What Are the Best Apps for Renters?
From finances and insurance to making your house really feel like home, there’s a lot to do as a renter. Luckily for you, we’ve never been better equipped to deal with high levels of admin; there are fantastic apps out there to help you with each step of the process. Here’s a guide to some of the most useful.
Apps for keeping a track of your finances
Renting involves a lot of money changing hands, so it’s a good idea to keep track of your finances, whether on a larger scale or just amongst flatmates.
Mint
Mint is a free money manager and financial tracker app that helps you stay on top of your spending. It links to all of your financial accounts securely, including bank accounts, credit cards, bills and investments, so that you only need to open the app to see your whole money situation. Organise bills to ensure timely payment, set budgets and track your spending and credit score. You’ll never be caught short with rent payment, and you may manage to save some money.
Splittable
If you want to avoid the awkwardness of money misunderstandings with flatmates, download Splittable. Whether it’s your utilities bill or last night’s Chinese takeaway, pop your spending in Splittable and it’ll sort out who owes who what. Each tenant will have a running total of what they owe and what they’ve spent, so arguments can be avoided.
Apps for sorting your insurance and keeping your deposit
Insurance can seem daunting from the outside; what needs to be covered and how much coverage you need are big and confusing questions for a first-time tenant especially.
Lemonade
Lemonade is an insurance app designed for people who find insurance impenetrable. It uses artificial intelligence to give quotes and evaluate claims as quickly as possible, and its interface is accessible – more like ordering a take-out meal than protecting your home from damage. Simply answer a series of simple questions – whether you have roommates, a fire alarm, pets etc – and the app will generate a quote. This can then change depending on what you wish to insure.
Sortly
Sortly is an app designed to help you sort things out and organise your rental process. Create folders in the app for different rooms, collections and types of items. This will help with your move – you can keep track of everything you pack and unpack – but also lets you include pictures, so you can create a form of inventory on your phone. Be sure to take photos of the property when you move in – you can store them on Sortly and use them should you need to contest your tenancy deposit.
Apps for getting to know your neighbourhood
When you move to a new place, it’s a good idea to get in tune with the area; you never know when you might need to contact local maintenance services or ask a neighbour’s help.
Nextdoor
Free for iOS and Android, Nextdoor is a social networking app just for people living in your neighbourhood. It’ll help you get to know your neighbourhood quickly, and functions like an old-fashioned noticeboard – people post about local events, missing pets, local services and items for sale, so you can even find second-hand furniture for your home.
Walk Score
When hunting for an apartment, the location is as important as the house itself. Walk Score helps you assess your prospective neighbourhood for things like walkability, restaurants, cafés, local stores, and even commute times to wherever you could be working. It’s designed to give you the best possible idea of a neighbourhood before you commit to living there and explore in person.
Apps for making your house a home
Beyond the usual admin and finance, you’ll want to have some fun decorating your rental home and really making it your own.
Gumtree
With Gumtree, you can find second hand furniture for your new home at very affordable prices, and even sell some of your own if it doesn’t suit the property or if you need some spare cash – just make sure it doesn’t belong to the landlord before you list it!
Give your rental home a touch of personality without jeopardising your deposit. Pinterest is an app designed to inspire creativity; there’s a plethora of posts about decorating without damaging that will help you make the most of your space.
With all the great apps we have at our fingertips, the rental process has never been easier. Whether you want to keep track of your admin or just make the most of your home, this list has you covered.
