How to avoid surprises when signing a long-term contract for renting a living space? What type of contracts are there, which one should you avoid, and which one is suitable for you?
It is not enough that finding a suitable place is quite hard already, once you found it there are a huge amount of details to care about. It is not enough that you are maybe from another country and the whole legal system can be entirely new for you, but contracts can be different literally at every single rent. Worry not! If your read our recommendations below you will be able to consider the main aspects of the offered contracts easier.
Basically, there are two types of contracts: 1. For indefinite duration or 2. For a definite duration.
These two aspects will define a lot of other important details as well. First of all, you will need to define your own needs. If you are new around and don’t really know how everything will turn out probably you think about signing a contract for an indefinite period of time or either a contract fixed for a shorter-term not for years.
We have been renting properties for 30 years. In the last decades, we were mostly working with properties for living among some business and industrial properties. In the last 10 years, we mainly accommodated young internationals and we learned that predictability is very important for them.
Let’s talk about contracts for indefinite duration first. When someone is renting a flat usually they are signing a contract for an indefinite duration which means any of the two sides (landlord and tenant as well) has the right to simply terminate the contract with usually a 30 or 60 days notice. This is freedom on one hand and risk on the other.
Of course, it can be useful to know that if something unexpected happens it is nice to be able to terminate the contract quite quickly and get out of the obligation of paying the rent every month. On the other hand, the landlord also has the right to terminate the contract with the same notice. So he/she has the right to tell you for instance in the middle of the exam period that he/she has new plans and would like you to move out in 30 days.
Nowadays many indefinite period contracts are including a pass stating that the contract can only be terminated minimum after one year so this might not be your best option if you are not sure that you will want to be there for a whole year (12 months), neither if you would like to be 100% sure that you have a place during the whole academic year.
Nowadays we are mostly working with fixed-term contracts lasting until the end of the academic year. It is not only good for us that we know that Tenants will surely be staying with us until a certain time, but our Tenants also have the calm state of mind that no matter what, they have a secure place to come home, relax, study, cook, eat, and interact with some friendly faces after every tiring day. Once you pick the most suitable room you just need to sign a contract and the job from your side is done, basically, your only fixed task every month is to pay the rent on time. If anything else comes up we are here to help you.
What happens if something really unexpected comes up and you need to leave? Well, such as in the case of any fixed-term contract (mobile service and internet contracts are one of the most widespread) you need to pay the monthly fee even if you don’t use the service.
But even in that case, there is a way out with us. In case there is an unexpected issue and you bring someone else who wishes to stay in the room until the end of your contract fulfilling the duties you undertook by signing the contract we do accept the modification request if we see the person fit.
The next very important aspect is the costs. Basically, there are two main types of solutions. Costs can be 1. excluded or 2. included.
First of all, what are the costs you need to consider when you are renting a place? The most important ones are electricity, gas, water, garbage, and common costs. There can be other costs as well like internet, parking, cleaning maintenance, etc.
It is not a must, but costs are usually excluded in contracts for indefinite periods since it is hard to predict how they will change in the upcoming years. Even if costs are included in an indefinite period contract usually there is a clause stating that costs can be modified during the cooperation. The good side of having the costs excluded is that you will mostly pay for what you are really using and you can lower these costs by sparing water, electricity, and heating which is not only good for your wallet but for the environment as well.
The biggest challenge when costs are not included is not only to have the amount to pay them but to keep track of all the deadlines and payments. Usually, all the services are coming from different providers and all of them are sending different bills on different dates with different deadlines if you miss the deadline usually there is a penalty. It is quite a hustle, believe me, we have a person dedicated to this.
And yet we did not even talk about things broken down, lights going off and so many everyday little issues that can cause headaches while you should be thinking about way more important things.
So at the end of the day, it will always be harder to calculate your monthly budget not only because bills are coming in in a different rhythm, but also because you can not really calculate your consumption, plus service prices are changing at least a year to year.
We are mostly working with cost-inclusive contracts since we see how important it is for students to see the whole amount they need to pay so they are able to count on it. Our prices contain not only the above-mentioned usual costs, but we maintain an office and reception in the building with a 24 hours emergency line. Also, there is 1 or 2 weekly cleaning (depending on the number of Tenants in the unit) of the common areas and basic maintenance of all the areas (rooms included). So basically if one of our rooms is suitable for you, only the contract should be signed and there are no more tasks from your side than to pay the same monthly rent until the deadline every single month. It can not really be more simple.
The third important aspect is the question of the deposit. Nowadays the general practice is that you need to pay a deposit equivalent to two months’ rent.
Practically this means that you need to pay an amount equivalent to 3 months’ rent for moving in. That is quite an amount and can be a struggle to afford from a student budget, especially at the beginning of a new era when you might need to count on a lot of other costs as well. Not even mentioning how much of a risk it is to trust anyone with such an amount who you might not even know anything about before moving in.
To help the students we require a deposit equivalent to 1 month’s renting fee so you can move in by paying an amount equivalent to 2 months’ renting fee (deposit +1st month’s rent).
It is also useful to clarify how and when you will get back your deposit. We constantly hear stories from our clients about missing deposits even if they finished their rent due to their contract. To avoid such inconveniences we suggest you check the relevant part of the contract about the deposit refund plus it is useful to get a receipt of the payment or some kind of a document. Actually one of these could be fine, but we do both to make sure that the whole process is very transparent.
There is one last issue that you should check especially if you are an international Tenant coming from a third country. Some contracts are excluding the possibility of using your place as your address. This should be among the first things you check with your prospective landlord.
Basically, these are the main foundations you should consider before you sign any contract, but as I mentioned every single place can have a different contract, so there can be thousands of little details you should be aware of.
I always warn our clients that this is not just a simple GTC which you click through when you download any of your newest apps for a couple of euros and we all know that nobody reads them. A rental contract possibly will cost 50% of your monthly budget and literally will determine how you will live your life in the upcoming period, so I believe there are not a lot of more important things you should read thoroughly before you validate your obligations with your signature.
We have been working on our bilingual contract for years but we are still updating it at least once every year based on our freshest experiences. If anything is unclear, we are very happy to help you to understand it, just contact us for help even if you are not determined to rent a room from us!