Rental agreement

It's late but we've finally concluded our discussion with our prospective tenants and their agent.

I did not realise that there were so many nitty-gritty details to nail down in a tenant agreement.

Now that's it done, that's one less thing to worry. Concluding the agreement though meant that we now have more things to settle to ready the house for the tenants.

What to leave behind, what to bring and what to dispose off.

For example, we were going to leave our curtains behind but apparently it's the 'norm' that tenants get their own curtains to forestall any disagreements over damage to curtains. Really? What could they be doing to the curtains that would result in damage? Oh well.

Pots, pans and cutlery all have to go as the tenants prefer to use their own.

Where on earth are we going to store all those cutlery?

Also supposed to ensure that the house receives a good cleaning too before we hand over. Our agent was able to recommend us a contact who would handle this part, for a fee of course.

Some of the lights also need to be fixed and one or two of  the rooms need to be painted.

As for the rental agreement. It is for a duration of two years with an option for a third, dependent on a rental fee review. If you hire an agent to represent you, their commission is half a months' rental for a 1 year agreement. This being a 2 year agreement, our agent was due a full months' rental as her fee.

The landlord pays the property tax while the tenants are in charge of whatever utilities they incur.

Note to self that I need to read up on the property tax. There was mention that since we are occupying the HDB flat, we're only paying 4% but since we will be renting it up, that percentage is set to rise to 10%. This is in addition to being taxed on the money you earn from your rental income.

The good thing though is that I feel rather comfortable with my tenants, they seem to be good people - Filipinos who have been working in Singapore for the past few years and working towards their permanent residency. I don't feel as conflicted about leaving now that I know that this abode that has sheltered my family for the past decade is going to be looked after.

I wonder what we'll experience when it's our turn to seek a rental property.