What should I consider when renting a house in America?

There are many ways to find rental information: there are a lot of rental advertisements in local newspapers every day; You can also go to the commonly used English rental website; In residential areas, if some houses need to be rented, the For Rent brand will be inserted outside; For students, through the school housing management center, international students' association and other platforms, some information about subletting and subletting can also be found among students in the same school; Of course, you can also find a housing rental agency, but the agency fee is not small.

Second, observe the environment of the house.

There are many kinds of houses in the United States, and there are three common ones in the rental market: single-family houses, condominiums and apartments/suites. The size of the house is not fixed, and the owner can be a rental company or an individual. International students who come to the United States can consider sharing the rent and save the rent, unlike immigrants who come to the United States, they need to rent the whole house.

When choosing a house, in addition to the basic factors such as the rent budget, the security situation in the area where the house is located, whether the house has its own furniture, whether it needs to pay utilities and other miscellaneous fees, and whether it is convenient to go to school or work, if the house does not provide enough parks, students who intend to buy a car need to investigate the parking fees in the community and the weekly street cleaning.

Third, consider the rent

The lease term of a house is generally divided into two types: long-term lease and monthly lease. Long-$ TERM generally requires tenants to live for at least one year, and in rare cases, it requires at least three or six months. Now many rental companies and individual landlords will consider giving some concessions to tenants who sign a one-year lease, such as one-month rent exemption. For the case that the tenant moves out before the lease expires, the long-term lease requires the current tenant to inform the landlord about 30 days in advance, and usually requires the tenant to find someone who is willing to take over the lease until the lease expires. Monthly rent is more flexible, usually tenants only need to inform the leasing company or landlord in advance.

Four. Certificates and deposits

After seeing a satisfactory house, some rental companies or landlords will ask to fill in an application form, provide basic personal information such as social security number and date of birth, and show their passports or driver's licenses, as well as identity cards. , check the applicant's criminal record and credit score. There are also rental companies or landlords who require applicants to submit income certificates or salary slips issued by employers.

After you decide to rent a house, you usually need to pay part or all of the rental deposit in advance, that is, the deposit, which is usually one month's rent. Payment of deposit and rent usually does not accept credit cards, only cash and checks can be used.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) sign a contract

When signing the lease, you need to be extra careful and read the terms of the lease word for word. Some local officials require that if the lease agreement is reached between the tenant and the landlord in Chinese without translation, and the lease period exceeds 30 days, the landlord must provide the tenant with a Chinese translation of the lease before signing the contract, regardless of whether the tenant requests this. For international students in China, it is especially necessary to pay attention to the terms about the maximum period for allowing visitors to stay overnight, so as to avoid being fined or deducted from the deposit by the landlord because family members come to visit relatives. Moreover, it is also necessary to ask whether clothes can be hung in outdoor areas such as yards and balconies. In many cities in the United States, hanging clothes outdoors is not allowed, because it hinders the appearance of the city.