• No Fees, No Charges, then why we started?

• How to find flats on rent in Indian cities

• How to advertise your flat for rent

• Why should you use online rental portals to find flats or houses on rent?

• The Mumbai practice made us more confidence

• Things you must consider before moving in an apartment

• Simple ways to give a refreshing look to your house

No Fees, No Charges, then why we started?

When we hear that someone is providing services without any monetary benefits, a question pops up in our mind, WHY IS HE/ARE THEY DOING IT THEN?

Yes, that’s a genuine question, why flatsonrent is offering its services. No, we are not a Nonprofit Organization doing it solely for the benefit of the community; neither are we a corporate house aiming at revenue maximization and profit earnings.

Well, while answering this question, I can think of a very famous proverb that we all have heard numerous times in our life, "Necessity is the mother of Invention". Yes, it holds true for inception of flatsonrent.

When my spouse decided to take up a job in Chennai, we started our house hunting spree trying to get in touch with relatives and friends who can suggest some acquaintances or areas in Chennai where we should live. The only clue that we had was that my spouse's office was in Ashok Nagar somewhere in East Chennai and that Chennai means South India. To finalize an apartment before we could actually shift, we came to Chennai and started analyzing the Chennai map for a preferred location, scanning through the newspaper for the available properties, hunting houses online and endless series of calls to/from property dealers. We wanted to get in touch with the owners but most of the information that we can find in newspapers or online was posted by agents. In case, we were able to contact the owner, most of them told that the property was no longer available. Dealing with property agents was too tough and the language gap (as they spoke mostly Tamil) made our interactions even difficult. Some of the dealers made us crazy by promising heaven and showing us something that we could never imagine to shift in. Finally after lot of sweat shedding, we found an apartment that we could transform into our house. But oh my, the agent asked one month's rent as commission which came to around 15 grands. Too tough to shell out that amount.

The only thing that I felt at that time was the need for a platform wherein I can find latest listings and property owners details so that I need not interact with those agents who will make false promises, never disclose the correct information and charge heavily just for connecting me with the owner. Yes there are already big (ger) players who have been offering similar services but unfortunately they do not deliver what we expect (Hope you agree!!)

So, if you ask me, flatsonrent is nothing but just a group of people who are trying to provide rental flats information in a more managed and professional way so that we all including us can benefit from the same. It belongs to each one of us who does not have the nerves to tackle the dealers, the energies and resources to hunt around for letting out or renting in a property and just want some peace of mind.

Contribute to the flatsonrent community by posting your available flat(s) details, property requirements and at the same time spreading the word so that your friends, family, colleagues and network can be benefitted from this initiative.

How to find flats on rent in Indian cities:

The mushrooming of the IT and ITES companies in cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, has made countless professionals to migrate to these cities along with their families. This has also caused the increase in demand for houses on rent in these cities. Since the demand is high, finding good flats on rent has also become undeniably difficult. If you are a house hunter, you have to be smart enough to find best & suitable flats on rent in a short span. There are numerous ways to find flats on rent in these busy cities.

Middlemen:

If you are new to the city, people will advise you to look out for middlemen who would be able to help you in finding flats on rent. This can look like a good option since you get someone who can search houses for you. But, middlemen don’t have the list of all vacant houses in a locality. They intimate you as and when they know about any vacant house available for rent. You may have to go out frequently with them to see the houses. Also, you cannot expect them to show houses like the way you imagined and you may even come across hopeless houses among which you should choose & compromise if you are in a hurry. Sometimes, the house you look for would already have been let out for rent. You cannot blame the middlemen since they only tell you what they know. Moreover the main demerit over contacting the middlemen to find rentals is that you will get very less choices to decide and you have to pay a good commission to them, usually a month’s rent, whether or not you are satisfied with the house they showed to you.

Word of mouth:

When you decide to change your residence, it is good to inform your friends and colleagues about that. They may know about any flats on rent in their locality that can suit your requirements. They may in fact be ready to help you out by searching for houses on rent. You can even ask launderers in that locality, gas suppliers and in grocery shops who may also know about any vacant houses available for rent. You can go for a small walk in the locality in which you are searching for houses on rent. If you are lucky enough, you may find a “To let” board!

