Is it worth renting an apartment through an agency: pros and cons

Home / Real estate / Renting and hiring / Renting out apartments

Back

Published: 08/17/2016

Reading time: 6 min

3041

For those who are faced with renting an apartment for the first time, having to pay a realtor can be an unpleasant discovery.

Real estate agencies have long and firmly occupied the real estate market in large cities and more than 80% of all advertisements for apartment rentals are placed by them . It is much more difficult to rent a house for a long time from the owner, but it is possible if you try. Why then pay a realtor?

Pros and cons of renting an apartment through an agency
What should you pay special attention to?
Real estate databases
TOP 3 real estate agencies in Moscow "Inkom-Real Estate"
"Miel"
"Best Real Estate"

Why are organizations and realtors needed when renting and renting housing and how do they work?

Reference. Real estate agencies are commercial organizations whose main activity is related to the provision of intermediary services between the landlord and the tenant (seller and buyer of real estate).

Thus, the main task of a realtor is to select, at the client’s request, the most suitable rental housing option for him. The same rule applies to finding a tenant for a landlord client.

In general, we can highlight the following main functions performed by real estate agencies and realtors:

searching for a suitable tenant, taking into account the preferences of the apartment owner;
formation of a rental housing base;
tracking offers and studying demand for real estate;
presenting, at the request of the future tenant, various options for renting housing;
organizing inspection of real estate intended for rental;
representing the interests of the apartment owner or tenant;
providing assistance in the preparation and execution of a lease agreement.

Important. Real estate services can be provided both in combination and as separate types.

For example, a client can request full support of a housing rental transaction (negotiating with the other party, drawing up an agreement, etc.) or just use the service to find a suitable rental option.

Self-rental apartment

If a person wants to rent a room on his own, he must figure out in advance what he needs to know when renting an apartment from the owner. First of all, you need to carefully study the ad. Then you will have to independently visit all the rooms you like. This method will allow you to save on realtor fees. However, it is necessary to find out in advance what a number of pitfalls are associated with.

How to check an apartment before signing a contract?

Before renting a premises, you need to make sure that it is legally clear.

To do this, you need to ask the owner of the premises for the following documents:

passport;
certificate confirming ownership;
papers on the basis of which ownership rights were transferred to the owner of the premises (for example, a purchase and sale agreement).

If the rental of premises is carried out through a representative of the owner, in addition to the standard list of papers, a power of attorney must be attached. It is certified by a notary. Additionally, you need to make sure that there are no debts for utility services. To do this, you need to check your payment receipts. Actions must be taken before the contract is concluded.

Consent of other apartment owners

If several citizens own the premises, all of them must agree to rent out the apartment. The rule also applies to minors if they are already 14 years old.

The lease agreement must also contain the signatures of all owners of the premises and their representatives.

If a room is rented in a communal apartment, all neighbors must consent to the action. The lessor is responsible for preparing the relevant documentation. It is his responsibility to prepare and provide the citizen with a document regulating the rules for using the apartment. The contract reflects which room is assigned to which owner. All this will allow the tenant to avoid possible conflicts.

Apartment rental agreement: how to draw it up correctly?

When figuring out what to pay attention to when renting an apartment, you first need to correctly draw up a contract. It must be legally correct. All features of the interaction between the landlord and the tenant depend on the provisions of the document. For a document to be considered valid, it must contain a number of mandatory information.

Video

The document must include:

terms of the contract;
the amount of the monthly rent for the apartment;
the period for which the housing is rented;
conditions under which housing fees may be revised;
persons who may live in the apartment together with the tenant;
terms of termination of the contract;
conditions for inspections by the owner of the rented premises.

The contract must indicate the date of execution. The parties to the transaction sign the completed paper.

There is no standard form of agreement. It is compiled individually in each specific case.

To make it easier to draw up an agreement, parties to the transaction can use a ready-made document form. It is recommended to fill out the paper based on the sample.

Carrying out an inventory

An inventory of the property should be included as an annex to the rental agreement for an apartment in Moscow or another city. The document records all the things that are transferred to the citizen for temporary use.

Video

The owner of the home has the right to indicate the following property in the inventory:

household appliances;
furniture;
kitchen utensils;
underwear;
carpets;
other things that are provided to tenants.

