Renting a home: from the visit to the keys

At the visit

Visit at the hour you would live there, and look at what a listing cannot show. In many communes the mains water runs on a schedule: ask how many days a week it comes, and whether the building has a tank and a pump.

Turn on the taps, the lights and the cooker. Look at the electricity and gas meters and ask whether the bills are paid up to date.

• Water: the supply schedule, the tank and the pump.
• Electricity and gas: the meters, and the latest bills.
• The building: the stairs, the lift if there is one, and who looks after it.
• Noise and light at the hour you would be at home.

Who you are dealing with

Ask to see the owner’s identity and a document showing the home is theirs to let, or the mandate if an agency or a relative acts for them. On Buyutkom, a listing says whether our team verified it and when its availability was last confirmed.

The lease

A written lease protects both sides. A lease drawn up by a notary carries the most weight if there is ever a dispute; a lease registered with the tax office is also written and dated. A verbal agreement leaves you nothing to show.

Read what it says about the rent, how many months are paid in advance, the caution, who pays the charges, and how the lease ends.

The day you move in

Walk through the home with the landlord and write down its state, room by room, with photos, signed by both of you. It decides how much of the caution comes back when you leave.

• A receipt for each payment, naming what it is for.
• The written state of the home, signed by both.
• The meter readings on the day.
• A copy of the signed lease.