Relocating often proves to be a challenge for people especially when they need to do so with their family. In that respect Pune is a wonderful place to live and work. It has all the facilities and amenities of a metro city, minus the chaos.
Once you have relocated, one of the first things you have to do is to look for accommodation that fits your budget and your preferred location. There are several ways to select options – either you can take a sharing PG Hostel in Pune directly from the owners or through a broker or search online for your preferred property from the comfort of your home through property portals.
Don’t forget to check out a variety of options: If you rent the room directly from the owner, you may do away with the brokerage which you would otherwise have to bear if you went through a property dealer. Besides this you will have the opportunity to negotiate directly with the landlord and bring down the rent to some extent. If you rent your flat through a broker, then you will have to use him as the medium every time you want to communicate with your landlord about anything which involves major decision making. This usually increases the turnaround time for responses. However, one of the disadvantages of renting a room from owners only is that you have limited opportunity to compare rents. If, however, you choose to rent through a property dealer or rental website you will find many options that match your requirement. There have been instances when people have received eviction notice without a valid reason when they rented their flat directly from the owners. Whereas if you rent a flat through a broker you will have a point of contact for resolving any issue. Renting directly from the owner means that it is usually the landlord who drafts the clauses of the house rental agreement ensuring all the clauses or at least most of them are in his favor. Property dealers follow a standard format for rental lease agreements which are fair for both the landlord and the tenant.
Gather as much information as you can: If you are using a rental website then contact the owner by telephone, e-mail or message and collect the details of the property, photographs of the interiors, location rental, security deposit, year on year appreciation value, a rental cycle which is usually 11 months, notice period, renovation cost (painting and cleaning). With listed PGs/rooms for rent, these days you also have the convenience of checking out google reviews of the place. You could also look at checking out current tenants, if any, to get more details on their living experience. Once satisfied with the information collected, visit the site, and meet the owner. If you like what you see then ask your landlord to make a rent agreement.
Sign a water-tight agreement: To avoid registration hassles, landlords sometimes insist on an oral agreement for tenancy instead of a written agreement. Don’t agree to this as you might land yourself into hassles since a lease agreement having a duration of more than one year requires compulsory registration. Read the agreement carefully and raise concerns if you have any. Maintenance, water, electricity charges, etc must reflect in the agreement. Possession date and rental address must also reflect in the agreement. Make sure that the rent agreement has, all the clauses that you have discussed with the landlord verbally. Keep a copy of the agreement with you. Normally there is a 10% hike in the rent after completion of the initial tenure. The landlord cannot hike the rent in the middle of the tenure, he can only increase the rent when the lease is up for renewal. There has to be a one-month notice period on either side in case you want to vacate the premises or the landlord asks you to vacate the accommodation. The landlord has no legal right to ask you to pay the rent and not settle it against the deposit during a notice period. Your landlord has to refund the deposit paid as security for tenancy when you vacate the premises.
Value for money over budget constraints: With busy schedules and the hassles involved in looking for a good rental accommodation the concept of co-living is fast catching on amongst the millennials. They have started looking at managed pg accommodation who provide all the comforts of living at home without the headache of looking after the nitty-gritty. They deliver world-class living experience through their high quality, technology-enabled, and service-led housing ecosystem. Further, increased exposure to global housing standards and frequent movement across cities has made the millennial rental housing consumer more demanding of the value his or her money buys in a rental space. This is why PGs today have evolved into managed accommodation set-ups that deliver a large bouquet of facilities like fully furnished places and take care of all your daily needs under one roof which include meals, speedy internet, laundry, housekeeping, and 24×7 security. They also focus on balancing personal zones (rooms and private spaces) with interactive common areas (dining halls, shared kitchens, outdoor spaces, entertainment areas). This creates a healthy mix of privacy and collaboration. They also provide a lot of opportunities for the occupants to socialize and have regular interactions with one another.
The focus thus is on an easy plug and play living experience – just move into space and call it home.
Another big advantage that managed accommodation providers offer to the occupants is the freedom from paying huge sums of money to the landlord as security deposit while on the other hand managed accommodation providers charge a standard deposit with transparent terms which is a big boon to such occupants. Managed accommodation providers also offer flexible lease periods that can range from short term to long term.
So next time you are debating about finding the right PG in Pune, you should definitely check out managed accommodation operators who have revolutionized rental housing.