If the above items are damaged or lost, the citizen renting the apartment will have to restore their value. If this happens to property that was not indicated in the inventory, the owner of the apartment does not have the right to make claims against the citizen.

Should I contact an intermediary?

It is impossible to say for sure whether it is profitable to contact a realtor for renting and renting out an apartment. Since much depends on the initial data of the tenant (landlord), namely:

the amount of time he has;
financial capabilities (you will have to pay for the services of a realtor);
the ability to negotiate and find a common language with strangers;
knowledge of various fraudulent schemes that are successfully used in the real estate market, etc.

In general, it can be noted that undoubtedly finding a rented apartment or a suitable tenant through a real estate agency will be much easier and faster. In addition, the client will be completely protected from various risks that inevitably arise in this area. However, when renting or renting an apartment, it is very important to find a reliable realtor who can perform his tasks at the highest level.

Advantages and disadvantages

Renting/renting an apartment through an agency or realtor has its advantages and disadvantages. So, the main advantages include the following:

Significant time savings - a person who wants to rent an apartment (or rent it out) does not need to look for suitable options himself, call the owners and arrange a meeting. The realtor deals with all these issues.
Receiving competent advice - experienced real estate specialists can always tell you what points you should pay attention to when inspecting a property, what important points to include in the text of the lease agreement, etc.
Minimizing the risk of concluding a deal with scammers - as a rule, conscientious agencies have a database of reliable rental real estate options. In turn, for the landlord, the participation of a realtor serves as a kind of guarantee that the transaction will be safe.
Availability of additional options - in addition to finding a suitable apartment (tenant), a realtor will also be able to help prepare a lease agreement and other documents necessary for renting and renting a property.
In most cases, realtor services are provided free of charge to the apartment owner. The commission is paid by the tenant.

At the same time, we can highlight a number of disadvantages that are inherent in the option of renting out real estate through an agency, namely:

such a service is paid (realtors usually charge a commission);
in most cases, when renting housing in this way, the tenant will need to pay a deposit and payment for accommodation at the same time;
There are also many scammers among realtors.

What does it mean to rent an apartment through an agency?

In the process of gaining experience in renting housing, I had to deal with a lot of nuances that I had no one to tell about at the time, and unscrupulous landlords were only too happy to take advantage of my inexperience and gullibility.

As a result, I rented housing that did not meet my needs at all, or the transaction took place outside the legal framework, which made me unprotected by the law.

Renting an apartment through an agency is convenient because you:

you don’t waste extra time searching for a suitable option;
you enter into a legally binding agreement;
you minimize the risks of falling for the tricks of scammers.

The real estate agency acts as an intermediary and a kind of guarantor of the transaction.
The agent’s main task is to offer housing options that meet the tenant’s needs, as well as accompany the parties until the conclusion of the contract.

What is a real estate agency

A real estate agency is a legal entity that provides intermediary services to individuals and legal entities in civil and economic legal relations, mainly in the field of real estate.

In the Russian Federation, such activities are unlicensed, which means that anyone can organize their own real estate agency.

What services are provided by realtors

The range of services provided in the field of real estate transactions is quite wide, but many agencies choose a limited market segment as their main specialization.

If we talk about specific areas, it could be:

Purchase and sale of real estate, rental.
Providing services in the field of purchase and sale to sellers and buyers, and in rental transactions to landlords and tenants.
Legal support of the transaction and its support - the company undertakes all formalities and legal registration.
Consulting services.
Obtaining title documents, as well as registering changes made to them.
Valuation activities according to the rules established by the current legislation of the Russian Federation.

The list is not exhaustive and can be supplemented based on the chosen type of activity.

How to rent out a room or apartment with the help of an agent?

In order for the rental of housing with the help of a realtor to be successful, you need to understand how this procedure occurs. It must include the following sequential steps:

First of all, you need to find a suitable intermediary, that is, a real estate agency.
Contact the selected organization, get detailed advice, and also conclude an appropriate agreement.
Reference. You should be prepared for the fact that the agent will want to inspect the living space or ask to send photographs of the apartment.
Next, the agency will begin searching for a tenant. As soon as a suitable option appears, the owner of the apartment will be notified about it.
The final stage is the conclusion of a rental agreement (if we are talking about individuals) between the landlord and the tenant and the preparation of a property acceptance certificate.

