Guide for renting a home

When renting a property, you have to take into account that this is where you are going to be living for at least a few months. This is why it is important not to forget some factors, and gather all the information possible regarding your rent. For this purpose, you can here read a quick guide with useful information and resources. Following is a list explaining some of the Pros and Cons of property renting in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Renting Pros

• Management issues and paper work are minimal
• The decision is faster, and in the case of making a mistake the consequences aren´t as problematic as in buying a property.
• Large savings or great amounts of money is not a necessity to rent.
• The Maintenance of the property is usually the property owners responsibility.

Renting Cons

• If you remain in the house depends on the owner, and whether he/she wants to renew the contract.
• You may not be allowed to make any improvements on the home.
• You have a forced obligation to the owner, and you have to comply with the rules set by him/her.
• You won´t get your investment back.
• The rise in the rent can be very costly, and become even more costly if you aren´t able to comply with the contract agreements.

Requirements you should fulfill: The future tenant should have a guarantor. In most cases the persons signing the contract will be ones that the property owner considers financially reliable, that can guarantee that the tenant is going to comply with his/her obligations and has the capacity to pay any damages caused by the tenant, or any debts that needs to be paid. This responsibility remains until the property is given back to the property owner and when all debts have been canceled. Nevertheless the obligation ceases to be in effect if the proprietor fails to claim the debt and instead extends it to something that hasn´t been previously agreed on with the guarantor. The responsibility is also lifted if the contract's conditions are modified with out the participation of the guarantor.

Deposit: The deposit is an amount of money left to the property owner by the tenant as a guarantee that all the obligations stated in the contracted will be followed. In most cases the deposit is equivalent to the rent for one month. The owner is obligated to return the deposit if the property is in the same conditions as it was before signing the lease when returned to the property owner.

You must know the law: Not only in the way the tenant will be protected by the contract, but also in the obligations that he/she must follow.

Know your needs: The first thing to do when searching for a property to rent is narrowing your search down to what you are clearly looking for. To keep the search as specific as possible, keep the following criteria in mind:

• Monthly rent?
• Do you have knowledge of the requirements you will be asked for in the contract? And can you follow them?
• Do you have warranty?
• Did you take into account the need to leave a Deposit when renting?
• How much are you willing to pay for expenses? Etc.

We offer you this guide that will help rid you of any questions that you might have. When you have set your parameters for the type of property you are looking for and are ready to start search, closely inspect each property to avoid renting something that might not suit your needs as nicely as you would like it to. Of course finding exactly what you are looking for is rather difficult (sometimes impossible, depending on your standards), but still you should try to get as you can.

Property type: Take into consideration what kind of property you are looking for, listing their pros and cons.

• Height homes: duplex, apartment, study, office; when choosing a property that is part of a larger building, keep the following in mind:
  • Expenses: Each one of the owners of an apartment in a building has to pay in relations to the percentage they occupy in the building, the costs of the administration, maintenance and repair of common property and areas. The amount is billed periodically to the one in charge of the administration, and must be paid by all the co-proprietors of the building. Common Expenses: Regular costs of a building are:
    • Janitor's salary.
    • Cleaning articles
    • Costs for electricity, water, and gas in the building
    • Maintenance of elevators and water pumps.
    • Irregular Expenses: This is not a monthly cost, but can not be avoided. It includes, paint, internal and external fixing (total or partial), as well as fixing big problems which go out of the regular budget. The payment should be solved in an assembly of the co-proprietors.
• Family house, villa, etc.

Distance: This decision should be taken based on your particular tastes and likings. But to be sure not to make any mistakes you should take the following into account.

• Distance to the work place / school.
• Proximity to common services: grocery store, medical centers, commercial malls.
• Public communications.

Area: The area you choose to live determines living conditions and living costs. To choose the ideal area, you should take into account the following:

• Location: Down Town, suburb, old part, residential area, neighborhood, private neighborhood.
• Services of the area: Stores, schools, sanitary services, spaces for sports, green areas.
• Moving around: proximity of Public transport, distance to work, access to highways.
• Security: very transited area, quite area, poor illumination, custody.
• Urban Plans: It is good to do some research on what are the future plans for the area you are planning on renting in, because this sort of things can have a big impact in the quality and future valuation of the place.

Size: You need to define the size of the home you need:

• In square meters, actual space.
• In function of the number of rooms you will be needing, or the number of people that are living with you.

Parking Space: Another thing to take into consideration is if you want a parking space or not, depending on if you have a car or other vehicle. If you plan on getting one in the future, it will prove to be very valuable.

Quality: The quality is going to be reflected not only in the materials but also in the level of firmness and security that the construction has to offer. it will be wise to have the following in mind: Structure: the quality of the structure as a whole will dictate the kind of problems that may arise in the building. Ex.: Humidity. Main material for the construction: Wood, bricks, metal, or concrete.

Common Installations: Elevators and freight elevators, their quality would depend of their technical aspects and the security measures with which they count. The quality of your home will also depend on the security measures taken against fires and the extinguishers that the building is equipped with.

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