A good area, a cozy atmosphere, a price below the market average and a pleasant, polite owner - all this does not mean that luck has finally smiled on you and the search for rental housing is over. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for an apartment for a day, a couple of months or years, renting real estate is a serious undertaking that requires a thorough approach and healthy suspicion. We have previously talked about the most common dangers that await you when renting a home. Now we’ll find out how to act to avoid trouble.
We suggest you figure out how to properly rent an apartment in modern realities: do it yourself or contact realtors, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to protect yourself and your money from scammers. We’ll tell you about a sequence of actions that will lead to results without complications or unpleasant surprises, and we’ll share proven secrets from real estate market experts.
Calls based on an ad
It’s rare that someone is lucky enough to call the first ad and immediately find housing. So, if you are seriously concerned about finding an apartment, make yourself a list of suitable options and start consistently communicating with the landlord’s representatives.
In some places you will be lucky to immediately contact the owner, in others a realtor will answer the call. If you don’t mind paying a commission, then the second option will suit you. It’s much worse to stumble upon a realtor who pretends to be the owner. If a person is already deceiving you at this stage, you should not trust him.
To avoid wasting time, ask a few questions about the apartment. If the interlocutor cannot give an answer with confidence or takes long pauses to answer questions that are not answered in the ad, this is most likely a realtor.
If a person already responds to the words “I’m calling about an apartment” and asks again, “Which apartment?” or asks for an advertisement number, everything is completely obvious here: you are dealing with an intermediary.
Whoever you're talking to, ask a few questions:
- How much does the apartment cost and are utilities included in the price? The price may differ from that indicated in the advertisement.
- Is there a commission? Sometimes not only realtors are ready to take it, but also the matchmaker-brother-cousin of the owner, on whose behalf the ad is posted.
- Is the owner ready to bring documents confirming his right to own the apartment?
Remember that at this stage you do not need to pay anyone anything. This is a direct path to becoming victims of a scammer.
2) Get to know the area of the desired apartment better
Renting an apartment is a process during which you need to doubt everything. As they say, it’s better to be overcautious than underdressed. Therefore, after checking the apartment based on the photo and description (don’t be afraid to ask the owners clarifying questions - for example, what is meant by “recently” in the phrase “the apartment was recently renovated”)
, don’t forget to check her surroundings as well. Alas, you won’t get to know your neighbors in one visit, but you can find out how things are going with the infrastructure in the area. And if you suddenly find out that “15 minutes to the metro” means running, “there are shops nearby” means closed ones, and “social institutions in the neighborhood” means a prison and a mental hospital, then look for a better option. Well, or agree to this one if nothing bothers you about it - the main thing is that there are no unpleasant surprises.
First visit
Deception schemes
It is better to familiarize yourself with all the owner’s documents now. This will help protect yourself from several fraud schemes at once:
- The criminals rent an apartment by the day and rent it out for a long period of time, and then disappear with the rent and deposit. Both the owner and the residents find themselves in an unpleasant situation.
- Fraudsters act in conjunction with the owners. The apartment is rented to you by a third party. You give money. But the next day, a supposedly angry landlord shows up and evicts you.
- One of the owners rents the apartment to you. But the co-owner or the landlord's spouse is not happy. And you will have to leave again.
Papers to check
Documents confirming ownership of the apartment
It could be:
- Certificate of ownership, if the property was transferred into possession before July 15, 2021.
- Extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate - for any object.
You can get an extract yourself; for this you need to know the exact address of the apartment. Just fill out the appropriate form on the Rosreestr website. For an electronic statement you will have to pay 400 rubles.
Technically, you can get this information in advance at the apartment address, but it’s a shame to waste 400 rubles. The document will be completed within three working days.
From the extract you can find out how many owners the apartment has and who they are.
It would also be nice if the owner brought a document according to which the right of ownership was transferred to him. It could be:
- Contract of sale.
- Certificate of right to inheritance.