What to look for when choosing an intermediary?

The choice of a real estate agency should be approached with extreme caution, since the security of a future transaction largely depends on this.
So, first of all, you need to pay attention to the following points:

The position of a real estate agency on the market - before contacting a particular organization, you should collect as much information as possible about it, carefully study the website, and also find reviews from real clients.
The number of years during which the agency provides real estate services - the older and more prestigious the organization, the lower the risk of encountering fraudsters.
Availability of a license or certificate for the provision of real estate services - in the first case, the presence of a license will indicate that the company has been on the market for quite a long time (such a document was issued before 2002), and in the second case, that the agency is a member of a professional guild, and Therefore, it provides its services at a high quality level.
The behavior and speech of a realtor is also an important factor that you should definitely pay attention to.
Studying the constituent documents and the standard agreement - the contents of these papers can also tell a lot.

What should be specified in the contract?

The agreement concluded between the real estate agency and the apartment owner must indicate the following points:

date and place of imprisonment;
information about the realtor and the lessor (in the contract the parties are designated as the contractor and the customer);
subject of the contract;
responsibilities of a realtor;
responsibilities of the apartment owner;
procedure for acceptance and delivery of work (in this case, real estate services).

Realtor tricks and ways to avoid this deception

For clarity, we can give several options for deceiving apartment owners, which realtors often include in their work scheme:

Housing entrusted to a real estate agency is rented out to dubious people.
Moreover, often 7-10 people can live in a one-room apartment at once - this deception scheme is especially relevant for those cases when the owner of the apartment lives or stays for a long time in another country. In order to avoid such a situation, before renting out an apartment, it is necessary to conclude a trust management agreement with a realtor, which will clearly state who has the right to live in a particular apartment and under what conditions.
A realtor places an advertisement when renting out housing, but at the same time indicates a price lower than that stated by the owner of this property - this is done in order to attract tenants.
In this case, the lessor ends up in the red. To prevent such deception, the property owner must insist on concluding an agreement with a real estate agency. This document must clearly state the amount of rent that the landlord wants to receive for renting out his apartment.

Types of fraud when renting apartments

Photos do not correspond to reality. You should be wary of the discrepancy between the cost of renting a home and its renovation. If you see photographs that resemble pictures of luxury interiors from a magazine, and the price is average or even lower than market value, then this is a scam. They may tell you that the apartment shown in the photographs has been rented out, and will recommend another one whose quality is much lower . How can you be sure that the photos of a particular ad were taken from somewhere? Use the Google Images service - you will probably find many matches on different sites. Typically, the purpose of creating such a false ad is to create a base of potential customers.

The apartment doesn't exist. Be careful when filling out contracts, check all the data, even if a realtor is helping you. Many people are faced with a situation where the address specified in the contract does not exist and they have to pay rent without having housing. If you encounter this problem, you can terminate the rental agreement unilaterally by sending a letter to the landlord. In the case when you do not have a housing acceptance certificate, you don’t have to worry about payment and forget about this apartment.

Often, fraudulent realtors act like this: they demand a fee for providing information services (up to 10,000 rubles), and then give the client several landlord numbers, without intending to negotiate with them and accompany you during the inspection.

Paid inspection. No one has the right to demand payment for viewing an apartment. If such a condition is put forward by a realtor, it means that he makes money on this, and he is not interested in the transaction. Often the realtor and the owner of the apartment act in collusion and divide the income from viewings in half. Most often, visitors from small towns or villages fall for this trick. If you encounter such illegal actions, immediately refuse the services of a realtor .
Re-letting of housing. Remember that apartment tenants do not have the right to move other people in or temporarily occupy them, or to take a deposit, fee or commission from them.

If you want to learn how to convert residential premises into non-residential ones, then this article will be useful to you.

Enter into an agreement only with the owner of the apartment, checking the documents confirming his right to property.

Offer to buy a customer base. Fraudsters “developed” this deception not so long ago. Those wishing to rent an apartment are offered access to an online database of apartment owners. The realtor convinces you that the database is updated daily, but if you pay for access to it, you will only see a website containing long-outdated information. To partially protect yourself from unscrupulous agents, you can search for information on the Internet by studying reviews of defrauded tenants .

