For Ease of Daily Living, Look Out for These When Renting

It’s really easy to overlook everyday, ordinary things that would affect your enjoyment of the place you are renting. These little things add up, and they simply make your day a bit harder, each day, every day.
​​
This list is not exhaustive obviously, since they are based on personal experience, but this is a good place to start. You deserve a good quality of life!

Power outlets

​Are there enough, and are they where you need them to be?
​
If you like a neat and organized place, then it would really frustrate you to see extension cords everywhere, not to mention these are not cheap to buy. It’s also a pain to clean around these cords.

It would not be out of the ordinary to ask for additional power outlets to be installed during the negotiation phase. 

Water pressure / taps / shower heads

​If you have any experience with low water pressure from taps and shower heads, you will understand how irritating it can be.
​
Whether shampooing your hair or washing dishes or filing up the water filter tank, minutes are wasted everyday, time you could be spending on doom scrolling or watching Netflix.
If this matters to you, you can certainly request to test the taps during viewings. 

Bidets

​​Remember that first time you travelled to Japan and experienced bidets? I know it was a transformational experience for me.
​
It’s something simple that will just increase the quality of your life. It’s also something you can request for during negotiations that doesn’t cost much for the landlord. 

​White goods

​Most landlords will provide white goods such as refrigerators and washing machines, etc. But have you noticed it they are energy or water saving models?

The Singapore government has been giving out climate vouchers to households for years now to encourage people to switch to energy/water saving models.

If the appliances you’re going to rent has old appliances, it’s not improper to ask the landlord to replace them for new, more energy/water saving models, since landlords have these vouchers. You will end up saving money in utilities, which can be a big part of your budget. 

​What needs to be serviced/maintained regularly?

In Singapore, a common request from the landlord is for the tenants to maintain and service the aircon units on a quarterly basis. What else needs maintenance and servicing?
​
Some landlords also want pest control maintenance (maybe due to past infestations; can cost upwards of S$500 annually), and this will add to your bills. If actual pests are found and removal service is needed, this is an additional cost apart from the annual maintenance. Do you really want to face this possibility?

​Other miscellaneous things

​There could be a lot of other miscellaneous things that can affect your bottomline and quality of life and I’ll offer this last and probably inconsequential item – remote controls.

A new aircon unit remote control from a reputable brand can cost up to S$50 each.

Just by noticing small details like that during viewings can potentially save you a lot of trouble in the future. Do sweat the small stuff!

What else can you think of? Add them in the comments!
 
P.S. Sign our petitions to advance renter rights!