Useful information for tenants/Tenants’ guide

1.  Choose the type of real estate you would like to rent:

- Decide which of the different options for renting a residence would best suit your particular needs: apartment, separate or row house, real estate in a closed-type complex, etc.
- Assess the needs of your family in respect of the size of the residence (number of bedrooms) and its location
- Make a list with the most important features of the perfect real estate for you, taking into account the significant aspects for you and your family when chosing a place to live (e.g. proximity to schools, kindergarten, work office, sports centre, stores, etc). Mark the ones that you would be ready to compromise with.
- Estimate your available budget. You should keep in mind the fact that in some cases when the landlord is a legal entity, VAT should also be accrued. If the rental agreement is signed by your employer (as a part of your additional package) there might be an option for deducting VAT.

2. Research of the market conditions

When looking for a place to rent you might refer to specialized web pages, various newspapers and magazines, which publish the offers of different companies and physical persons, as well as choose the option of contacting a real estate agency. The advantage of the latter is that when you work with a professionally trained consultant he would be able to provide you with some information about real estates, which are about to be freed but are not officially offered on the market yet and also to give you adequate advice and recommendations. He could also cooperate in checking the availability of the offers that you have selected.

On the other hand, when you choose to take advantage of some professional assistance, based on the professional experience of the consultant and his good knowlegde of the market, you would have the chance to select the most adequate real estates that best meet your requirements. The consultant organizes the process of viewing the selected residences at time convenient for you and accompanies you and gives you advice and/or points the advantages and shortcomings of the different real estates.

3. Signing the rental agreement

When you decide on a particular real estate the consultant will negotiate on your behalf by protecting your interests and aiming at achieving the best agreement conditions. He will also require the lessor to provide the necessary ownership documents. It is sometimes possible that the consultant has already established a personal contact with the other party, which will help achieve the rental conditions more efficiently.  

The main elements of the rental agreement are as follows: 
- Rent; 
- Term of the agreement; 
- Ways for terminating it;
- Payment of deposit; 
- Agreement on the way of paying utilities (whether the rent paid is a package price, i.e. including utilities, or they should be paid separately); 
- Need for additional furnishing/equipment, etc.

The standard practice followed in respect of deposits is that the amount of one monthly rent is paid as deposit, and it is used as a guarantee; it is usually paid upon the signing of the rental agreement and returned to the tenant when the agreement is terminated provided that it is established that no damages have been inflicted to the real estate and all utility bills have been paid. In some specific cases, depending on every particular real estate the deposit might amount to 2 or 3 monthly rents. Once the parameters are agreed upon, the agreement is drafted and then signed by the parties.

When the keys are handed over to the tenant, a delivery and acceptance protocol is signed, which describes in detail the state of the real etstate at that moment, as well as all the items of furniture/equipment. Upon the termination of the agreement when the keys are returned, a similar protocol is again signed and it describes in detail the state of the real estate. If there are any damages, they are listed too and respectively – covered by the deposit. Before the deposit is redeemed it is very important to provide the receipts for all paid utility bills. Rarely, when the parties have agreed so in advance, it is possible that the last monthly rent is covered with the deposit (most often when the utility bills are included in the rent)