Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

5. Once you are in the unit you are to view/inspect, look at the common areas first, like laundry, bath and kitchen. Living room is negligible – most tenants don’t even give a shit about that (except for maybe the dining table there). Are those to your satisfaction?

For me, every viewing I did, I inspected the unit’s common areas first. If they’re in a tidy state, that’s a good factor – you don’t want a scenario where you live in a clean room but you have to navigate a dirty area outside. If there’s ample space for hanging big duvet laundry, good. If there’s a bidet, nice. Do the kitchen smell good or smell like strong aromats? Do you sniff a whiff of tobacco? Some questions you really have to keep in mind. It’s good to have lots of questions for yourself, as you’ll potentially be living here, best be armed with as much information before signing on any dotted line.

6. Inspect the rentable room – this is your first glimpse at what you’re potentially going to get. Look at the furnishings – are those OK? Is there a cabinet for your clothes? Is the mattress to your liking? Is there a desk for your work? Is the aircon and fan enough? And, most importantly, how about the size of the room?

Going back to the original terms we discussed earlier – “common” and “master” bedrooms – I have to note that recently some agents/landlords are trying to stretch those terms to a loose extent. For example, some listings have the term “compact common room”. Most common rooms are shaped like a square, but these “compact” common rooms are like rectangles. They have a king-size bed, a desk and a cabinet, but the room is like a hallway section that was made into a room. Quite narrow. Some smaller rooms are given the term “economic room” – rectangular too, but this time it’s a single bed with a small cabinet and a foldable table and chair. So if you see those rectangular shaped rooms in photos, I strongly suggest you assess in your viewing whether the remaining walkable room space is to your liking. If you feel that the space is crammed, you can decide accordingly.

Some listings also stretch the “master” bedroom concept. For example, some listings do say “master” bedroom, but in reality it’s the size of a common room but it just so happened they have their own bathroom space. Sometimes it was by original design, and sometimes they just shaved some space off the master bedroom, put some walls up and a toilet in it and call it a bathroom.

Another thing to keep an eye on, especially for listings involving old HDB listings (usually in PropertyGuru, the TOP year is listed), is the wall and ceiling condition. See, the HDB units can be nice but they also can be a bit thin in terms of good wall and ceiling thickness. I advise you to check the walls and ask the agent about the upkeep history of the entire unit. For example, if you do yoga or play the Fitness Boxing game regularly, ask the agent if “moving furniture around” is an issue for the people living in the floor below the room. Gauge their answer and decide accordingly.

Once you did an inspection of the room furnishings, start asking more questions. Usually for viewings, it’s either the main tenant or the agent who will let you in and accompany you. So tailor your questions accordingly as well. For example:

• (if you spot unremoved items like wall hooks) “Can those be removed or replaced?”
• (if you spot furniture in dodgy condition) “This seems unstable, is this going to be replaced or be stricken out of the tenants’ responsibility in the contract?”
• (if you spot the mattress to be musty) “Is the mattress going to be replaced or cleaned before anyone moves in? It doesn’t smell good, to be honest.”
• (if there’s no mattress or bed frame) “Will this room have a bed frame/mattress before anyone is to move in?”
• (if you spot a furniture that doesn’t fit your needs) “Can this furniture be moved to the communal area by the tenant?”
• “What’s the cost threshold for accidentally breaking something or damaging the furnishing? Can it be replaced or will the tenant pay for it upon end-of-rent instead?”
• “Can the room furnishings be rearranged?”
• “Can adhesive wall hooks be installed?”
• “Can tenants put in their own small furniture, like an IKEA book cabinet or a bedside table?”

Note that I avoided using “I” in the questions above. I did the same last month. Try not to give the agent/tenant/landlord the impression that you are a fish in a barrel, and overusing “I” in the questions means that you’re already on the ledge on committing and all they need to do is a teeny sales push. Ask questions without putting yourself in the question, use “tenant” or other non-pointy third-person words.

7. Once you’re done with the room questions, I suggest you ask some other supplementary questions regarding the rental unit. For example:

• (on the washer) “Is this machine good for most detergents or do it need a specific brand?”
• (on the lights on the ceiling) “If these go kaput, do the tenant replace it ourselves at their own dime or do they ask the agent to have these replaced at the landlord’s cost?”
• (on the shoebox location) “Do all tenants put their shoes outside or can they have a shoebox inside but near the door?”
• (if there’s no periodic cleaning involved) “Is it feasible if tenants hire a cleaner to sweep and vacuum the place every 2 weeks or so?”
• (on the PUB split if utilities are outside the rent) “What’s the existing split for the PUB in the unit? Clean split or are there considerations?”
• (for cooking if light cooking is allowed) “What’s the range of things that can be cooked here? [Name a heavy stew/fried dish] is OK?”
• “What’s the visitor policy here?”
• “How do tenants pay for the PUB? Do they receive a message from you for the monthly amount and send you the monies using PayNow separately, or can they bundle the amount with the monthly rental fee?”

8. Once you’re done with the viewing, thank the agent/tenant/landlord for the appointment and take your leave. This is important as this might be their first impression of you. Also, DO NOT COMMIT TO ANYTHING YET. But you can commit if this is the first room that checks off all your most important criteria and most of your optionals. Otherwise, take your time and digest the information you gathered. Complete all the viewings you booked if you can.

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