Paying a full year’s rent upfront is still common practice when renting a house. That means a large sum leaves your account at once, before you have spent a single night in the place.
If the water turns out to be murky, the roof leaks, or the person who took your money isn’t the real owner, you only find out after paying. Fixing that is far harder than preventing it.
This guide is for tenants, whether you are a family new to the city or moving to a bigger home. It covers the checks and agreements to settle before you pay.
Make sure the landlord has the right to rent it out
Rental scams are usually simple. Someone advertises a house that isn’t theirs, collects the rent and disappears.
How to prevent it:
- Match the owner’s name. Ask to see the land certificate or the bill for the Pajak Bumi dan Bangunan (PBB, the annual land and building tax), and check the name against the ID card of the person renting it out.
- Ask for a power of attorney if a relative, caretaker or agent is handling the rental. Contact the owner directly before you pay as well.
- Ask the neighbours or the head of the RT (the neighbourhood unit) who owns the house and who lived there before.
- Pay only into the owner’s account, or an account the owner names in writing. Avoid paying cash without a signed receipt.
Be wary of a price far below similar houses, pressure to transfer a deposit quickly, and excuses for why you can’t see the house yet.
Check the house before you pay
Go in person and take your time. Listing photos don’t show murky water or a leaking roof.
- Water. Open every tap and look at the colour, smell and pressure. Ask about the source, the PDAM (the regional water utility) or a bore well, and try the pump. On swamp and peat land, groundwater is often brownish and can carry a lot of iron.
- Electricity. Look at the capacity on the meter, such as 900, 1,300 or 2,200 VA, and compare it with the appliances you’ll use. Ask whether the meter is prepaid or postpaid, and whether any bills are outstanding.
- Roof and ceiling. Look for water stains, mould and sagging ceiling boards.
- Drainage. Pour water on the bathroom floor and see whether it drains quickly. A fuller check is in our guide to inspecting water and drainage.
- Doors, windows and locks. Make sure everything opens, closes and locks properly.
- Termites and timber. In a timber house or one with wooden frames, look for mud tubes on the walls, wood that sounds hollow when tapped, and floorboards that feel soft.
Ask about flooding too. In tidal Banjarmasin, water can pool when heavy rain meets a high tide. An old water line on a wall or fence tells the truth.
If you work from home, test the phone signal and internet in the room where you’ll actually work.
The neighbourhood matters as much as the house, from road access to security and noise. There’s a checklist in our guide to checking the surrounding area.
Agree on who pays for what
Many rental disputes start with small costs nobody discussed at the start. Go through them one by one and write down the result.
- PBB is billed yearly to the owner, so the owner usually pays it.
- Electricity, water, rubbish and security dues are usually paid by the tenant while living there.
- Major repairs, such as a badly leaking roof, structural damage or a pump that fails with age, are better agreed as the owner’s responsibility.
- Minor repairs, such as bulbs, taps or hinges, can be the tenant’s.
- Septic tank emptying and gutter cleaning should be settled too, because they are easily forgotten.
Ask for proof that bills from before your move-in are paid, such as the last postpaid electricity and water bills. The previous occupant’s arrears aren’t yours to pay, but they still cause trouble if the supply gets cut off.
What the lease should say
A lease protects you as much as it protects the owner. The full contents are covered in our guide to what to include in a rental agreement. From the tenant’s side, make sure it includes:
- Start and end dates of the lease, and the rent for that period.
- An inventory of what comes with the house, such as air conditioners, a water heater or wardrobes.
- Rules on alterations, such as fitting window grilles or repainting, and whether you must restore them.
- How many people will live there, and whether pets are allowed.
- The account for payments, in the owner’s name.
- Notice before the owner enters, except in an emergency.
- What happens to the lease if the house is sold while you live there.
- How renewal works and the notice period for it.
Make two copies signed by both of you, and keep one each.
Deposit, move-in photos and reporting to the RT
Some owners ask for a security deposit. The amount is a matter of agreement. What matters is that it’s written down: what the deposit covers, what may be deducted, and when it comes back after you leave.
On day one, record the condition of the house. Take photos and video of every room, including cracked walls, ceiling stains and damaged furniture. Note the electricity and water meter readings too.
Send the photos and video to the owner by message, so both of you have the date on record. When you move out, this evidence stops you being charged for damage that was already there.
After moving in, report to the head of the RT with copies of your ID card and family card. It helps neighbourhood security and makes any letters you need later easier to get.
At the end of the lease, walk through the house with the owner and compare it with the day-one photos. Note the final meter readings, hand over all the keys and get a receipt. Agree from the start that normal wear, such as faded paint, isn’t deducted from the deposit.
Renewal, rent rises and leaving early
Ask early how renewal works. Do you get the first chance to renew? How long before the lease ends must you give notice?
A rent rise should be discussed well before the lease ends, not a week before. If you can, write the way increases are decided into the lease, so you have time to look elsewhere if the figure doesn’t suit you.
If you plan to stay a long time, ask whether the owner would agree to a lease of more than a year at a fixed rent. That certainty can be worth more than a small discount.
Leaving before the lease ends is the biggest risk of a yearly rental. Without a clause covering it, rent paid upfront is hard to recover. Agree from the start, for example, that the unused rent is refunded if you find a replacement tenant the owner approves.
Next steps
Before you transfer the rent, make sure this list is done:
- The owner’s name is matched against the certificate or the PBB bill.
- You have inspected the house in person, including water, power, roof and flood history.
- The split of costs and repairs is in writing.
- The lease is signed, and the receiving account is in the owner’s name.
- You are ready to take move-in photos and video on day one.
If you are looking for a house or shophouse, Vorneo’s listings are on the property page.
