Inspecting a property and it’s surrounding environment during the day and at night, might sound a bit too much. However, after reading this article in NYTimes; Day and Night, you’ll discover how some neighborhoods can change from daytime to nighttime.
I personally experienced the need to inspect the property several times before signing the contract. Here’s a recap of my experience:
“My husband and I were newlyweds back then. In our excitement to find our own apartment, we rushed into signing a rental agreement. We fell in love with this amazing condominium unit.I t was a brand new building. The living area was huge and it has killer views. Right after the property showing, we told the agent that we are interested in renting the unit.
A few weeks before our scheduled move, we inspected the property again to check how we will arrange our furnishings. During our visit, we just discovered that our neighbor is into loud music. It was so loud that the wall vibrates. The bedrooms are in the far end of the unit but we can still hear it from there. The agent showing the property quickly argued that the room was empty; there was nothing to absorb the sound, thus we can hear the music playing loudly. We were not convinced. He said it was too late to back out because we already paid a substantial deposit and signed the rental agreement.
We eventually moved on the agreed date. Things got worse. Our dream apartment became a nightmare. Loud music can be heard night and day. I complained to the agent. She advised me to call the police after the legal time to play loud music. It worked for the night, but it went on for several days and weeks. I had to personally advise our neighbor, just in case she’s not aware that their music goes through our wall. I was still very considerate.
However, I think our neighbor was close to being deaf from always playing loud music. I cannot endure several months more of living in such a noisy place, especially since I’m home most of the time. I was ready to move but not without recovering my moving expenses. So, I looked into my rights as a tenant. I wrote a final letter to our neighbor. It was a very civil one. A copy was sent to our agent and property manager. If things don’t improve, I was planning to charge the agent for our moving costs and break the lease. I’m not sure if that was possible, but my husband and I wanted to exert our right to the peaceful enjoyment of our unit. If they cannot give it to us, then we are ready to move. However, things changed. Not long after our final notice, our noisy neighbor moved out.”
For all the hassles and stress we experienced; we wished we inspected the property, its surrounding environment and the type of people that lives in the area several times before signing the contract. To ease our frustrations, we kept telling ourselves to be thankful that we were just renting. We had the choice to move into a more desirable place without draining our finances. Otherwise, we would feel so trapped owning such a nice and expensive place with the wrong neighbors. (We later realized that some of my friends in the area had similar experiences too.)
I had to go through a traumatic experience before I learned my lesson. I just realized the difference of being an agent for a property, buying one as an investment and actually living on it. Thus, next time you rent and especially when you’re buying a property make sure you inspect it several times.
- Check the actual property for things you might have missed out the first time you visited.
- Do a research about the type of people living in the area.
- Compare the area during daytime and nighttime.
- Do random visits in the area during a weekday and on a weekend.
It is quite a task, especially if you’re emotionally convinced that this is the property for you. However, it is better to avoid the mess than fix it. You waste more time fixing it. It could also put a big dent on your finances with all the moving costs. Meanwhile, if you purchased a problem property; you can get stuck living in it, face rental vacancy or attract the same type of problem tenants.
All these can be avoided, with a little bit of research and inspecting the property several times before signing the contract. Trust me..your efforts will pay off in the end.
Photo: freefoto.com
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