How to be financially responsible when renting a home
According to the results of a survey published in June 2017, by 2021, almost a quarter of all UK households will rent their homes. Almost 5.8 million households are expected to privately rent, in fact, which is a direct result of rapidly increasing home prices as well as low wage levels which make it impossible to afford to buy a property.
With money being one of the biggest factors when renting, it makes it all the more important to be financially responsible when doing so. Your income is already being stretched to its limit and you don’t want to make that harder on yourself.
Do you need all that space?
When you’re looking at a place to rent, the size of the property is one of the factors that often trips people up. Homes with more rooms cost more but offer more freedom as you could, for example, turn a second bedroom into a guest room.
But you should ask whether you need all of that space right now. If you don’t have any baby-making plans or big family events on the horizon, then the chances are that room is going to be used for junk storage. It would make more sense to go for a smaller property or even think about getting a roommate.
Consider renters insurance
You’re probably quite familiar with home insurance, for those who own their property, but what about renters insurance? It’s something that many renters forget about but it can be quite useful. In the event that plumbing problems destroy all of your furniture, a vandal smashes all of your windows, or a thief takes off with your TV, then you’re covered.
What renters insurance doesn’t cover, though, are things like earthquakes and sinkholes, if your actual car is stolen (as opposed to the property left inside it), or if your house is infested with rodents. But it can still be a total money-saver in the long-run and, if disaster strikes, you’ll be glad that renters insurance has your back.
Take note of any faults
Before you move in, you’ll also want to take note of any faults with the property. Common problems – and thus common questions to answer – about a property include whether all of the light switches work, whether windows and doors open and close easily, whether there any cracks in the walls, and when the fuse box was last checked.
While these seem like really nitpicky things to consider, these are also issues that would require the hiring of a workperson to fix, or could even lead to damage of your belongings. Even if you aren’t too bothered about these problems, you could still use them to your advantage, negotiating with the landlord to knock money off of the rent.
Hopefully, these tips allow you to save a bit of money when renting a property. You may be renting for money-saving purposes, but that doesn’t mean that everything should be such a financial squeeze.
