You are hunting for an apartment in South Africa.
There are so many apartments to see and there is so little time.
Mind you, your time is at a premium.
You must plan your trips to the prospective apartment well in order to save time and effort.
No worries.
Here’re a few actionable tips for apartment viewing in South Africa:
Keep Your Papers Ready
To start with, keep your papers ready.
Yes, this is the last step and you might wonder why the hurry to get the paperwork ready.
Many people hunting for an apartment do all the running around but fall short of producing the papers they need to sign the agreement.
Therefore, right at the outset, the first tip before you go to see an apartment is to organize your papers and keep them ready.
This is the starting point of your hunt for the apartment.
Keep your paperwork ready and avoid the last-minute stress of putting it all together!
Fix the Place of Meeting with Your Agent
Whenever you wish to go and see the apartment, you will probably rope in a broker or agent.
Coordinating with him well is the key to making apartment viewing more fruitful.
At times, agents slow you down and cause a bit of run around for you. Therefore, it is necessary to be precise and clear in terms of your communication with him.
Before you step out of your home/office as the case may be, give him a call and find out where you are supposed to meet. Find out where you are supposed to meet him- whether at his office, a neutral venue like a coffee shop or the apartment itself because you can plan your trip accordingly.
If you are supposed to meet him at his office, you should also find out the distance between his office and the apartment that you wish to see. If his office is at the other end of the city from the apartment, you may not even be able to see the apartment in a single trip.
It is for these reasons it is necessary to fix the place of meeting at a stipulated time in order to avoid any delay or discomfort for you.
Fixing the place and other details well in advance helps you plan your trip properly and you can spend your time in viewing the apartment.
Accept that You Will Need to Take Some Time off Work
Let’s say you came across an apartment on a search engine for apartments on rent. But you are at work. So you will plan to go there during the weekend or may be the next weekend.
This is a mistake you must not make.
What you see on the search engine online is the availability of that apartment for that particular day or hour. If you delay in paying a visit, you can end up losing the opportunity to pay a visit and consider renting it.
As you know, good apartments are hard to find and very few will actually satisfy all the criteria that you have set- budget, transport, neighborhood etc.
Therefore, don’t make the mistake of waiting till weekend. Start by accepting the fact that you will have to take some time off work and pay a visit during the week.
Plan your work in such a way that you can spare some time to leave the office and go for apartment viewing.
Make Your Travel Plan Well in Advance
Since you may need to go and see the apartment by taking time off work, your time will be crucial. You cannot waste it on wondering how to reach the apartment at the eleventh hour.
Therefore, it is advisable that you plan your travel in such a way that you don’t get delayed and you can spend the time for what it is meant – apartment viewing.
Start with where you are. You are at your office. How will you get to the apartment? Will you need to switch buses to get there or will you take a cab? Is there a provision to take the train?
Each one has its own time span that you need to take into consideration while planning your trip to the apartment.
Account for each minute detail. For instance, from where will you board the bus? How will you get there? Will you walk? If yes, how much time will it take?
In this way, you need to take into account every part of the travel time and plan accordingly. You should also set aside the time required for apartment viewing.
You should allocate at least 45 minutes to see the apartment and the rest of the time for traveling to and fro.
Do remember that you are going to take time off work; so plan well and save your time.
Parting Note
As you can see, going for apartment viewing in South Africa will take a special effort in terms of planning and execution.
If you are someone who operates on a tight schedule, you may take these tips into consideration while going for apartment viewing.
Follow these tips and save the time and energy that you would like to dedicate to viewing the apartment and choose a good one!
