Many factors must work together to create a successful home renting experience. If you are looking to rent a home, you might find the following tips helpful:

1. Commit to the Process

Renting a home, townhome or condo is a major undertaking. However, many want to treat it like shopping for new clothes - drop by the mall on your lunch hour, get excited about the suit in the window, put it on your credit card . What may work for your wardrobe is often a disaster when leasing a home. The smart tenant makes a conscious decision and commitment to move, plans carefully, deals with credit issues first, allocates adequate time off from work to look, keeps emotions in check, and listens to the advice of a professional.

2. Check Your Credit

When a landlord receives an offer to rent there is one primary factor that is always considered immediately - Does the tenant have good credit?   After all, a landlord has no other way to know how reliable you may be. In every case a landlord will be more willing to negotiate price and/or other terms if the prospective tenant's credit is OK. When prospective tenants make the effort up front to get credit problems resolved it puts them in the strongest possible negotiating position with all landlords.

3. Choose the Neighborhood

After resolving the credit requirement, the infamous "location" issue is the next thing that should be considered as the home search process is begun. Most people should decide on neighborhood factors like schools, distance from work, distance to shopping or hospitals, general appearance and relative affordability before running out to start "looking inside" various homes for lease.  The worst thing you can do is "Fall in Love" with a home in an unsuitable or unaffordable area.

4. Be Realistic About Needs and Wants

There is no reason that a rental home search should take more than a few days in a normal market. But, everyone has heard about someone who looked at over 100 homes during the course of 6 months utilizing the services of 3 Realtors Ò before finally finding that "just right" home. This only happens when the tenant has not come to terms with what they really need, want and can afford to lease. Everyone needs and wants enough bedrooms and bathrooms to serve their family adequately. Everyone needs and wants a nice kitchen, comfortable living area, and sufficient storage. Everyone would like the home to be in relatively good condition. But, the prospective tenant who just can't live without the three car garage, the brand new carpet and appliances, and the right to keep 3 hunting dogs in the yard is usually in for great disappointment.

5. Make the Right Offer

Once credit is verified, the neighborhood is determined and the home is selected a lease offer has to be made. It needs to be the right offer. A rule of thumb is that Landlords usually determine the basic conditions of the lease and the monthly rent.  These conditions are spelled out in the listing information available in MLS or from the Landlord's Agent. Monthly rent and conditions of the lease such as security deposit, length of lease, penalties for late payment of rent, etc. are usually not too negotiable. Other things may be more easily attained. For example, someone with excellent credit and rental history might be able to get the Landlord to do some extra "fixing up" or provide needed appliances (refrigerator or washer/dryer) for a slightly increased rent or longer length of lease.

6. Be Flexible Regarding Pets

The home is clean and well maintained, the rent is within your budget, the location is great and you would just love to live there with your five cats. Guess what, the landlord does not allow pets.  What to do? There is an obvious reason that many landlords do not allow pets.  Pet owners often allow their pets to destroy or cause serious damage to the property.  In the landlord's eyes pets are a problem waiting to happen. Solutions might include:  Increased security deposit; A "pet interview" by the landlord (she might think Muffie is just as cute and well mannered as you do); Reduce the number of pets to just one.

7. Get the Timing Right

Nothing is worse than letting everything go till the last minute.  If your present lease is up at the end of July, don't wait till mid June to start cleaning up your credit and saving up your money for the security deposit. By contrast, a landlord probably won't want to commit to a lease with you in January so that you can move in smoothly at the end of June. He won't want to hold the home vacant waiting for you unless he is compensated in some way.

8. Get Realistic About Roommates

It sounds great - your new boyfriend or girlfriend and you might want to move in together into a larger more expensive home. Between the two of you you can easily pay the higher rent so cost is no object. The fact is that both of you will be asked to sign the lease. Should one or the other elect to move out early the remaining tenant will be expected to continue paying the full rent till the end of the lease.

- Courtesty of Blakeman Properties -