The decision to rent a home can be a stressful experience. Whether you’re being transferred by an employer or you want to relocate for personal reasons, finding a single family home that meets your needs may be challenging. Invitation Homes offers single family homes to qualified lessors in 13 U.S. markets. Invitation Homes rents affordable townhouse, apartments, lofts, condos, and single family homes to people in search quality rental properties.
Before you begin your search for a rental home, it’s a good idea to know your housing budget. This fact can help you arrive at an affordable rental. Financial experts recommend spending up to one-third of your monthly take-home on rent. However, higher costs areas may require you to pay slightly more.
Utilities and Maintenance Costs
If you’re renting a house for the first time, don’t forget to include utilities in your monthly budget. Contact utilities to get estimates for monthly service by zip code. Ask the future landlord if landscaping services are included in the monthly rent.
Invitation Homes rents affordable townhouse, apartments, lofts, condos, and homes to people in search quality rental properties.
Check Your Credit
Recognize that a future landlord will pull your credit or do a background check before he or she decides to rent a home to you. If you’re asked to fill out a rental application, doing so authorizes the landlord to check your credit history. You may be asked to pay an application fee.
When it doubt, ask the future landlord about credit eligibility before signing a lease application. He or she may pull credit reports from one or all three of the CRAs. Pulling your credit will create a hard inquiry on your credit. An inquiry may decrease your credit scores. If you’ve had credit problems in the past, tell the landlord about them. Don’t sign the rental application and hope for the best.
Request a copy of your credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies (CRAs), Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Verify that the items on your credit reports are accurate—each of the CRAs may publish different information about your credit history.
Dispute Credit Report Errors
If you notice errors on a credit report, take the time to dispute them. Federal law says you’re entitled to an accurate credit report. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), most U.S. consumers have at least one error on their credit reports.
When possible, begin the dispute process at least one to two months before you decide to rent a home. Provide the CRA with documentation about any disputed item. Don’t forget to check the spelling of your name on each credit profile. Your future landlord might not want to rent to you if there’s a question about identity.
Rental Insurance
Include the cost of rental insurance in your rental budget. Your landlord will insure the property structure but your items, including furnishings, clothing, etc., aren’t covered by the landlord’s property & casualty policy.
Costs of rental insurance vary by market and location, but it’s important to buy insurance in case something unforeseen happens. Ask your insurance agent about bundling car insurance and rental insurance to save money.
View Rental Properties
Before you sign a lease agreement on a future residence, tour the property in person. Know your commute time from home to work. Check out local public and private schools before deciding to rent a property.