Newspaper adverts:

Newspaper adverts have been the best source for people to find flats on rent. The house adverts are published based on the locality of the rentals which help readers to easily look out for the flats in a particular area. The adverts contain a short description about the flats, expected rent for the flat and the contact number of the owner/middlemen. Newspaper adverts give a general idea about flats on rent and paves way for communication between flat seekers and the owners/ middlemen. But, the main disadvantage of the newspaper adverts is that many readers will be contacting the house owners or middle men immediately after reading the advertisements and you have to act fast to follow-up with the advert. Chances are that priority will be given to flat seekers who are ready to pay the rent that is quoted by the owner. You can hardly go for a bargain!

Online rental listings:

Apart from newspaper advertisements, there are dozens of online portals that display advertisements for flats on rent. Online rental portals have a huge database of adverts and abundant information on flats on rent and you have the liberty to search for flats based on locality, rent and even size & features of houses. This helps users to easily narrow down the search to their preference and find a suitable advert. These portals allow users to contact advertisers by providing the option of sending messages. Due to these lucrative features provided, finding houses through online portals has become the best choice among the house seekers.

How to advertise your flat for rent:

If you own a flat in any of the Indian metropolitan cities, finding a tenant for your flat is only a day’s work. You will get many enquiries the moment you spread the message. But, finding a suitable tenant would be a little challenging work. Advertising will provide you good enquiries from many potential tenants. You only have to make your adverts visible to people who seek for flats on rent. Let’s see how you should do that.

First, what should be in your advert for flats on rent?

Before you advertise, write down what you expect from your tenants to be.

• Decide the type of tenant you want for your flat, should it be working people, students or family. Mention it in the advert.
• If you have any conditions, be precise with the requirements and add them to the advert in short.
• It is good to mention the rental expectations clearly in the advert so that you will not waste others’ time as well as yours in non-suitable queries.
• Add the main features of the flat like area and partition. Ex: a two bedroom flat, 1200 Sq.ft, lift facility & car parking available, etc.,
• Your advert has to be a four liner that should automatically short list the tenants to be.
• Add only your mobile contact and make it available till you get a good occupant.
• Before you post your advert, look for similar adverts and get an idea on the rental strategy based on the localities and the way other flat owners advertise.

If you clearly mention the requirements, there will be no need for you to repeat all conditions with every enquiry. You can easily close the deal in a short time.

Where should you place the advert?

The best destination for your adverts would be newspapers and online portals. Newspapers are read by good number of people and placing adverts in newspapers can get your advert, good visibility. Therefore, choose a famous newspaper and advertise on a Sunday issue. Most of the professionals seek for house rentals on Sundays so that they get time to contact the house owners, see the houses directly and fix it. If you want your advert to be prominent from others, you have an option to do so, at an additional cost. You can make your advert on flats on rent highlighted or put up in a box.

There are also newspapers that publish adverts for free. Most of these are popular among the flat hunters and you can choose the best among such newspapers. But, with newspaper adverts, you don’t have control over the queries coming in. You can as well place your adverts on online portals. This is often termed as ‘free online rental listings’. Placing an advert for flats on rent in such online portals is easy and will get good attention for your adverts.

Managing your adverts on flats on rent – very important:

It is good that you place adverts in the online portals. But, unlike newspapers, online portals give enormous visibility to your adverts that will continue to show up till you block it. So, once you find a good tenant and have fixed, make sure that you immediately remove the advert from the online portals. By doing this, you can avoid enquiries coming in even after the deal is closed.

Why should you use online rental portals to find flats or houses on rent?

There are numerous ways to find flats or houses on rent in a city. But, using online portals can be the best option for people who want more choices. Finding houses on rent through online portals is less time consuming and more effective. Let’s see the benefits you get by looking out for flats on rent through online portals.

Search for houses to rent, whenever you want – wherever you are:

If you are a busy professional who don’t have enough time to spend in looking out for suitable houses on rent, you can easily find a good one by seeking through online portals. You can in fact make use of any short time you get, say you are in traffic, you can open your laptop and quickly graze the online rental listings. If you depend on any middlemen you have to depend on them to show houses and have to keep up to their time. But while seeking houses through online portals, you can even do that after reaching home from office, leisurely at night or any time you want, contact the house owners the next day and fix up.

