Moving to a new city and finding rented accommodation is a task. But when it comes to finding a rented house in Bengaluru, it gets even more difficult. And it’s time someone declared it an Olympic sport. The rental market in the city is even worse than in other metro cities. There are certain things you need to keep in mind when you’re apartment hunting in the startup capital of India. And these seven points will be totally useful while you are on the hunt for that perfect house.
1. You can ask your broker for an “apartment tour package”.
As outlandish as it might sound, brokers in Bangalore are now offering apartment tour packages to their clients. The package includes a pickup and drop facility and it will give you a tour of five to six properties. The catch is that the tour is not free. What comes for free in other cities, comes at a cost in Bangalore.
2. You need to have scored at least 90% in class 12.
Turns out, houses in Bengaluru also come with cut-off marks. We’re not kidding. Someone could not get a house because they scored 75% and the owner wanted a tenant who had scored 90% in class 12. Looks like half of us won’t even get a 1BHK.
3. If you thought your college doesn’t matter, well, we’ve got a surprise for you.
Not just your class 12 marks but also which college you went to for your undergraduate course also matters in Bangalore. Trust us, we are not making this up. A potential tenant lost out on a flat after he didn’t fit the landlord’s bill. The tenant wanted someone from an institute like IIT or IIM and this fellow lost out because he studied from VIT Vellore.
4. Get your LinkedIn profile up to date.
Documents like ID proof and Income statement are not enough to get a flat in Bengaluru. Finding a rented place is like going through a rishta process that has been brought for you by your distant relatives. Landlords in the city also ask for LinkedIn profiles to check your career trajectory. So off you go and get that profile up to date.
5. Bengaluru landlords have interviews for tenants and they are harder than a seed round pitch.
We weren’t lying when we said that apartment hunting in Bangalore is totally like a rishta process. Just like people are asked multiple questions before they are married, landlords in the city have tons of questions ready to throw at you like darts. For eg; this guy was asked detailed questions about his background, family size, etc., along with questions about his startup. The landlord asked questions about the business model, burn rate, last-round investors, etc. Phew.
6. Not to scare you but you can actually fail the tenant interview.
You can ace a job interview easily but cracking the tenant interview is no cakewalk. An Engineering Manager at Google actually could not crack this interview and lost a house. Rent scene so bad that even a Google interview sounds easy, yikes!
7. If all else fails, head to your nearest concert or a match with a placard and hope someone notices it.
In case you tried everything – brokers, Facebook groups, online websites – and still could not get a flat in Bangalore (the chances of this is actually high), head to the nearest event and hold a banner and hope one good Samaritan gives you a flat on rent.
House hunting in Bengaluru is not for the weak.