The 10 mistakes of first-time renters

If you’ve ever looked for a place to rent at least once in your life, you’ll know that the best deals should be grabbed with both hands of as soon as they come up. When you find an apartment you like and it’s on the market for a good price, rushing to close the deal can cause you to make some mistakes, accepting terms and conditions you may later regret.

These are the ten things you should never do when you rent a property:

1. Not reading the rental contract carefully: You should read the whole rental contract not once, but various times. If you want to avoid the pressure of having to read it in front of the owner, you can ask them to send you a draft.
2. Getting into rental agreements with family members, friends or acquaintances without a contract: Renting a house to, or renting one from, someone close to you for an affordable price may seem like a great idea but it's not, as you never know what might happen.
3. Not haggling over the price or bringing up anything that worries you: If you think the rent is too much, there’s nothing wrong with negotiating for a better rate, or if you think that there is a clause in the contract that’s unfair, you should speak up. You don’t lose anything by just talking about it and it can help to avoid unpleasantness at a later stage.
4. Accepting verbal, non-written agreements that are not in the contract: If the landlord promises you something verbally but isn’t willing to include it in the rental agreement, you have no guarantee that they are going to stick to the deal. Having everything in writing is always better.
5. Not signing every page of the lease: It’s recommendable, according to the experts, to sign all the pages of the rental contract, both the tenant’s copy and the landlord’s, so that the content cannot be changed.
6. Not checking what condition the property is in before signing the contract: The deposit that the tenant pays to the landlord can be used to cover any damage that may be caused to the apartment. So that you are not accused of damaging something that was broken already, you should check the condition of the house before moving in.
7. Not putting down in writing all the defects of the property: It is a good idea to make a list of all the defects in the flat so you can include it as an annex to the contract.
8. Paying in advance: Do not pay any money in advance until you have seen the apartment and have signed the contract. If you must pay a deposit to reserve the house, it is vital that you specify the reasons for the payment, the exact amount and what happens in the event of you not going through with the agreement.
9. Accepting all the landlord's conditions: There are some property owners who are very afraid of renting out their apartment to the wrong person and this leads them to cross the line between safe rent and unfair conditions. Never accept contracts like this, but rather try to reach an agreement with the landlord.
10. Agreeing to pay for expenses that you shouldn’t: Before you rent a flat, you should check carefully what expenses are owed to the tenant and what expenses are owed to the landlord. The contract must specify which repair costs are to be paid and who they are paid to.

From the original Spanish article: 10 errores básicos a la hora de alquilar un piso