Are you moving up in the world and finally looking to stay in a place of your own? Does this mean that you will be a first-time renter?
Renting an apartment or house for the first time can be overwhelming and full of questions. Many of us grew up hearing stories about adult life and all that renting involves. But are those stories true?
In this post, we’ll bust five common myths about being a first-time renter and determine whether they’re rooted in truth or not.
Whether you’re planning to rent soon or are already living in your place, here are five things to know before moving into your new home.
You Need To Have Perfect Credit
As a first-time renter, there are many myths that you may have encountered in your journey of finding the perfect home, but many of them are just—myths.
By far one of the most common myths about renting a home is that you need to have perfect credit to qualify for an apartment.
While technically this may be true to an extent as landlords will often take your credit score as a part of the application process, having a less-than-perfect credit score doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to rent an apartment at all the best thing to do is hire the best letting agents in Northampton to help you with this process and advise you on further steps.
These days several apartments cater to renters with bad credit scores, and there are also many different ways that you can go about improving your credit score before applying for an apartment.
You Need a Cosigner
Another very common myth about being a first-time renter is that you will need someone to cosign your lease for you to qualify for the apartment.
This is something that many people believe, often because when you’re renting an apartment for the very first time, there is no kind of history surrounding your previous rentals.
However, this does not mean that you need someone to cosign with you to qualify for an apartment. While having a cosigner will be incredibly beneficial to help you qualify for the apartment, it is not always a necessity.
In fact, in most cases, landlords will only require you to have a cosigner if you have a bad credit score or if you are under the age of 21.
Renting Is More Expensive Than Buying
By far one of the most common myths about being a renter, especially a first-time renter, is that renting is more expensive than buying.
A lot of people tend to believe that this is the case and that, in the long run, renting ends up being more expensive than buying, but this isn’t always the case.
In many markets, the cost of renting is cheaper than the cost of buying, and even in markets where buying is cheaper, the difference is not necessarily as significant as you might think.
In addition to that, when you choose to rent an apartment, you don’t have to worry about maintenance costs, property taxes, and other things that might add up over time.
You Don’t Need Insurance
Moving on down our list, another common myth about being a first-time renter is that you don’t need insurance. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and insurance is a necessity. While your landlord’s insurance policy may cover the building as a whole, the chances are that it won’t cover your personal belongings in cases of things like fire or theft.
On top of that, if someone gets injured on your property, you could be held liable if they sue you. There are many reasons why you should have renters’ insurance, and these are just a few of them.
You Can Break Your Lease at Any Time
Last but not least, the final myth about being a first-time renter is that you can break your lease whenever you want. While technically, you do have the opportunity to break your lease whenever you want or at any time, this doesn’t come without consequence.
You are only allowed to break your lease under certain circumstances, such as a job transfer or possibly another type of emergency.
Breaking your lease will typically always result in a penalty, such as having to pay all of the remaining due rent under the lease or even being responsible for finding a new tenant to take over the lease.
In most cases, once you have discussed it with your landlord, the contract will typically stipulate that should you break the lease, you will be liable for two months’ rent.