-For starters, apartments are usually left completely vacant by the previous tenants who will usually take the light fixtures, fridge, oven, even the kitchen sink and cabinets in our case. This can be rather expensive to "fix" so I highly recommend finding a place that has a real kitchen unless you're willing to put forth the effort.
Invisible Kitchen.
-Another thing: the apartments are usually filthy when you move in. I spent 2 hours cleaning our floors & bathroom yesterday only to uncover layers of dirt, dead bugs, and some shattered glass on the balcony that our rental agent kept trying to getting us to clean (but we refused). Luckily, as our rental agency assured us they could clean the rooms earlier we got 100 euro taken off our rent for this month. Now they are shiny and clean.
-Because the housing market is doing so poorly these days, landlords will often spiff up the apartment with nice extras such as new flooring, balconies, or in our case a very excellent queen-size tub.
-Most contracts require you give 3 months notice prior to leaving.
-The deposit is usually 3 times the "cold rent" - or rent without utilities. This can be rather expensive to pay, but you are allowed to pay it over 3 months (they won't tell you this, but it's the law).
-Some rental agencies / landlords will require you to do a lot of work in order to get your deposit back- such as painting the walls, or even refurbishing the apartment if you stay long enough.
More pictures of the new place here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/everythingandrobots/sets/72157604106201473/
2 comments:
You have to buy your own kitchen for a rented flat? Still, looks like a pretty nice place. I think you should get a dry ice machine and a disco ball for it too.
Heh, so... the previous tenant left it filthy but you still have to put up a deposit?
Those windows are cool!
Post a Comment