Questions to Ask Your Landlord Before Renting

After finally finding the perfect apartment to call home, it is time to read over leasing contracts and become familiar with your terms and obligations as a tenant. Leasing agreements can sometimes be full of legal jargon and hard to understand. Before signing a lease, it is good to have questions prepared for your landlord to answer. Our Tulsa movers can tell you which questions to ask your landlord before moving in to help make understanding your lease easier.

What Questions You Should Ask Your Landlord Before Moving

Our Tulsa residential movers know that it is important to not only have a clear understanding of your lease but also to have a clear line of communication with your landlord as well. There are so many components to putting together a lease it is understandable that digesting it can be confusing. Here are some questions to ask your landlord before signing your lease.

What are the lease terms?
This is one of the most important questions to ask your landlord when getting ready to move into your new apartment. Since there are month to month lease agreements and year long lease agreements, it is important to know the difference, which you are agreeing to, and what your obligations are with each. Knowing and understanding the terms that you are agreeing to for a year or more is vital to making sure you always have a home.

What is the cost of rent?
Making sure that you and your landlord are on the same page with the cost of rent is very important. If you are under the impression that your rent is one price and your landlord is expecting another, this can be cause for a lot of confusion for you as the renter. Some apartments are one price online, but the rental rate is not the same. It is important to ask your landlord what the final price for rent will be before singing the lease.

Is anything included in the rent?
Some rentals have utilities included, such as trash, water, cable, and internet, in their total rent price. Other rental prices are just for the unit and utilities are extra. It is important to ask your landlord if there are any utilities included in the cost of rent so that you can prepare the proper budget before moving in.

Do you need to buy your own appliances?
Our Tulsa local movers know that not all apartments come furnished or with the necessary appliances. Therefore, we recommend a walkthrough of the apartment to see what you will need to buy and what the landlord will supply.

There are some appliances that usually come standard with an apartment, like a stove, fridge, dishwasher, and sometimes a microwave, but there are some rental units that do not have these appliances. If you need to buy these items, make sure that the necessary hook ups for them are available in the unit. Also be sure to note in the lease that the appliances are yours.

What is the pet policy?
If you are planning to move with a pet, another question to ask before moving in is about the pet policy. Some landlords charge a flat deposit amount for pets, some charge monthly and a deposit for pets, and some do not allow pets at all. Before signing a lease, make sure to talk with your landlord about moving with your pet.

What is the security deposit?
Be sure that you ask your landlord how much you will pay upfront before agreeing to a lease. Most landlords will ask for first and last month’s rent as a security deposit and others may also ask for an added amount.

All My Sons Moving & Storage is ready to help move you into your new Tulsa home. Contact us to start planning your next move, we can share more questions to ask your landlord before you sign a lease!