Tips to rent a home in Kansas City?

Recently, the number of people looking for rental homes has dramatically increased due to various reasons. According to Harvard’s Joint Centre for Housing Studies, one in four renters are paying half their income on rent and utility bills. However, the process of searching for the right home can be exhaustive and time-consuming. And the competition to find rental homes in Kansas City is heating up every day. Do not forget that there are rentals for all prices and household types.

Thus, it is necessary to do some homework before you settle on a place and deal negotiation.

• Draw up your budget first. Before deciding on what you are ready to pay, make sure that you have considered other expenses like savings, groceries, utility bills, hospital bills, cable, internet, etc. and see if you can afford it.
• List down the features that you look for in a house. This is to ensure that the prospective house has features that you "need" rather than you "would like to have". This eases the hunt by cutting down the number of houses you visit directly.
• Most of our searches begin online. Know your way around the websites that help you to find rental homes. Be single-minded in your search and frequently check the websites for new listings.
• Other than searching the web, you can also ask your friends, family and colleagues for their suggestions. In some cases, you can fetch a great place even before it hits the market through word of mouth.
• Approaching a property management company is one of the best ways to

find a rental home in Kansas City. They provide premier accommodations and guarantee approachable management and maintenance.

• A good credit always makes a difference. Cautious landlords would always prefer to have tenants with no history of missing bill payments.
• Invest some time on filling the application thoroughly. If you are really interested in a property, a detailed application would make a great impression to the real estate agent. Also be very careful on preparing the list of references. Check if they are willing to be your referee and make sure they would be available when the real estate agent checks your reference.
• Always leave room for negotiation; especially if the rental price of the house you have selected is not competitive with the rest of the market.

Follow these steps and make your searching process more efficient.

The author is a real estate agent and an enthusiastic blogger. She has written various blogs on real estate, rental prices and property management in Kansas City. To know more, visit http://www.propertymanagerskc.com/

Susan has been overseeing property management organizations for over 12 years. Her experience in full service property management for investment property, real estate sales with buyer and/or seller representation, brokerage and advisory services