What to look for when viewing a home to rent: kitchen essentials.

TL:DR

The pics are insta-worthy.  It seems as if all your must-have items are posted on the listing for the home.  It’s is even located two blocks away from your favorite coffee shop!  You submit an application and are scheduled to view the home before deciding if you want to proceed with submitting that phat security deposit.

Sure, you can walk through and confirm everything looks good aesthetically. But there’s a few key items you’ll want to take a peek at before committing with a deposit or offer.  Is the home safe and well taken care of?  Or did the landlord put lipstick on a pig?  Conducting a thorough walk-through will save you time, money, and frustration both up front and down the road if you can get a solid idea of the home’s condition along with any upkeep you’ll be responsible for as the renter.

What you’re looking for will vary depending on your non-negotiable list, but here are some important items to consider when conducting a property walk-through, specifically regarding the kitchen.  Keep in mind this isn’t an exhaustive list but it includes some heavy-hitter items that could highly affect the quality of your tenancy should they be missing or janky.  

The Kitchen

My personal favorite room in the house.  Where all treats descend into the glory that is my belly.  Where recipes and moments collide to create core memories.  From snack breaks to elaborate holiday meals; the kitchen is essential.

In one of the first apartments I rented the galley style kitchen was so tiny that if my wife was using the sink and I was behind her using the oven, our booties would smooch.   It was more akin to a kitchen you’d find in one of those trendy tiny homes (cute, but still very small).  But it also made me grateful for the kitchen I have now where we can both cook sans booty bumps.

Whether you have 50 cupboards or 5, here are some items to consider in the kitchen before proceeding to rent a home:

A Pantry

A basic query: is there a pantry within proximity of the kitchen in the home?  If you’re living solo or maybe with one other person this might not be the end of the world if the home is missing one.  But if you’re a major chef or enjoy the extra space a pantry offers, be sure and check for it during the walk through.  Otherwise, you might find yourself using the most nearby hall closet or the garage as a substitute if you need the storage. 



Also, I stress the ‘proximity’ of the pantry to the kitchen because if your pantry is in the basement of the home and it takes 2-3 business days to grab a can of beans, making a recipe takes a hot minute longer if you accidentally forget something and have to make multiple trips.  Many folks won’t mind the extra steps, but if mobility is an issue or you plain just don’t want the hassle then you’ll want to take note of how close the pantry is to the kitchen.

*Fun fact: in my house we call the pantry, “The food closet.”



Just writing about basement pantries brings back haunting memories of when my ex-step grandma (gosh that feels odd writing out) would ask me to grab a thing or two from the creepy dark basement of her 1900s farmhouse. The cement steps were as narrow as they were steep.  As soon as you grabbed what you were looking for, obviously you’d have to haul ass up the steps as quickly as possible to avoid the ghosts from grabbing your ankles.  It’s a feeling akin to running and jumping onto your bed from afar so the monster underneath doesn’t grab your feet (iykyk).  

A Microwave

You’d think in our convenient and time-is-money based American culture that a microwave would be a given in any home.  This is not the case.  If you don’t mind eating cold leftovers or having to always heat things on the stove/other heating methods (backyard spit?) then this might not be a deal breaker.  But I’ve seen renters become very irate when they move into a home and find it’s missing a microwave and they have to foot the bill to install one.

If you eat a lot of leftovers or microwave meals you’ll want to make sure there’s one in the kitchen.  This isn’t to say you couldn’t buy a counter-top microwave and call it a day, but that’s just one more cost to factor in.  It all just depends on your lifestyle and family needs. 

Garbage Disposal

If the kitchen sink has a garbage disposal in the bottom of it, turn the water faucet on and let it run as you test to make sure the disposal turns operates and sounds normal.  Most disposals are loud but you want to listen for any extra loud grating or grinding that signals there could be an issue or something stuck in the disposal.

Suspiciously loud grinding noises could signal the previous renter left a kitchen utensil or other object in the sink which could cause it to break or operate poorly.  Both of which you don’t want to be responsible to fix or possibly be blamed for if you move in and find it after the fact.

The two most found items in garbage disposals our maintenance team found when I was a landlord?  Silverware and children’s toys; every time.  

A Fridge

After opening up the doors to make sure the inside looks clean and taken care of, verify if the fridge has a water dispenser.  This could be inside or outside of the fridge and some models include an ice maker.  

Water and ice dispensers are a great convenience but also require a regular replacing of the water filter which is another cost point to consider.

The Smells

This is an odd but relevant one.  That’s right; time to smell it out.  Especially when it comes to appliances and pantries. Not all people have the same ideas of what constitutes cleanliness and this can definitely flesh out when smelling the appliances and pantry.  

Some folks might think it’s alright to keep the kitty litter box inside the pantry; out of sight out of mind, right?  That might’ve been ok for their standards, but will it be for you when you open up that pantry each day?  Will you be alright if that litter smell seeps into your dry food storage?    

What about if someone forgot some fish in the bottom drawer of the fridge and made its stinky home in the drawer for weeks?  Many smells can be removed but some will remain there for a hot minute.  Best to conduct a quick sniff to make sure there’s nothing funky.  If there is, gauge to see if it’s something you think you can mitigate versus what might be permanent.  If you’re sensitive to smells and some heinous fish ghost lingers, you’ll want to evaluate if it’s worth the trouble.

Summary

If you’re like me and spend a lot of time in the kitchen or even if you only cruise through to microwave a burrito before jumping back to binge your favorite show, the items mentioned above will save you time and anguish if you scope them out during the property tour.    

Best of luck checking out the spicy kitchen at your potential new home!