Pre-Rentals Checklist: What You Should Do While Choosing The Apartment
If you decide to come to Ukraine for the first time, renting an apartment for the first time can seem risky. But Kyiv is a safe place to stay, and all you need is to gather enough information and follow a few simple rules. We decided to help you with that and collected some tips to simplify your search and choose the option entirely safe for your dwelling.
Any risks drastically decrease when you move closer to Kyiv’s center and choose a professional broker to take good care of any question that arises in the process
Ukraine doesn’t have an influential legal system, so in most cases, using the court system to settle disagreements between tenants and lessors is not a practical solution. If you’re looking for a flat to rent, it’s more realistic to rely on your foreknowledge and a substantial pre-rental checklist.
You should go with your gut and think if you like the owner.
If you’re a little unsure about the owner, but believe that they would be a “pain in the neck,” consider them as an additional expense, but be careful. Before signing a rental agreement, make sure to check the online registry of the apartment’s ownership documents. You are supposed to make sure that the owner’s info matches that of your potential landlord. These checks are done online for a nominal fee. If ownership documents for the flat are unavailable online, this is a potential red flag, be careful.
Also, some landlords engage a legitimate representative to act on their behalf. If so, check that person has a valid power of attorney. It is also needed to include the representative in the rental agreement, and that they provide the passport for inspection. If you are paying several months in advance, it’s also a good idea to check if the apartment is pledged as collateral, has any liens against, it or is subject to any court decisions in Ukraine’s legal system.
Who Can Help You
It is okay you don’t know where to get all the necessary information about the property, especially if you rent an apartment for the first time. That is why you can ask for help. Your broker is the person who needs to check everything about the property ownership documents, a notary can check whether your apartment has any liens against it, and a capable lawyer can verify whether a property is subject to court decisions. Moreover, an experienced broker usually has contacts of notaries and lawyers that assist him with your concerns.
What You Should Be Aware of
Another critical advice: watch out for scams and don’t ever pay for an apartment before you view it. Accept originals only of ownership documents from someone claiming to be an apartment’s owner. Insist that the owner or their representative bring their passport to a signing. It is vital to avoid the situation when the actual owner shows up after you have already paid several months’ rent.
Of course, you need to be attentive and even scrupulous when it comes to rental search. By the way, the search itself is not the last stage – you will also need to create transparent and inclusive agreement to consider all the factors. We will write about how you can do it in one of our next posts.
But we would like to calm you down as tenants from all over the world rent apartments in Kyiv every day, and we can tell from our experience that if you act deliberately, it goes smoothly. Any risks drastically decrease when you move closer to Kyiv’s center and choose a professional broker to take good care of any question that arises in the process.
