Renting Room or Apartment in Athens
/The Three Crucially Important Things To Clarify with Your Landlord Before You Sign
So you set your mind on this charming, warm & cozy new rental that looks and feels like your ideal home in Athens
And you're ready to pull the trigger and give the security deposit to make sure the place is yours...
But what makes rental in Athens remarkable and what would make it a disaster?
Here's what you need to ask your landlord
First and foremost: the rental agreement
Why?
You must know what it is you're getting exactly, what it costs you, and how you get out of it
We've had countless customers who wanted to switch from their rentals to ours and found it hard to get their deposits back
And more often than not, they lost the deposit due to non-existent rental agreement
Our tip: don't become a hostage of your own shortsightedness! Always, always demand the rental agreement signed
***Important***
There are two sets of rental agreements you must receive from your landlord in Athens
One is a detailed document where you write up all the terms and conditions
The other is the Tax authorities verified agreement
The latter is the official rental document that you need in case you want to open a bank account, for example
It is a must to have both agreements on hand
When you rent a furnished apartment, always ask for the detailed equipment description
It should include a list of furniture, kitchen appliances, room equipment, and electronic devices in the property
Ask if linens and towels are included, you don't want to find yourself sleeping on the mattress and running to buy a new set of towels
A good rule of thumb?
Have pretty much every detail written down
You will be held accountable for those things at the end of your stay when the deposit refund comes into play
Ask for the check-in report when you move in
Check all the items and the condition they are in before you sign it
Bills, bills, bills...
There is a wide range of options when it comes to the structure of the rental payments
Probably the most common is the monthly rental payment plus all other bills
In this case, electricity, water, the Internet, building maintenance bills are your responsibility
The second option is somewhat in the middle
You pay the monthly rental payment that already includes part of utilities (e.g., water, Internet)
And you're responsible for electricity and building maintenance bills
And then there is an all-inclusive rental payment
That is the easiest and quickest option
And that's the option we've been offering all our tenants in the last few years
It saves you lots of time and confusion
Rids you of having to deal with utility providers and makes your stay so much easier!
Heating and Cooling & Maintenance
Den Kanei Kryo Sthn Ellada...which means It's never cold in Greece is a well-known Greek song
And while it is true, the Athenian winters are among the mildest in Europe, we suggest you make sure your rental apartment in Athens provides heating!
Ask your property provider what type of heating there is in your rental. And make sure your rental agreement clarifies it
You don't want to come to Athens to find out there isn't any heating in your rental property
There are three types of heating in Athens
1. Heating is pre-set by the building manager to switch on automatically
Usually early in the morning and late in the evening or in many cases just once a day
It is strictly due to high heating fuel costs and the inability of many tenants to pay these high bills
2. Independent heating is a more convenient option, but you can have it mainly in more modern buildings
It allows you to turn your heating on and off whenever you feel like it
3. And quite often, there is no heating provided by the building at all! That means every tenant must take the matter in their own hands. Usually, AC units do the job in cases like this
Talking about AC units-it's a must!
It gets boiling hot in Athens during the summer, and you'll suffer if you don't have a properly working air conditioner in your rental apartment
Ask your property provider when the AC unit got serviced the last time. If the answer is vague, there is a good chance it hasn't happened in a long time
The risk?
It won't work well enough
And if it breaks down, the landlord might blame you, so demand you see it is fully functional and freshly serviced
For example, we service all our AC units twice a year and provide on-going support whenever there is an issue
Your home's micro-climate has always been high up on our list of priorities
And last but not least
Whom do you call when something doesn't work at your home?
When all of a sudden, the apartment went dark?
Or the water boiler stopped warming the water?
Or God forbid, the Internet is down!!
Please do yourself a favor and clarify that with your landlord. The last thing you'd want in a city you just moved to is dealing with electricians, plumbers, and other contractors
In fact, on-going support is such an important matter!
Seven out of ten of our tenants in our recent customer feedback survey put it as their most favorite feature of our service
And rightly so!
We turned it into an obsession and have successfully introduced a 24/7 no days off on-going support
No tenant of ours ever feels abandoned — another high priority of our company