Demand creates supply, and these offers are not always fair. We invite you to watch a video about new methods of fraud when renting an apartment.

How to rent an apartment through an agent?

In order to rent a home with the help of a real estate agency, you need to complete the following steps:

Find a suitable realtor and contact him.
Come to the office of a real estate agency, chat with an expert and voice your requirements for rental housing.
Next, an agreement on the provision of real estate services must be concluded between the parties.
The agent will select the most suitable objects and organize their inspection.
If the client chooses a specific apartment, the final step will be to prepare a rental agreement and make the final payment.

What's the best way to rent out an apartment?

How to rent out an apartment: yourself or through an agency? How to do it correctly yourself and is it so profitable? Renting housing without intermediaries - is it worth the trouble? Renting real estate directly (without realtors or agents) can be not only unprofitable, but also extremely dangerous.

A person who comes through a realtor thinks a little differently. First of all, this is the seriousness of intentions and the reluctance to lose the amount paid to the realtor for selection and support. This is why renting an apartment without intermediaries in the long term is not only unprofitable, but also emotionally difficult.

How much will you have to pay for such services?

As noted above, in most cases the realtor’s commission is paid by the tenant.

What is the commission and what does it mean if its size is 50 or 100%?

It is impossible to say absolutely exactly how much a realtor charges for renting and renting an apartment.
However, as practice shows, the amount of this payment is 50-100% of the rent for one month. For example, a citizen rented an apartment costing 22,000 rubles per month. At the same time, the real estate agency commission for renting an apartment is 50% of the rent, which means that this tenant will have to pay 11,000 rubles.

When to pay upon withdrawal?

A very important nuance is the moment of payment for services provided by the realtor. The tenant should remember that he must deposit money only after selecting an apartment and concluding a rental agreement.

It is from this moment that the realtor will be considered to have fully fulfilled his obligations.

Attention. If a representative of a real estate agency demands payment immediately at the first meeting, then this is a sure signal that this is a scammer.

Is it possible to get my money back if there are problems?

The answer to this question is negative. The agency is responsible only for those services that it provided to the client. Thus, if the realtor has fully completed his tasks, then it will not be possible to return the paid commission (if problems arise between the tenant and the landlord) for an apartment rented through an intermediary.

At the same time, under a rental agreement, claims can be brought against the other party in court.

Thus, involving a real estate agency in the procedure for renting (renting) an apartment can significantly speed up and simplify this process. At the same time, it is very important to choose a reliable and conscientious realtor.

Pros and cons of renting an apartment through an agency

Victor Petrovich

6 years of experience as a lawyer and almost 4 years in the real estate business

Ask a Question

Should you contact agents?

I think so, and here’s why you can’t do without them:

The agent will select the housing you need according to the parameters, offering real and current options for viewing.

All that is required of the parties is to sign the prepared agreement in accordance with current legislation.

The possibility of concluding a sublease agreement with a third party who does not have ownership rights to the property is excluded.

Save time. I didn’t have to search for a suitable option every day on thematic sites - the agent offers them on his own.

Prompt resolution of the issue. The realtor will quickly prepare an agreement and facilitate its conclusion on favorable terms.

The need to pay a commission. Many of my landlords, in addition to an advance payment for a month in advance, also required me to make the same amount - a deposit (payment for the last month). The agent will also demand his remuneration, the final amount is quite significant.

Pros and cons of searching for an apartment on your own

You can bargain well directly with the home owner.

Accommodation is permitted at your own risk based on a verbal agreement, but subject to advance payments for a month of stay.

If financial difficulties arose, it was possible to persuade the landlord to postpone payment for a couple of days.

There is a risk of falling for scammers who “sublease” an apartment to several tenants at once, without being its owners themselves.

The option described in the ad does not always correspond to the real one.

The absence of written agreements risks ending up on the street at any time.

All organizational arrangements and legal registration will have to be taken under your control.

Victor Petrovich

6 years of experience as a lawyer and almost 4 years in the real estate business

Ask a Question

Having rented housing in two ways, I consider the option of cooperation with real estate agencies to be the most preferable.