How to inspect a PG before you pay: a 12-point checklist
The same checklist our audit team uses, cut down to what you can do on a visit with your phone.
You will be shown the best room, on the best day, by someone who wants you to decide today. None of that is dishonest, but it is not the whole picture either. Twelve things, in order, that take about fifteen minutes.
1. Ask to see the room you would actually get
Not the show room. If the answer is “this one is the same”, ask again. Rooms on different floors and different sides are not the same.
2. Turn the taps on
Both of them, and the geyser. Water pressure on an upper floor in summer is the complaint we hear most.
3. Look at the washroom-to-resident ratio
Count the washrooms on the floor and ask how many people live on it. Four to sixteen is normal in a budget PG; three to twenty is a queue every morning.
4. Run a speed test
On your own phone, in the room, not in the reception. Live classes need more than recorded lectures do. We publish the number we measured on every listing for exactly this reason.
5. Ask what the power backup actually runs
“Power backup” often means fans and lights only. Ask whether it runs the AC and for how long, and ask what happens in a long cut in June.
6. Eat the food, or at least see the kitchen
Visit near a meal time. Look at where food is stored and where the water comes from. A kitchen that is clean on an unannounced visit will usually be clean in August.
7. Ask for the full cost, in writing
Rent, deposit, electricity, laundry, AC charge, guest charges, and whether meals can be opted out of. Get it on WhatsApp rather than verbally. This is where hidden costs live.
8. Check the entry, especially at a girls’ PG
Is the main door locked or just closed? Is there a register, and has anyone filled it in this week? Is there a warden who actually lives there, or a phone number for someone across town?
9. Find the fire extinguisher
If nobody can point to one in thirty seconds, that tells you something about the building. Check the service date while you are there.
10. Ask about the notice period and the deposit
How much notice, and how long after check-out before the deposit comes back, and what gets deducted. Ask what happened with the last resident who left.
11. Talk to a resident, alone
Thirty seconds on the stairs is enough. Ask what they would change. It is the single most useful thing you can do on a visit.
12. Refuse to decide today
Any pressure to pay on the spot is a reason to leave. There will be another room. On PG Mila there is no viewing fee and no brokerage, so walking away costs you nothing but the auto fare.
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