The 10-Minute Flat Viewing Checklist for Shared Flats in Czechia

A viewing in Prague or Brno in autumn lasts about ten minutes, often with three other people in the room. You will not get a second look. This is what to check, in the order you walk through the flat, and what to ask before you leave, so you can decide the same day without regretting it in November.

Before you go

• Know who you are meeting. Ask whether the person showing the flat is the owner, an agent from a real estate agency, or the current tenant subletting a room. Each means a different contract and different rights, which we explain in Lease vs Sublease. If it is the owner, you can check the name against the public land registry (katastr nemovitostí) for free; if it is an agent, ask which agency and what the commission is.
• Check the listing against the scam signs. No viewing before a deposit, ever, whatever the story.
• Go in daylight if you can, and walk the last 500 metres from the metro or tram. The commute and the street tell you more than the photos.

The ten minutes inside

1. Windows and damp. Look at the corners of the ceiling, behind furniture and around the window frames for dark spots. Open a window; if the frame sticks or lets in a draught, that is your winter heating bill.
2. Heating. Ask what kind: district heating (dálkové), gas boiler, or electric. Electric heating in an old brick building can double the utilities. Ask to see last year's utilities statement (vyúčtování); a landlord who has it will show it.
3. Water. Run the shower and the kitchen tap at the same time. Weak pressure or a long wait for hot water is a daily annoyance nobody mentions in the listing.
4. Noise. Stand still for 30 seconds with the window open, then closed. Tram lines, a bar downstairs, or a courtyard with a restaurant kitchen all sound fine at 3 pm and different at 11 pm.
5. Signal and internet. Check your phone in the room you would take. Ask who the internet provider is and whether the contract is in the landlord's name or a departing tenant's.
6. Your room. Does the door lock? Is there a wardrobe, or space for one? Does it face the street or the courtyard? Measure it if the listing did not give the size; the rent split usually depends on it.
7. Shared spaces. Fridge size, washing machine, hob type, storage. Three people and a 140-litre fridge is a fight waiting to happen.
8. Meters. Ask where the electricity, gas and water meters are and who reads them. You will need the readings on move-in day for the handover protocol.
9. The people. If it is a shared flat, who else lives there, how long have they been there, and who is leaving and why? Ask to meet whoever you would share a bathroom with. Five minutes with them is worth more than the rest of the checklist.
10. The building. Lift, bike storage, cellar, mailbox, who cleans the stairwell. Check the entrance door closes and locks behind you.

Five questions before you leave

• What exactly is included in the monthly price, and what is paid on top: heating, water, electricity, internet, building fees (fond oprav)?
• How much is the deposit, and is it held by the owner or the agency? Czech law caps it at three months' rent.
• Is the contract for a fixed term or indefinite, and whose name is on it? If you are joining an existing flat, are you added to the lease or subletting from the main tenant?
• When was the flat last free, and why did the last person leave?
• Can you have the contract to read before you sign? A no here is a no to the flat.

Walk away if

The person cannot say who owns the flat. The deposit is asked for in cash on the spot. The contract is only available after you pay. The utilities are "included" but nobody can say what they were last year. Or the current flatmates will not look you in the eye when you ask why the room is free.

After the viewing

Write down the numbers while you remember them: rent, utilities estimate, deposit, term. If you are viewing with a group, decide together the same evening; in autumn the flat will be gone by the weekend. On DomuHQ you can book viewings from the listing, keep them in one calendar, and compare the flats you have seen side by side before the group votes. When you say yes, do the handover protocol properly; it is the only thing that gets your deposit back.

Sources: deposit cap and lease rules from the Czech Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Coll., § 2254 and § 2235 onward); ownership lookup via the ČÚZK land registry. General information, not legal advice.