaborate on what a time consuming process it could be.
they will be keeping their job long into their tenancy with you? And, of course, do they earn enough income to support your rent? These are the kinds of simple, basic questions you need to get answered when running reference checks on potential tenants.”
obtained, with the permission of the tenant. Some landlords allow the tenant to supply their own credit report…while other landlords prefer to do it themselves – but have the potential tenant pay the fee for pulling a report. In addition, many landlords include charging a separate fee for pulling a background check as well. This background check will research and reveal any potential tenant’s past criminal history, if any exists.
false information (disinformation) can be widely disseminated very easily nowadays.
Experian that provides credit reporting. Likewise, another tremendously large and reputable credit reporting company, Transunion, offers one of the top tenant screening services as well. You really can’t miss if you utilize either Experian’s or Transunion’s tenant screening services. They are top-flight. If you check online, you can also find more localized companies, if it’s important to get your data closer to home. In addition, check these local companies out by looking at their tenant screening services reviews as well. Their online reviews will provide a wealth of information that will help you in your selection process.
Once chosen, some property investors prefer to pay the tenant screening service directly, while others may have the prospective tenant pay for the service. Either way, the landlord obtains the most up-to-date data available about any possible tenant. The winning combination of a great credit report and commensurately high credit rating and no criminal background will virtually ensure a good tenant. It is for these reasons that finding and securing quality tenants today has become such a science.
to ingratiate yourself with them (thus helping to explode the stereotypical landlord image). On their first day, meet with them to go over the operation of appliances in the unit, as well as to discuss area amenities they should check out. It’s also a good idea to offer them a small housewarming gift too. Remember, this is a business. And it’s always easiest and least expensive for any business to retain clients than it is to search for new ones.
of natural disasters befalling the United States, as well as the world, involve numerous hurricanes, with so many becoming calamitous. Jonas 2016 was the latest in a series of acts of God that have befallen the U.S. And with each natural disaster, whether in liquid form, resulting in tremendous flooding damage, or with the advent of heavy snow storms, resulting in snow damage to huge swaths of the country, property investors need to be extremely well-prepared. A healthy hurricane can flood your rental property with ease, depending on it’s site location. A large snow storm can produce numerous extra damage and costs for the property investor – not to mention the costs of simple snow removal.
stressed enough. You can secure your property with extra flood insurance (if your insurance company will allow it), you can take all necessary precautions to lessen the damage of any potential storm to your investment, and you can (and must) certainly build into your pro forma income statement a generous allowance for emergencies. But until you’ve waded through your property’s flooding basement in the middle of the night, wondering why you purchased this house, and ruining your decision to having done so, you eventually learn that each property you acquire will be an altogether new learning experience in how best to protect your investment.”
have gone so far as to recommend in prior articles here that “before bidding on any investment property, make sure to add a line item in your pro forma income statement as a provision for just such emergencies, like storm related damage. It’s very easy to blow this off, especially when you’re trying to make a deal work on paper before you purchase. And don’t expect insurance to necessarily pick up the costs – some policies don’t allow for flood damage, and even if it is covered, you’ll still have a deductible to contend with too. And then there are the potential demands of your tenants if they have any of their possessions damaged.”
around the perimeter. (Of course, always look for simple solutions to a water problem first. For example, if gutters are broken or missing, or if downspouts are emptying directly onto the perimeter, rather than being led out many feet from the house, these can be inexpensively corrected.) Installing a gravity-fed curtain drain system leading to a sump pit equipped with a sump pump inside the perimeter of the basement is the next best alternative for waterproofing. The main drawback: if the sump pump were to fail. That’s why, in a very flood-prone area, installing a secondary, battery run sump pump is always a good idea. Of course, if power were to go out for an extended period of time, you’re still going to have a problem. Unless you get a back-up generator to run during any power outage…
acquisition when crunching all your numbers. These represent the costs not normally associated with what the potential buyer (or tenant) will not see. An expense such as proper insurance should not be overlooked when estimating overall expenses. For property investors, underestimating the cost for insurance is simply foolish. I have noted before that “you should be considering getting full replacement cost for property in case of something catastrophic…If your asset is wiped out because of a flood or fire you do not want to be woefully underinsured. Thinking that you’re only going to hold the asset for a very short period of time in the case of flipping, or that your tenants don’t care what kind of insurance you carry is terribly shortsighted.
investment property is too valuable to risk taking such a huge loss (the difference between full replacement value and market value in insurance parlance) in case of catastrophe. If you’re going to save on insurance the best way to do it is through obtaining a higher premium deductible amount on the house. So instead of a $500 deductible, consider going with a thousand dollars or more for each claim’s deductible amount. This will at least help defray the added cost of getting full replacement value insurance on the property. But be sure to add this extra expense for the higher deductible into your pro forma income statements before you make any offer.
