Renting costs

[pmcclumpha]

I see on different sites the rental price of condo's per month with maintenance, does anyone know if I would have to pay any other charges (I.E. agency fees tax etc.) what should I look out for?

Please help as I am a little green on these issues.

[skye]

Rentals over $2500 per month, landlord pays agent's commission. Below that, landlord and tenant normally pay 1 month rent each in commission on 2 year lease but all things are negotiable. You normally pay 2 months rental as deposit, refundable at end of lease, plus first month's rent in advance. In addition to rent for the condo, you should budget for utilities - electricity (can be expensive if you run a lot of a/c), bottled gas (very cheap) or city gas if it is piped in, water bill (metered and includes charge for daily garbage collection), phone , cable TV and internet bills, TV licence if you have them. Your lease may also include paying the first tranche of any repairs (eg repairs under $100) and paying for a contract for routine a/c maintenance and cleaning but again, these are negotiable.

[skye]

Think we also paid stamp duty on the lease but can't remember how much that cost. Anyone?

[pmcclumpha]

Thanks Skye,

So what you are saying is that if I rent for under 2500KPCM then I will need to budget for four months rent in the first instance and pay utility bills on top. Thanks for clearining that up.

I also need to know if a fully furnished place supplies towels, bedding etc. and how negotiable these things are...not used to haggling you see, some would see me as a soft touch.

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[pmcclumpha]

Sorry,

How easy is it to get out of a 2 year lease? And, giving ball park figure for a single person, how much would you guestimate that I would need to budget for utilities PCM?

Cheers.