This rental season was expected to be difficult due to historically low vacancy rates and the Covid-19 pandemic added an additional challenge. So more than ever, before launching your search, it would be appropriate to establish a game plan to facilitate your quest. It is also essential to ask the right questions before starting: what is my budget, how to make a visit, do we always have the right to move … etc.
Voici quelques pistes de réflexion de Kangalou pour vous accompagner:
- Establish your budget to find out how much you can afford to pay each month for your rent. You will also be able to check whether it makes more sense to move in alone or in a shared flat.
- For effective research, it is important to define your needs. For example, what criteria are essential for you (e.g. neighborhood, nearby services, public transportation, schools or universities …).
- When your needs are well identified, you will finally be ready to do your research. By using Kangalou, you will be able to obtain more information on accommodation to rent with many criteria to describe the apartment and its surroundings. The detailed description and high-resolution photos provide a good overview of the accommodation in question. Kangalou presents precise search results that better meet your needs.
- Perform your search by city or district, determine your maximum budget, size, type of accommodation and the options and criteria that are essential for you.
- You can also use the map to get an overview of the rental accommodation and to better visualize the services nearby.
- Although visits are always allowed, they are strongly discouraged.
- When you have found an advertisement for an apartment that interests you, contact the owner, explain your interest and offer him a virtual visit. Kangalou indeed suggests different solutions to the owner to show you his home remotely during this pandemic period.
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- Ask him to film the accommodation and send you a video
- Take a live tour with videoconferencing
- Prepare a list of questions to ask so you don’t forget anything. You can take inspiration from the list concocted by Kangalou. Top 10 questions to ask when visiting an apartment.Top 10 Questions to Ask During an Apartment Tour
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- If the owner refuses or cannot afford a virtual visit, it will be very important to take certain precautions if you really have to visit the apartment:
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- Do not touch anything
- Apply social distancing – 2 meters away from other people
- Respect the sanitary instructions (hand washing before and after the visit)
- Take the tour alone (without your roommates for example)
- Offer to provide your personal information for the pre-rental survey electronically (You can use ProprioLocation a free tool entirely online)
- Offer to sign the lease and scan it (you can use an app to scan it if you don’t have a scanner – CamScanner). The owner must sign by hand last and return the signed copy to you.
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The current climate in which we live brings new challenges in terms of protection and safety.
New avenues and new tools are available to us to facilitate exchanges between owners and tenants in complete safety. Let’s be proactive, follow the instructions! 🌈
