By Staff Writer Kaylee Wagner
Learning how to apply for your first rental home during college could be difficult. Below are tips about the application process and facts coming from real estate owners and assistants of local real estate companies.
On Monday, I went to Homespot, a real estate company here in Portales, NM. I got the chance to interview Melissa Bailey. She is a rental property owner and the property manager for Homespot. One of my first questions I asked was, could you explain the renting process? What exactly is renting a home? Melissa then replied with “you pay a fee to live in a house somebody else owns temporarily.”
She then went on to explain that renting is best for when you are in college. It could build your credit score for your future. Although renting can be more than just paying a monthly fee, there is more that goes into it. Such as paying for electricity, internet, and water, sometimes they can be just as much as your monthly fee. So, save a little extra for when you are getting ready to rent your first home.
My second question for Melissa was, could you go over the application with me? She then directed me to her assistant, Kenevan Bailey. He helps her with explaining applications to potential clients. He then stated that first they ask you for your driver’s license, social security number, and any prior residents.
He explained that “it is important to know if we are getting potentially reliable and responsible clients for our rental properties and that’s why we get information from their prior tenant.” He went over the next sheet of questions and it asks if you have pets. For my second question, I asked Kenevan if there is an extra fee for owning pets and he said yes.
He went on saying that they have a pet deposit fee for when you first sign the contract, and you have to pay a monthly fee. I was curious to know if there was a limit to the number of pets and he explained, “yes, we only allow three for each rental house.” During the rest of the application, there is a questionnaire about your vehicles, and if you have any roommates and if you have roommates, they will have to do a separate application as well.
At the end of the application, which is a $100 fee as well, is a contract. In the state of New Mexico, no verbal contract is binding. So, there is a written contract on the back explaining that you must understand and agree with the owner of the property about rental fees and everything else in the packet. All applicants and co-applicants must sign the contract as well.
Going through the application process can be hectic, especially when you are in the midst of your semester. If there are any local real estate offices that you could go to, they will have plenty of people to help explain the application process and show you some potential properties to live in temporarily while you are getting through college.