Run the water in the kitchen and bathroom and flush the toilet to make sure everything works and there’s adequate water pressure.
Open the windows and check that the screens are in good repair. There’s nothing worse than being swarmed by an army of mozzies at 2am!
Count the number of electrical outlets and make sure they are in good locations.
Is there any obvious damage that you might get charged for later? (floors, cupboards, appliances etc)
Look for signs of mould throughout the apartment. Note: Taiwan is very humid so purchasing a dehumidifier for the duration of your stay might not be a bad idea!
If you are looking for a rooftop apartment drop by on a rainy day as this will show you how the roof holds up. Also check around the windows and the cracks around the floor tiles for signs of leaks.
Find out where you the garbage truck collection point is. Unless you are lucky enough to rent a place with a garbage collection service you will me chasing the yellow truck with the rest of us!
Turn on the AC and make sure it works properly and not like an old truck!
Ask the security guard about your neighbors, especially above/next to/below the apartment.
If anyone has anything to add, please comment below and we can add it to our list!
Great advice! The only other thing that may be worth checking. Many landlords don’t pay their taxes on the rent they collect and the practice is so commonly accepted that you should ask about getting your receipt at the end of the year to deduct your rental expense from your taxes. Even my rental is handled by a real estate company, the owner would raise my rent if I claim rental expenses.
You know that you don’t need the official receipt to claim that from your taxes, right? You can go to the tax office with your lease and proof of payments.
Open and close all the drains in all the sinks and bathtubs to see if they work properly.
Operate all types of window coverings like blind to see if they operate properly.
Check to see that all windows will lock properly. Especially windows that might be on a balcony or laundry room area where someone could climb in when you’re away from home.
Walk the entire stairway or check a few floors from the elevator to see if everyone keeps the public spaces clean or not.
Find all the manuals for electronics especially the refrigerator and see if it operates properly.
Turn on the shower heads to see if the water comes out normally or if it’s dirty from overuse and the water doesn’t come out and make nice clean stream.
If there’s any furniture, check that all drawers and doors work properly and don’t bump up against something that could cause scratches that you were are responsible for later.
If you have a bike, check to see if it will fit on the elevator or if it’s even allowed to carry on elevator.
Turn on the gas stove to see if starts and operates properly.
Check for gas alarms in case the gas is left on.
Check to see if the faucets and the clothes washer have hot water. Many places only have cold water to certain locations.
Also roofs don’t usually leak during ordinary rain, you need a torrential downpour to really check. In point of fact every rooftop will leak somewhat in a typhoon, but so long as the roof doesn’t actually fly away you kind of have to live with it.
My understanding is that many landlords would not like to claim that income. This could be a deal breaker for some of them. But I haven’t rented in years and years and maybe my experience is an old one.
They certainly would not like to, like I certainly would not like to pay taxes. But, the law is the law. They will likely be angry about it, but these laws are their’s.
My last experience with this was that the landlord told me specifically before anything was signed that he didn’t want me to declare the rent when paying taxes. I agreed. Everything was done orally. I imagine you could just declare without letting them know, but personally, I would be upfront about everything at the time of signing if this is important to you. But again, maybe things have changed since I last rented and it’s now standard to declare rent as a tax deduction.
I agree 100% with @derpydogs about people needing to be responsible for their own taxes. But I’m afraid the locals don’t see it as corruption. Keeping the peace is more important than obeying the law. I wish I had a dollar for everytime a local tried to explain to me starting with “But you don’t understand…”
There was a thread a few months ago about this, where a number of moderators of this forum were insistently defending landlords evading their taxes and said that it was the tenants responsibility to pay said taxes. This is a big problem; when expats spend too long here they adopt the worst of the local’s mindset. I call it Taiwan Induced Low-Effort Syndrome (TILES).
On the topic of this deducting rent from your taxes… does it only apply if you itemize deductions? E.g. if you take the standard deduction, then there’s no need to deduct rent anyway, right?
