Thursday, April 05, 2007

house renting criteria

My wife and myself will be looking for a rental house in few weeks, we started discussing the type of house we want. As my friend, LN, is an expert in house hunt, we sought his help. LN was kind enough to send us the list of items to check while finding house.

Placing the criteria here for netizen to benefit.



Visit the house more than once before deciding if you wanna move to the house. Talk to the neighbours casually.

External Factors

  1. Close to work place or in a area from where there is good connectivity, transportation
  2. House shd be located in a good environment (surroundings) Shd be close to the market, shops but not right in between them
  3. No water problem and water logging in the area
  4. Underground drainage preferred
  5. Security - it will be good if there are street lights and one such is just before the house.
  6. Good if the house has trees (esp. neem tree)


Internal Factors

  1. Type of ceiling - Bombay ceiling is easy to maintain
  2. Flooring of the house - avoid marble if you have elders @ home.
  3. Elevation of house from road - slight elevation will be good
  4. Direction of house facing - good if the house is North or East facing
  5. Floor in which house is present - Ground floor, 1st floor - anything is ok if only young people are gonna reside in the house.
  6. Cross Ventilation
  7. ventilation in kitchen and bath
  8. Sun light (at least in the morning)
  9. Hall shd be big enuf to place TV, Sofa set
  10. It will be good if the house has a veranda (for keeping shoes and other stuff)
  11. Bedroom shd be big enuf to have a 6-6(ft) cot. And it shd have extra space for moving around.
  12. Kitchen shd be big enuf to keep utensils, grinder,mixie,coffee maker,micro wave. Kitchen slab, sink shd be at correct height and shd be big enuf to dump utensils. If you have gas cylinder there shd be space to keep it.
  13. Bathroom, latrine shd have ventilation and shd be spacious You shd get water in bathroom, latrine (24hrs)
  14. Bathroom shd be big enuf to wash clothes otherwise there shd be separate space to wash clothes.
  15. Nice if there is both Indian and western latrine. One should be common. It will be good to have the latrine inside the house and away from living space.
  16. Need to have space for Washing machine near bathroom to drain water
  17. Nice to have balcony. Washing machine and other stuff can be kept there. (check security if you have a balcony)
  18. Security - Better if the house has got grill doors.
  19. It will be good if the house has a store room
  20. Nice if the house has closed shelves
  21. Internal electric wiring
  22. Inbuilt fuse system to prevent overloading, proper earthing
  23. Provision to keep bero, refrigerator, dining table, computer, television
  24. will be good if the hose has closed lofts
  25. There shd be enuf points in the house to connect electronic/ electric devices.
  26. Ceiling height of Bathroom needs to be high enuf to accommodate geyser
  27. Good to have mirror + wash basin
  28. wash basin close to dinning hall
  29. Separate meter for our part of the house. Nice to have a separate meter for water consumption
  30. Space for hanging clothes ( balcony where you get sunlight will be good otherwise there shd be a terrace or other space)
  31. Shd have provision to hang clothes inside the house (in rainy days you can't hang clothes outside)
  32. Maintenance charges
  33. Sheltered Two/ Four wheeler parking preferable
  34. Ask about painting the house
  35. Other furniture's, fixtures, fittings(fan, light)
  36. Nice to have separate pooja, study/dining room
  37. 24hrs Water supply ( Overhead tank, Corporation water, Well, Bore well )
  38. You shd have access to the motor switch
  39. Some houses will have cracks in the ceiling. This will give you a tough time in rainy days.
  40. Facility to fit AC.

Happy hunting.

2 comments:

Ungal Nanban said...

Previously people are satisfied with a rented house on the first look. There won’t be any conditions from the tenant side. Only house owner used to list lot of conditions for staying. Those days are gone. Tenants are becoming smart. Those who are expecting more has to pay more obviously for these factors. Best of luck for hunting….

Same situation is applicable for marriage now. Previously people arrange marriages if the guy is working in a good organization (private / government). These days they list lot of conditions like the boy should not be fat. Also boy should not be thin. Boy should not have bald / hair loss.

Hope JB will write about this also…

Anonymous said...

I remember how few of my classmates rented a house near Marina beach. What sold the house was the fact that there was an nice 'aunty' next door.
I dont think we cared which way the house faced. We all faced 'auntie'. Only thing we cared ws that there should be no light at all in the house (so that others wouldnt see what we were upto.
I guess the only crteria that holds true for all times is that there always used to be enough supply of water (thanni), especially on Friday nights.
Thanks for the tips, JB. I'll keep that in mind while buying a house.
-T