You’re on your apartment hunting journey, spending the last couple of days mindlessly scrolling through the millionth apartment, when you finally stumble upon the perfect listing.
It’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of and more – views for days, near your workplace and plenty of amenities in the vicinity.
Before you call the agent to beg them to lease it to you, read this article to make sure what not to do before renting.
1. Committing to a lease before viewing the apartment
Avoid: Signing the Tenancy Agreement (TA) without viewing the unit beforehand.
Instead: Take some time to head down and view the unit in person.
In this day and age of technology, pictures can be misleading. There are many different ways to manipulate an image and make a place seem bigger and better than it really is by using lighting and camera angles.
Some apartments also appear lavishly furnished with expensive designer furniture in photos, but it might be staged to grab attention.
Furthermore, pictures won’t show the external surrounding areas of the unit. You don’t want to move in only to realise your neighbour uses the common corridor as their personal storage area or that your patio turns into a pool every time it rains.
A listing that looks like a gem online can turn out to be a dud in real life.
To avoid being catfished, you should go down and tour the unit as well as visualise yourself living in the neighbourhood before committing to the lease.
2. Tenancy Agreement
Avoid: Any vagueness in the Tenancy Agreement (TA) documents.
Instead: Read the entire TA cover to cover before signing your entire year or two away.
Yes, it’s your dream apartment. Yes, we know you’re excited and can’t wait to secure it.
However, hold your horses and read the entire document thoroughly to ensure you’re covered in the event anything unexpected happens.
You don’t want to end up like this tenant who was unceremoniously evicted with just eight months left on her lease.
If you’re an expat renting in Singapore, make sure the TA has a diplomatic clause written into it, in case your company requires you to leave the country and relocate on short notice.
Any vagueness in the TA should be addressed and clarified with your property agent so they can revise the document to reflect the necessary changes.
3. Oh no, something’s broken!
Avoid: Paying upfront for any repairs in the apartment.
Instead: You’ve finally gotten down to running the laundry when you notice the washing machine is on the fritz. You might be tempted to nip out and buy a new one immediately, but before you do so, here’s what you should do instead.
Contact your landlord and let them know of any repairs that need to be carried out before commencing with any repair works. We recommend doing this via text, so it’s recorded in black and white, eliminating the risk of it turning into a “he said, she said” type situation.
Your landlord might also have a preferred repairman or relevant contact they go to whenever anything breaks down in the apartment.
Under the damage and repairs clause in the tenancy agreement, the amount you’ll have to pay in the event of damage usually ranges from between S$150 to S$200. The landlord will cover the rest of it.
4. Documenting damages
Avoid: Moving in without documenting the place first.
Instead: Before you move any personal belongings into your new apartment, take pictures of every defect.
After living in five different apartments and dealing with five different landlords, I’ve become quite a master at spotting and highlighting existing defects.
Floor plan in one hand and a roll of mini highlighter tape in another; I would go through each room and meticulously mark out any existing damage. After the room has been lit up like a Christmas tree with the neon sticky tapes, I would take a picture of the entire room before zooming in on each defect.
After capturing everything on photo and video, I would organise it in a PDF file clearly stating where the damage was and email a copy to myself and the agent, to establish a date of proof.
I cannot overstate the importance of documentation. No matter how minor you think it is, snap a picture and note it down.
Having photo evidence ensures you have an ironclad case to get back your full deposit if your landlord tries to fault you for that cracked kitchen tile or broken cabinet hinge that existed before you even moved in.
5. Paying for your apartment
Avoid: Busting your budget.
Instead: Have enough capital to cover your entire stay at the apartment before committing to it.
It might be tempting to stretch your budget to snag that gorgeous penthouse in town and convince yourself that you’ll find ways to pay for it, but that’s a bad idea.
While you might enjoy waking up to picturesque views on your balcony, you’ll live with a constant cloud hanging overhead of “what if I can’t make rent this month?”.
Ensure you have enough money to pay for your entire lease. Life can throw some unexpected curveballs, such as taking unpaid leave due to family issues, illness or even worse, losing your job altogether.
If you’re unable to continue your lease, you’ll need to forfeit your deposit, running into thousands of dollars.
Are you apartment hunting? Let us know in the comments section below or on our Facebook post.
If you found this article helpful, check out Rental viewing checklist for the savvy tenant and 5 ways to score the rental apartment of your dreams at a cheaper price.
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