Rental real estate is growing by the day in Pakistan’s flourishing real estate market. This is due to the amazing potential of being able to earn consistent passive income by managing a rental property. Property for rent is a need of both consumers and benefits the owner greatly. The tenants can move into the property and have ease of access to their jobs or other facilities they may want, on the other hand the owner of this rental property can sit back and get rental income to put towards their own expenses.
Property for rent is a trend that is here to stay! Every other day a new house gets put up for rent, there are shops, farmhouses and apartment for rent on the real estate market.
In this mutually beneficial practice of renting out a property; a tenant needs to be vigilant. It is true that ultimately the final call is from your landlord; as a tenant you need to stay alert of red flags before entering a rental agreement. Moreover; one might think that the responsibility of the property and its wellbeing solely falls on the landlord; it is not ethically correct. Tenants also have some responsibilities towards the property. This article is a guide for the tenants… so without further ado let us get started!
Be considerate of your landlord and neighbors:
First and foremost e should address your behavior once you have moved into the rental property. It is true that the property is not owned by you and you have made a deal with the landlord to let you stay within a temporary timeframe + provide you with essential repairs; however this will never be able to justify you inducing damages onto the property for no reason. Instead of being careless that you do not have to pay for the damages; one should be more careful with the property as you do not own it.
It should go without saying but many landlords often complaint about the excessive damages caused on their properties by their tenants. It is highly immoral and unethical behavior for a tenant to go around and damage the property simply because the monetary responsibility does not fall for them. That is why every tenant is advised to be more careful and treat the house/apartment for rent as if they are a guest on the property.
More on the irresponsible behaviors exhibited by tenants; noise complaints are quite common. Once again one should not be overwhelmed by the fact that this isn’t your permanent residency… you will always have some responsibilities on the landlord and the neighbors that surround the rental unit. Hosting loud parties; blaring music at odd hours of night, doing craftwork at strange hours can be extremely displeasing for your neighbors so always be considerate of them.
Constant calling or nagging your landlord about unnecessary complaints and repairs can also end up becoming quite annoying for your landlord. Other than if the issue is affecting your safety and quality of life; leave it be for the time the landlord comes to visit or decides to chat with you. For example you might feel inclined to call even at odd hours of night regarding an electricity trip or gas leak but small things like a portion of wall flaking off that needs to be fixed or a clunky door knob needs to be put off for the time being.
Do not be the troublemaker:
Once you move into the apartment for rent; you are essentially a part of a community that surrounds you. Vandalizing public property, scratching out display boards, damaging floral or plant life, getting in trouble with the neighbors are all highly unethical for a person to do so.
As we stated above; as a tenant it should be your priority to treat your surroundings as if you are a guest at this place. Getting in fights with the neighbors or going about carelessly damaging their properties is absolutely horrendous. A tenant should be respectful to the property as well as their surroundings for the property for rent they are living in as well as the neighborhood and community. You might be at a temporary stay here but that does not compromise on the civic conduct you as a tenant are bound to keep.
Paying rent on time:
Another one of the ethical behaviors by a tenant is to pay their due rent on time. More often than not you would have heard landlord’s complaint about tenants not paying their rent on time. Such tenants themselves become quite desirable and if you are a regular in postponing your rent payment; an eviction order might be at its way for you.
Try to keep on a tight budget before your rent and save up the required amount you are to pay. If the rent payment falls in the middle of the month; you might need to divide out your budget so you don’t end up using the rental money. This becomes even more important if the due rent falls by the end of the month. Try to never postpone or leave rent payment up to the next week. Pay your rent on time so that you can be on the best terms with your landlord. It is important to understand that your landlord also depends on this source of passive income. By delaying your end of the rental payment you are essentially disrupting the landlord’s life.
Keep the receipts:
Now for the cautionary side for a tenant; first and foremost one should always keep a receipt of the monetary transactions. As disappointing as it may sound there are quite some fraudulent landlords who are often willing to trap their tenants in a court case and trick them to pay extra.
A vigilant tenant always keeps the receipts of monthly rental transactions as well as any bills of repair they had to make on the property. Keeping the records of all the monetary transactions can help out later on if you have unsuspectingly gotten into an agreement with a devious landlord. Simply by keeping a few papers that verify the money transfers by both sides you can potentially avoid months of time wasting legal battles with your landlord.
Read the fine print:
As with all real estate transactions it is important to finely read and understand the stipulations on a contract that you are signing. It isn’t unheard off that tenants often sign a lease that they were mislead into or simply did not fully understand the requirements of. This can produce undesirable results while you stay in the rental property and when you are moving out of it.
This is another heads up for any scams and frauds that people fall to many scam artists with try to tell you one thing and then forge the documentations so that you sign an unfavorable lease. This is why it is important to read the fine print of the documents before you finalize the agreement and pay the landlord any amount.
Notice the red flags:
Another one of the cautions a tenant should take is to always be alert. There are tons of warning signs you can see in a person that is tough to deal with. Having a landlord that is too controlling and too strict on their demands can be quite undesirable to deal with. On the other hand having a landlord that does not consider you complaints about the property seriously can be annoying as well.
Similarly if you find that the landlord is too nosey about what you do in the property despite you paying rent and conducting a very formal behavior is a big turn off for many tenants. Always complaining about your activity? Thinks you are a nuisance to the neighborhood? Wants your living standards to confirm to their vision of a good citizen? All are major red flags to avoid when choosing a rental property.
When you sign an agreement you have made a deal to stay in this person’s property at the cost of rent. What you haven’t signed up for is the constant bickering and meddling into your personal and social life.
Stay alert of the market scams:
There are plenty of scams on property for rent. For example you can find many fake listings online for rental properties that fish advances from people and then disappear without a trace. Always check the physical existence of the property before signing with such people. Similarly a posing or fake owner can rent out the property and pocket all the profits off of your rent; this too can mean legal trouble for you in the future… so stay careful on the real estate market.
Conclusion:
It is very important for the tenant to follow an orderly and respectful conduct towards the property and their surroundings. Also it is important for anyone looking for a property for rent to stay sharp of any scams or warning signs from your landlord before signing the lease. We hope this article was informative for you.