- Property division agreement.
- The court's decision.
- Donation agreement.
This way, the owner of the apartment will undergo a kind of “two-factor authentication.”
Owner's passport
See if the passport data matches those indicated in the statements and contracts. Copy the series and number of your passport to check its validity on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website.
Pay attention to whether the person is married. Check the dates when the property was purchased. If at this time the owner was married, the notarized consent of the spouse is required to rent out the apartment. Otherwise, you can easily be evicted, as the lease agreement will be invalid. If the owner of the apartment is divorced, but was married when he bought it, then ask for a court decision or an agreement on the division of property, according to which the object went to him.
If the housing was inherited or given as a gift, then it is his personal property and the consent of the spouse does not need to be required.
Consent of other owners
The landlord must have written consent from the other owners. Otherwise, they can challenge the contract and demand your eviction at any time.
What the tenant should know
The goal of the tenant is to find a good apartment and live in it comfortably.
Here's what else a future tenant needs to know to avoid unpleasant surprises:
- You cannot go to inspect an apartment alone - there must be another close person nearby;
- you cannot pay in advance - no payments or even advances or deposits until the contract is signed and the keys are handed over;
- money can only be transferred against receipt; if payment is transferred by bank transfer, then there must be an extract;
- it is important to make sure that the owner does not have debts on utility bills; to check this, you need to request all receipts;
- at the time of concluding the contract, it is necessary to take readings from all meters and record them in writing;
- all agreements should not remain oral - they will have legal force only if they are recorded in the contract;
- an agreement valid for more than 12 months must be registered;
Expert opinion
Klimov Yaroslav
More than 12 years in real estate, higher legal education (Russian Academy of Justice)
Ask a Question
There is no need to be afraid of embarrassing the landlord, boring him or appearing too meticulous. It is your actions that determine how comfortable and trouble-free your future living in the apartment will be.
After the first visit
This is where your passport information, which you carefully copied, will come in handy. Check to see if the owner of the apartment is on the blacklist of landlords. Usually, the corresponding lists are easy to find on social networks or on specialized websites.
In addition, break it through the database of the Justice system. This way you will find out whether this person is suing a lot and because of what - maybe just because of the right to the apartment he is renting out.
This way you will protect yourself not only from scammers, but also simply from unpleasant people.
Useful tips to help you avoid falling for scammers
To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, it is important to follow 4 simple rules:
- If you are looking through an agency, then resolve all issues in the apartment you want to rent.
- Document the relationship only. Never transfer money for rent without drawing up and signing an agreement.
- Do not transfer the deposit until the contract is concluded. All prepayments and advances must not be transferred to the tenant on an oral basis. Draw up an agreement, a deed of transfer, only then transfer the money and take the keys (check if they fit the lock).
- Before signing a rental agreement, check the documents for the apartment, checking it with the owner’s passport.
- Do not deal with dubious realtors. Often, fraudulent schemes are used by small firms whose representatives look like good-natured simpletons.
Signing the contract
If you like everything, it’s time to fill out the contract. Life hacker told me how to do this. It is important that the document contains the following information:
- Rent period (so you can't be evicted tomorrow).
- Conditions for eviction. Indicate how long before the owner must inform you to vacate the apartment.
- Passport data and information from documents confirming ownership.
- The amount of money that you gave to the owner upon moving in and which he must return to you upon departure. Separately state the conditions under which the homeowner can withhold part of the deposit. There must be reasons for such a decision; the desire to make money from you is not enough.
- Inventory of things. Indicate how many chairs, chandeliers and teapots were in the apartment, so that you do not later face a requirement to compensate for the lack of gold toilets.
Make sure that the owner gives you the keys to all locks. Otherwise, it may happen that you will not be able to get into the apartment. Ideally, you should replace the locks in case the previous occupants had copies. But this can only be done with the permission of the owner. He will need to give duplicates.
