The days of trawling the high street and real estate office windows in search of your perfect apartment are a thing of history. Modern rental sites, such as Rentola, have revolutionised the rental market, making it possible to find your ideal home without leaving the comfort of your sofa. But what about these rental websites that have made it much easier for prospective renters to find an apartment?
Find Your Perfect Property with Search Filters
Every rental site offers a comprehensive set of search filters that can be selected and deselected to narrow the search down. This enables the user to find apartments that offer their must-haves without discarding several properties that won’t meet their needs.
Filters include the high-end requirements such as location, the number of bedrooms and rental budget, right through to the more minor details such as balconies, proximity to specific amenities and whether or not the property is pet friendly.
Getting a personalised list of suitable properties that suit your requirements right to your inbox so that you can peruse at your leisure, rather than having to dedicate time to head into the local town centre to personally go into offices and receive listing details that don’t suit your needs saves not only time but also a great deal of hassle.
Cuts out the Middleman
Rather than dealing with the landlord through a letting agent as you’d have to if you were renting through an agency, most websites act as a conduit between prospective tenants and the landlord by providing a direct link between the two parties.
This means that all negotiations are conducted in person, reducing the potential for misunderstandings and miscommunications that could happen with the inclusion of a third party. The relationship between tenant and landlord can flourish from the beginning before the rental begins. This can lead to improved resolution times if and when any problems occur with the property or if a dispute arises between both parties.
Reduces Fees
Renting an apartment through an agency will involve you paying additional fees to enable them to earn their commission on the sale.
While an agent can remove much of the stress of negotiation from the rental process, that can come at a hefty price. Modern rental sites remove this additional cost by allowing prospective tenants and landlords to communicate, exchange paperwork and establish the tenancy agreement without additional and unnecessary expenses.
Increases Flexibility
Most traditional tenancy agreements will be in place for at least six months, usually a year before they need to be renegotiated and renewed.
However, with the increase of hybrid and flexible working in the post-pandemic world, allowing people to work remotely, and the decrease in office real-estate, the need for more flexible tenancy terms is increasing as people travel more for short-term work reasons.
Many landlords are recognising this need and beginning to offer short-term leases for fewer months and sometimes weeks.
This benefits both renters and landlords alike, with renters able to enjoy shorter-term leases according to their requirements without having to pay for a six-month period. In contrast, landlords can maximise their income by reducing the time their property might be left unoccupied.
Compare Rental Prices
Modern rental websites make it easy for tenants to ensure they’re not paying over the odds for their new rental property by comparing prices for each property with others in the local area.
If an apartment is listed as significantly above the average price for that area, it’s an easy process to understand why. There may be a feature that the property has which sets it apart from others in the local area, for example, private outdoor space or access to secure parking which would increase the price.
This gives prospective tenants peace of mind that they’re not paying over the odds and will receive value for their hard-earned money.
24/7 Availability
In previous years, flat hunting would have been a Saturday morning chore or necessitated time off work to visit real estate offices to collect particulars for apartments and to speak to agents.
Online rental sites mean that searching for an apartment no longer needs to be undertaken during the 9-to-5 but can be done during one’s lunch hour or to fill a free evening from the comfort of your home.
This convenience takes much of the stress and time constraints out of the flat-hunting process. It increases access to potential landlords by allowing you to contact them during evenings and weekends, potentially speeding up the rental process.
User-Ratings
In addition to finding your perfect property via an online search engine, many allow users to provide ratings on various aspects of listings. From the location to the accuracy of the listing, from their dealings with landlords to how often a listing has been rented on a short-term basis.
All this adds confidence and peace of mind to renters that they’re dealing with reputable people who are parting with their hard-earned cash and will receive high-quality service and accommodation in return.