Great features:

• Online portals are user friendly and provide great flexibility in searches. You can search for houses to rent by:


• Area of the building
• Infrastructure of the house
• Locality
• Your budget for rent

These portals display comprehensive search results matching your criteria, in fraction of a second. Moreover, when you use the search filters effectively, you can confine to the best adverts that you were looking for.
• Most of the portals allow advertisers to add images to the advert so that you can see the image of the rental houses before you see the house directly
• You can send message to the advertisers
• Most of the portals are integrated with Google map so that you can see the location of the house.
• From the list of adverts, you can choose the ones that are free from middle men intrusion and contact the owners directly to save money to be spent on commission for middlemen.

You get what you want – no regrets or adjustments:

While finding houses to rent though online portals, you only get search results for criteria you used in the search filter. You get search results for houses on rent in a preferred location, features and in your budget. Therefore, you get the best suitable house to rent and there is no room for regrets.

Compare and decide:

Unlike newspaper ads, online rental listings provide comprehensive information about the rentals. You get a complete idea about the house that you are looking for. If you are new to the city, you can search for houses in different localities based on various parameters like cost effectiveness, proximity to your office or children’s school and capacity of the houses. You can compare these searches and choose the best house to rent for you.

The Mumbai practice made us more confidence…

While we were still thinking about starting flatsonrent, I met an old school friend who has moved to Mumbai after marriage. Sitting in Barista over a coffee, we started discussing flatsonrent. And what she told me surprised me and that day I was confident that this community will really help us all.

Well I don’t know how many of you have experienced it themselves but I was totally unaware of it. My friend was charged 2 month’s rent as commission from the broker which costed them around 30 grands. To add to the same, after 11 months of their stay in the house, they were contacted by the same agent to check whether they will like to continue to stay and the broker took another 10 grands just because he has fixed up the house for them 11 months earlier.

Quite funny!! Isn’t it?

Things you must consider before moving in an apartment

For most of us, our home is the place which we look forward to after a hectic and tiresome day. However finding that perfect home may not be an easy task for anyone.

Before finalizing a house to move in, do consider the following. These may be very general points but we generally forget them:

• Can you afford the total monthly expenses related to renting into the house. Don’t forget to include any monthly maintenance charges and property charges that you may be required to pay?
• Is the house well ventilated and well lit with sunlight?
• Is there enough space for accommodating you entire family?
• Is there any possibility of water logging during rainy season?
• What is your property preference? Will you prefer a multistory apartment or an independent house?
• Are there sufficient cupboards and storage or enough space to put almirahs and cabinets
• Try to settle the owner at a 22 months agreement instead of the general 11 month agreement so that the rent does not increase sharply over the years

Just remember that this place will be your home where you will spend those precious moments with your loved ones or where you spouse will spent the majority of his/ her time.

Simple ways to give a refreshing look to your house

Are you bored of the same looking rooms? Just some small changes here and there can make it look new and refreshing.

Plants

Plants have a very soothing effect on the eyes. Plant some palms, Crotons or may be place a small Bamboo in that boring corner of your living room. You can even try and plant some Bonsai, it is a great thing to boast about. Planting herbs like Mint, Coriander, Green Chillies on the kitchen sill can give a new look as well as you can have fresh herbs handy for your cooking needs.

Mats and Rugs

Put colorful mats outside your bathroom and kitchen. Placing multicolored rugs beside or in front of your furniture can give a new refreshing look to the area.

Artificial Flowers

Flowers can add colors to any corner of the house or can serve as a beautiful and creative decoration for a table or a console. Do not stick to the traditional flower bunches and glass vases. Open up your creativity and pick up multi-colored flower sticks.

Bedsheets

Stop putting bed sheets matching the color of the walls. Try different and bright colors and prints. Just putting up an orange or a turquoise blue bed sheet can add brightness and make all the difference.

Cushions

Add lots of Cushions on sofas and bed. Try different shapes like rectangle and squares of different sizes. Hunt for different patterns and try mix n match.

Lamp Shade

Placing a lamp shade on the bedside or in the corner of the living room can help in lighting up the space as well as add focus on the area. Try new shapes or paper made lamps.