Whether you’re a fully-fledged member of Generation Rent, or a family for whom the property ladder is still a step out of reach, renting can sometimes feel frustrating.
It’s your home – except, well, it’s not really, is it? Somebody else is the boss of it, which – while there are some pros to this – means there are plenty of less-than ideal cons, too.
Here are five top tips for renting…
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Be on good terms with your landlord/letting agent
When you’re looking for a place to rent, remember you’re vetting the people you’ll be renting with/from, as much as the property itself. Mutual trust and respect, and an ability to communicate, will count towards a lot.
There might be times when things go wrong and need to be fixed, fast. A broken toilet/tap/boiler, for instance. The good thing is, where a plumbing disaster due to wear-and-tear or technical issues is concerned, your landlord will be picking up the bill.
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Streamline, streamline, streamline
It’s often said that our European cousins are much better at the whole renting game than us, being far more likely to rent their ‘forever home’, while us UK renters might find ourselves moving a lot. The good thing though? You’ll get so sick of packing and unpacking and losing money to removal vans, you’ll reach a point where you just don’t care for ‘stuff’ any more.
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Give yourself reasons to get out of the house
Live in a shared house? No matter how great your housemates are, there will be times when you desperately wish you could afford your own place. Until that day comes though, you need to make the best of the situation you’re in and embrace life outside your four walls can play a big part in this. Make dates with friends, join a club, go for walks or volunteer in your local community.
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Make your bed king
Renting doesn’t have to mean putting up with a crap, wafer-thin mattress or not-quite-right bedding. If your landlord doesn’t feel the same way, save up and invest in the best mattress you can afford (it’ll be some of the best money you’ve ever spent). Treat yourself to some fabulous bed linen too; as far as ‘home purchases’ go, you can pick up some great designs at reasonable prices, and you’ll get way more pleasure from it than a TV upgrade.
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Find ways to get personal
One of the most frequently-cited phrases among us long-term renters: ‘I just want to be able to hang whatever pictures I want on the walls!’ There’s a general assumption that landlords don’t want tenants to make their house too much of a home (by banging nails into walls, that sort of thing). Have you actually asked your landlord about this though? There’s no harm in asking.
Source: s1homes Glasgow magazine August edition