If you’re moving into your first rental property soon, here are some tips you may find helpful:
- Moving day—It may seem like a silly point to make, but you do need to call the property manager ahead of time to verify the move-in date. There may be issues with former tenant evacuations, repairs, or other unforeseen events; so always call a week and then at least 1 day ahead of time to make sure everything is still on schedule for your arrival.
- Utilities – Some apartments and even single-family rentals may include certain utility payments. It’s your responsibility to know what those may be, and then to make sure service is up and going for those utilities not included on the day of your move-in. Contact the property manager about this if written instructions are not provided in the lease or on the property’s website. There are almost always guidelines for the take-over process on new accounts.
- Renters Insurance—Regardless of your numerous other to-do items, securing renters insurance should be a top priority before you ever move a thing into the property. It’s possible to find very reasonable rates, and the coverage you’ll have for stolen or damaged material items cannot be beat. Hesitant? You better check with your soon-to-be landlord. He or she may make it a requirement; in which case, proof of coverage will be required upon move-in.
- Furniture—How many rooms do you need to furnish and what would you like to put in them? A bed, table, a couple of chairs, and TV are the basics and you can easily find these items on buy-sell-trade sites, Goodwill, or garage sales if money is a concern. You can also go the rental route, but understand that this often ends up costing much more in the long-run.
- Moving timeframe—The day before move-in (or sooner), call your soon-to-be landlord and go over everything once more to ensure you’ve got your checklist down where the property is concerned. This should include asking about move-in times as many properties may limit the hours of day move-ins are allowed to occur, for the convenience, security, and consideration of other tenants.
- Coordinate mail delivery—It’s not necessary these days to make a physical trip to the post office. You can simply go online and fill-out the change of address form. These can take several days, so make sure you handle this up-front and note your exact move-out/move-in dates.
- Schedule movers—Whether you’re taking the DIY route or hiring professional movers, this is a task you should coordinate with plenty of lead-time. Professional movers tend to book early, and your friends will likely be more willing to help if you give them some notice (and the promise of a bribe).
Still looking for the perfect first-rental? Class A Management has a number of properties throughout Texas and Kansas. Just visit www.classamanagement.com for a current list of properties, or call 817-295-5959.