1) Looking for an apartment on social networks and specialized sites
We will not advise you on any specific sites or groups on social networks for renting housing - firstly, we don’t want to advertise for them, and, secondly, there are so many of them that you will probably find your ideal if you try. Fame on the Internet and the number of users and subscribers here in themselves serve as a guarantor of reliability. It is difficult to find a non-offer aggregator; it is difficult to find the best among the variety of these offers. To do this, we advise you to write down your desires and possibilities before starting your search and try not to deviate too much from them - otherwise there is a high risk of getting stuck for an hour on photographs of an apartment that you cannot afford. This, however, is still better than an apartment with no photos at all - what’s so scary about it? Yes, by the way, if the photos of your home, on the contrary, are too attractive, don’t rush to rejoice either. Run them through Google Images - perhaps landlords are simply attracting attention to themselves. The most important thing for them now is that you call - and they will come up with excuses for themselves later.
9) Provide honest information about yourself
So, you've checked all the dos and don'ts! According to all the laws of the detective genre, it should now become clear that the fraudster is you, but we will believe that this is still not the case. Therefore, so that the landlord is not left with nothing (we hope, however, that he rents out something better)
, tell him the whole truth about yourself.
If you smoke, say so, and the owner of the apartment will show you where to do it and where it’s better not to. If you have a cat or dog, don’t hide them, but be honest about them, perhaps a cute face will even help you bring down the price. If you are not going to live alone, it is better not to hush this up either. You shouldn’t pretend to be a quiet and calm workaholic without bad habits, but with a dislike for children and animals. Especially if it’s all untrue. Don’t go into details (just “I smoke”, not “I smoke in bed and put out cigarettes on the wallpaper”)
, and your honesty will definitely be appreciated.
10) Negotiate the scope of your communication with the owner
Your longest conversation with the apartment owner should be your first conversation with him. That is, no one, of course, forbids you to communicate later if you like each other, but this is a topic for another article. If you are not looking for new friends and will not be happy when they come to you on Sunday morning to bring new stools and check the condition of the bathroom, then say so. Politeness, honesty and the ability to keep your distance are your best helpers, with whom you will save yourself money and nerves. Will the owner really miss his apartment and want to see her from time to time? Discuss with him how often and when he can do this. And he is certainly obliged to warn about the visit in advance. Insist on your rights - you also pay for comfort.
PS 13) Enjoy your new home
If you have done all the steps described above in order, then you can finally breathe a sigh of relief - you may not have found the best apartment in the world, but how ideally you rented it! We understand that you had to work hard, but now you have experience and knowledge about the real estate market, which will certainly be useful to you in the future. Remember - the main advantage of a rented apartment is that if something happens, it is much easier to change it than a purchased one.
Georgy Paradny
6) Behave in a friendly manner
If you are used to being rude to cashiers in supermarkets, arguing with waiters and swearing at cleaners, before meeting with a real estate agent, remind yourself that excessive expression can cost you many years of a happy life - at least in a particular apartment. It would seem that there is no need for basic politeness now, why mention it separately, but for some reason many people forget about it when they find out how much money agents charge for their work. Remember: indignation and swearing will not help you, but will only hinder you. At the same time, no one wants to leave a client who is a pleasure to work with to the mercy of fate. And it is advisable to make a good first impression on the owner of the apartment - it is not at all necessary, say, from the threshold to declare what terrible wallpaper he chose for the kitchen. On the other hand, don’t ask to be friends with either the agent or the owner - let your relationship be purely business.
5) Contact a reliable agency
Keep in mind that there are also scammers among agencies. For example, those who open an office, hang up a beautiful sign, collect money from clients, and after a couple of days disappear into obscurity. Or those that offer special services - say, they are ready to compile a selection of apartments that suit you for a small monetary reward. Before applying anywhere, read the Internet, ask friends and acquaintances, study the market. All this will help you find specialists with experience and a good reputation. But even with them, before starting cooperation, be sure to meet in person - intuition often plays a very important role in this matter.
