What you pay on signing day

Rent is paid in advance, in blocks

Most landlords ask for several months up front. Six or twelve is the norm, three in some cities, and a single month only on a small share of listings. The cadence is written into the lease and repeats: at the end of each block you pay the next one.

So two flats at the same monthly rent can need very different sums on the day: one asks for a quarter, the other for a year.

The caution

A deposit, usually one or two months of rent, held for the length of the lease and returned at the end less any damage. It is not rent, and it is not the first block. Ask for a receipt that names it as a caution.

What a listing here shows

Every rental on Buyutkom states its signing-day cost: the first block of rent plus the caution, worked out from the cadence and the caution the lister declared. If a listing cannot state its cadence, it shows no figure rather than a guess.

The contract, and the one rule

A written lease, registered or notarised, protects both sides. Verbal agreements exist and are listed as such here; avoid them for anything you cannot afford to lose.

Never pay before you have visited the property and met the person who holds the keys. No deposit, no reservation fee, no transfer to secure it.

• Bring identification, the agreed first block and the caution.
• Get a receipt for each sum, naming what it is for.
• Keep a copy of the lease with both signatures.