Property investors looking to squeeze out revenue from unlikely sources, such as their own home, have in recent years been able to avail themselves of companies like Homeaway, Flipkey, VRBO and Airbnb that offer home rental as a lower-cost alternative to hotels and other traditional vacation lodgings. By going online and booking a vacation stay through private homes offered through these services, the average vacationer can ultimately save themselves a great amount when booking their vacation stay. However, as an investment, it can be risky business.
company offers the most comprehensive selection of rentals for families and groups to find accommodations such as cabins, condos, castles, villas, barns and farm houses. Unfortunately, this vacation rental marketplace is still, by and large, left unregulated. So it is ripe for abuse. In addition, the hotel industry is constantly waging war with these online firms and the private homeowner/vacation rentals they represent. Most private vacation rentals do not require any local municipality license (though this has been changing – see below). In addition, most homeowners renting out their residences do not have to pay hotel bed taxes. This too has been slowly changing over just the last year or two. In my small upstate New York community, our local county supervisors just expanded their “bed tax” definition to include not only vacation lodging with area hotels, but also private homes as well. It’s a trend that’s sweeping the country, as municipalities look to expand their revenue base anyway they can. Now, enforcing this new bed tax law is another issue altogether…
year-round rental units simply because they tend to be seasonal in nature. So cash flows thrown off from any vacation rental property are not uniformly consistent throughout the year. Ultimately, this makes for a greater likelihood of negative cash flows on an annualized basis. In addition, vacation homes, and time shares as well, are difficult to predict performance over the long term, due to market fluctuations and the overall state of the economy – depending on where they are located. Certainly foreign investments are even riskier, having much greater market fluctuations abroad than in the United States. Values can drop unexpectedly based on demand factor fluctuations. After all, vacations are made up of leisure time dollars. Thus, trying to predict future rental income and cash flows based on prior historical data is a tricky proposition. Also, keep in mind that vacation homes and time shares can be difficult to sell quickly should you need to get out fast.”
online pro-home rental advocacy group, they note about recent legislation in the San Francisco Bay area: “on July 14, supervisors in the Bay City passed an amendment that would increase scrutiny on short-term renters in order to ensure they are following local regulations. Two amendments addressing complaints by local residents were considered, but in the end the more lenient of the two was passed, giving the recently created Office of Short-Term Rental Administration and Enforcement greater power to impose existing regulations. It also leaves the maximum cap on the number of days people can sublet their homes at 90 days per year; the stricter proposal would have cut the number to 75 days and require STR-hosting sites to submit quarterly reports to the city. “Home-sharing is here to stay in our city,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell. “The proposal in front of me today builds on our current law.” Dale Carson, the leader of a group that opposes STRS said that even with the OSTRAE’s new powers, the 90-day cap will be difficult to enforce. “Pray tell,” he said “how is the city to determine when a host is sleeping in her own bed each night?”
following and popularity in this country and abroad, property investors should know all the pitfalls of this type of investment when considering all their investment opportunities in real estate. At the very least, read up on your local laws regarding short term rentals. These laws are changing fast from community to community around the U.S. As I mentioned in a prior article here, “be wary of one other story that has circulated in the news recently, providing Airbnb with some rather nasty bad publicity. The incident involved a host who rented out their unit to a traveler for a month, only to find that the traveler would not leave. Due to local law, once the traveler occupied the unit for at least 30 days, they were considered a “tenant.” And as such, they were afforded all protections due tenants in tenant law. And the host had to go through a very long, expensive eviction procedure to have the “traveler” removed.” As a vacation renal property investor, make sure you fully understand all local ordinances regarding short term stays, as well as landlord/tenant law before using a service such as Airbnb or VRBO.
