21 Questions to Ask at a Room Viewing

A room viewing lasts fifteen minutes. The lease it leads to lasts a year. That ratio is why viewings reward preparation so heavily — the renter with a question list learns more in one visit than the charmed browser learns in a month of living there. Here's the list, organized by what each question actually exposes.

Money Questions (What Will This Really Cost?)

1. "What exactly does the rent include?" Get the itemized list — heat, hydro, water, internet, laundry. Every "we'll sort that out" is a future bill. The all-inclusive vs. plus-utilities math shows why this single question moves your real cost by $125–255/month.

2. "What did utilities cost last January?" Ottawa-specific and devastating. A vague answer about a specific month means they don't know or won't say — budget the top of the range.

3. "What's the deposit, and what are the conditions for getting it back?" In Ontario, the norm is first and last month's rent — a landlord demanding extra "damage deposits" is off-script, which is a signal in itself.

4. "Any planned rent increases?" Ontario's rent-increase rules cap most annual increases, but knowing intent tells you about the landlord.

5. "Is tenant insurance required, and what's typical here?" $15–25/month; a landlord who's thought about it is a landlord who thinks.

Lease Questions (What Am I Signing?)

6. "Fixed term or month-to-month — and what happens at term end?" Auto-renewal? Conversion to monthly? Silence here creates the lease-mismatch trap that catches students with 8-month programs and 12-month leases.

7. "What's the subletting policy?" Even if you never plan to — the answer reveals flexibility when your plans change.

8. "Who's actually on the lease?" One lease for the house (you're liable for housemates' failures) vs. per-room leases (you're liable for you) is one of the biggest hidden differences between room rentals.

9. "Can I see the exact lease before deciding?" Anyone who won't show paperwork before pressure-day is running the scam-adjacent playbook.

Housemate Questions (Who Am I Living With?)

10. "Who lives here now — and how were they chosen?" Screened housemates protect everyone; "whoever answered the ad first" protects no one.

11. "How long have current housemates been here?" Tenure is the honest review. Six housemates in a year is a house telling you something.

12. "How do bills, cleaning, and shared supplies work?" A house with a system — any system — beats a house running on resentment.

13. "Can I meet a current housemate?" Two unsupervised minutes with a resident outperforms every listing photo ever taken.

Building Health Questions (What's Behind the Paint?)

14. "How old is the heating system, and who controls the thermostat?" — the Ottawa winter question. 15. "Any history of pests, leaks, or mould?" Watch the pause before the answer. 16. "What's the water pressure like — can I run the shower?" Actually run it. Flush a toilet. Open the bedroom window. 17. "Where's the laundry, and what does it cost?" 18. "How's phone signal and internet speed here?" Run a speed test on your phone during the viewing.

Responsiveness Questions (What Happens When Something Breaks?)

19. "How do I report a problem — and what's the typical fix time?" Ask for a real example: "when did something last break, and what happened?"

20. "Who manages the property — owner, company, or 'my cousin'?" Professional management has processes; informal management has moods.

21. "Why is this room available?" The most underrated question on the list. Normal answers exist (graduation, job move). Evasive ones are the preview of your own future exit story.

Reading the Meta-Signals

Beyond the answers, the viewing itself is data: Did they show up on time? Was the room shown the room advertised? Did questions get answers or charm? A landlord's viewing behaviour is their maintenance behaviour, four months early.

The Version Where You Skip the Interrogation

Here's the honest postscript: all 21 questions exist because private room rentals are unstandardized — every house is a mystery box, and the questions are how you open it before paying. Managed operators flatten the list by publishing the answers: Passage's pricing is public and all-inclusive, leases are per-room and digital, housemates are screened, maintenance has a team, and the tour — in person or live video — welcomes every question above. Bring the list anyway. The right answer to "can I ask you 21 questions?" is always "of course."