6 questions to ask if you are going to visit a rental apartment

Finding the perfect apartment to rent is not an easy task, as there are many factors at play and often the property we want doesn’t quite fit our budget. Therefore, if we are thinking about renting a house we must carefully analyze what we are looking for to choose the most suitable one, according to our needs.

Once we have found and chosen the apartment that we are interested in and always before signing the rental contract, we should proceed to arrange a visit and ask a series of questions that will allow us to know if this apartment fits, effectively, what we are really looking for.

Below we explain what questions you should ask if you are going to visit rental flats, to choose the one that best suits you and not to take any further surprises.

What to ask when visiting a flat to rent

When we visit an apartment to rent we must pay close attention to everything we see at first glance, since, the visits are usually not too long. However, we should not hesitate to ask everything we consider necessary. And it is that, if a priori it fits our needs, we may live in it for many years.

Ask if the supplies are up-to-date

In order to avoid possible cuts or having to pay invoices that are not ours, it is important to ask if the supplies are up-to-date, if they are registered and under which name they must be registered, if they are ours or the owner’s (although it is advisable that the owner of the supplies is the lessee).

Ask if there are any defects in the building

In order not to take more than the bill to rent the house or not to have to reduce the rent, some landlords decide not to disclose certain damages that the house may have, such as dampness or leakage on the walls, as well as the malfunction of the air conditioning units or the boiler.

Therefore, it is important to ask if they exist and even check it for ourselves when visiting the property.

You might want to do some work on the floor at some point. However, you won’t be able to do it without the owner’s consent, so it’s important to ask if, when the time comes, improvements could be made to the home.
Therefore, if you have the written consent of the landlord. In addition, it is important to mention that under no circumstances can we ask the landlord to pay them, but in some cases it is possible to negotiate a reform with the landlord in exchange for the rent.

Ask if the rental income will be updated with the CPI

In Spain, the CPI is usually used to regulate the increase in rent. However, since the Law on Urban Leases does not specify which index should be used to update a rent, if none is agreed in the lease agreement, the Competitiveness Guarantee Index (CGI) will be used.It is therefore important to ask at the time of the visit which index will be used to update the rent, and even if the landlord is open to negotiate a reduction in the rental price.

Pregunta si el casero te hará pagar el IBI o los gastos de comunidad del piso

Another important question to ask is what each party is going to pay, so that there are no problems of any kind. La Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos leaves the signatory parties free to decide who should pay what.

Therefore, according to the LAU, the landlord may charge us certain expenses for the maintenance of the property, such as community expenses, the Real Property Tax (IBI) or the garbage tax, among others.

Ask if pets are allowed on the floor

Finally, we also recommend that you ask if the apartment you want to rent accepts pets. And it is that we must remember, that currently it is estimated that, only 5% of flats rental flats accept pets.

Although the LAU does not explicitly prohibit the keeping of pets in the home, it leaves the owners free to decide whether to accept them or not. Therefore, if the owner of a rental property wants, he has the right to ban pets on the rental apartment, as long as it is mentioned in the clauses of the contract.

Finally, we leave you some properties that might interest you and are available on our website. No dudes en ponerte en contacto con nosotros.

Semi-detached house with excellent location in Vilafranca del Penedès

With a total of 176m2 distributed in house of 2 floors plus basement of 45m2 intended for garage. There is also the possibility of extending the house to a second third floor completely diaphanous.

• 3 bedrooms
• 3 bathrooms
• 131 m2