PRETTY YOUNG THING

Today's post is all about my top tips for renting. I've been renting for about a year and a half now and have had a few ups and downs along the way. I found blog posts such as this really helpful when we were looking at renting as if was all new to us and we had only ever lived at home with parents. Below are a few of my top tips for renting, if you have any questions and I haven't covered it below then just send me a comment or email and i'm happy to help or check out the HomeLet website for lots of information about renting for tenants and landlords.

ORGANISATION - You need to be organised when renting, from looking at properties to moving in. When looking at properties you need to know how much you are willing to spend and how much you can afford, you need to know what you want, how many bedrooms?  a garden? bath or shower?

Write a list of properties you want to enquire about with estate agent information and numbers and make sure you have all your documents ready to go! We found renting was very speedy you need to get your applications in quickly, they usually need to see your financial documents and get you to fill out forms with your passport details so have everything to hand.

When you actually move in it's good to go into the empty house/ flat etc and take photos of everything. That way you have proof of what was in the house when you moved in and what kind of state it was in. This makes it easier when your trying to get your deposit back when moving out. Also write a list of these things too just incase you loose the photos as a backup. We have a folder where we keep all of the bills, documents and I have kept this list safe in here.


PAYING THE BILLS - As well as your rent, you have other bills to pay like council tax, utility bills like water, gas, electric and internet. I set up a joint account with Clint and we use this to pay all of these bills. We each put money in on payday and this covers all of these bills so we don't have to worry. Try and set up your bills so they come out at around the same time, all of our bills come out on the first of the month which makes it easy to remember. Use comparison websites to get the best deals on your utility bills, don't just stick with what the previous tenant had.

INSURANCE - You should get some kind of content insurance should you have any kind of accident, this covers your stuff as most landlords insurance doesn't cover your things. Also appliances should be checked regularly. Our boiler and gas appliances are checked every year to make sure it's safe.

TENANCY AGREEMENT- Make sure you have an up to date tenancy agreement. If you have been living at the same place for a while or you decided to have a short term tenancy agreement then have a look over this and make sure it's up to date. You may have originally agreed on a 6 month tenancy but now a 12 month tenancy would suit you better, get in touch with your landlord or estate agent about updating the agreement if you feel it's now out of date.














* This post is in collaboration with HomeLet