The hunt for the perfect rental

To land the perfect rental, think like a landlord, writes Opinion: After getting engaged, my partner and I decided to move out of our rental home where we lived with my younger sister. We wanted to have our own space before we transitioned into married life.

With home ownership being a distant dream for me and many of my peers, finding a rental property is a chore that seems to come along every few years.

The reason I find this such a daunting task is you not only have to find the right home, you then have to be accepted as the new tenant. House hunting isn’t fun – and it’s very easy to look at potential rentals with rose-tinted glasses, especially if there’s pressure to find a new place quickly.

I’ve been guilty of frantically applying for homes en masse, and discovering a pile of overlooked pitfalls – after I’ve moved in.

If you want to hang a sign that reads ‘‘Home Sweet Home’’, here are a few of the factors that shouldn’t be ignored when viewing and applying for your new rental home. (And, yes – these have caught me out!)

While the home may be within your budget, try to factor in the extra costs. How much will you be paying for transport each week to live in this area? Will there be additional heating costs? The home may have had fans or a heater on prior to your arrival so take note of whether there are heaters in the rooms and how many duvets are on the beds. That’s an indication that your new home could be a chilly one!

Check the water pressure. Noone needs to be showering under a tiny trickle of water every morning.

Is there disabled access? This may seem obvious but I once lived in an affordable apartment with four flights of stairs to the front door – and no lift. I didn’t think much of it at the time but it meant my grandma was not able to visit and delivery people charged extra to scale the stairs with their goods.

Compare your current living space. In that same apartment tower, we asked our furniture movers to move our three-seater couch. It was painstaking work – and even more painful when we all discovered that it wouldn’t even fit through the apartment door. As for landing this perfect rental, think like a landlord. They will likely want responsible, tidy tenants and want them quickly! Remember, appearance matters.

Show you’re organised by collating your details to share with them easily – also looking after yourself implies you’ll look after their property, too. Lastly, don’t be afraid to follow up with a ‘‘thank you’’ email if you believe you’ve found your dream home.

If you’re wanting to stay in the suburb that you know and love, put your feelers out on Neighbourly. Likely, there’ll be some landlords who would love to skip the letting fees and have some trusted locals in their rental property.

Landlords will likely want responsible, tidy tenants and want them quickly.