Who said house hunting was easy? It takes days and sometimes months to find a perfect place you can call your home. Whether you have decided to buy an apartment or rent one, there is nothing that can save you from sleepless nights and the endless errands of house hunting. What makes the entire experience even more taxing is the concept of broker and paying brokerage. However, we are lucky that today we have the option of skipping the middleman and directly deal with the seller.

What do you need to keep in mind when you are house hunting?

• A lot of foreseeing and planning is required when you search for an apartment to rent.
• You need to consider factors like the location, space, and most importantly, your budget.
• The best thing to do is to be sure about these factors before you go to visit the owner and see the place up for rent.

What are the benefits of buying houses for rent by owners?

• Renting directly from the owner has a lot of advantages. The best part is that it saves time. Instead of you conveying your message to the broker and then him passing it to the owner, you will be directly co-ordinating with the proprietor.
• You save a significant chunk of money, which otherwise goes to the broker.
• This makes it possible for you build a great rapport with the owner as you both would be seeing each other quite often.
• One more advantage of buying houses for rent by the owner is that you can get things done quickly. Usually, if you face any problem with the apartment, you tell your landlord and he then speaks to the owner. But here, since you are in contact with the owner himself, you can approach him directly and he will see that things get done faster.

What are the disadvantages you need to know?

• There are no significant disadvantages as such when you buy houses for rent by owner.
• It might be slightly difficult though to bargain for a better price as the owner would be adamant to make a better deal for himself.
• Since there isn’t any rental agency involved, you can’t be sure about the quality of the apartment.
• You might find a lack of professionalism which the rental services are known to provide.

What kind of houses are rented?

• Any kind of apartment can be rented by owners, but most popular deals are of vacation houses, condos, and studio apartments.
• However, this does not mean that owners don’t rent their regular rooms for such kind of rentals.

Why do owners rent directly?

• The main reason is no doubt to save money. Rental agencies and brokers these days charge a bomb for their services. By renting the house directly, the owner escapes from paying the broker’s fee.
• It saves complication. Nowadays, an owner does not need an agent to list the property and sell it. All he has to do is list his property on any house rental websites and then narrow down the potential customers.
• It saves the time of the owner. Hiring a rental agency and coordinating with them can be a task.

Houses for rent by owners might sound new to you, but you must know that it is gaining popularity among the new generation. If you think that it might work for you, don’t hesitate to try it out. All you need to do is browse through the online house rental websites and contact the potential sellers. Once you have had a chat with them, request to see their place and then decide what suits best for you.