What moving into a rented room actually costs

Almost every conversation about the cost of renting here is about commission, and almost none of the money is commission. The advance is one to three months of rent, paid before you move in. That plus the first month is usually the whole of what you hand over on day one. If your rent is NPR 15,000 and the advance is two months, that is NPR 45,000 before anyone has mentioned a fee.

Work that number out before you start looking, not after you have found a room you like. It decides which rents you can actually take, and it is the number people most often underestimate.

You can put your own figures into the calculator on our no-broker-fee page and see both routes side by side.

The advance is security against unpaid rent and damage. It is not rent paid ahead, and the two get confused constantly. A landlord who treats your advance as your last month's rent and a landlord who returns it after inspection are describing two different arrangements. Ask which one you are in, and write the answer down.

Getting it back is where most disputes happen. Two things help more than anything else: a written note of the condition of the room when you moved in, with photographs and dates, and meter readings recorded on the day you arrive. Both are five minutes of work and they are the difference between a negotiation and an argument.

On sahayogi the agreement, the advance amount and the meter readings sit on the tenancy record, so neither side is relying on memory a year later.

Around transit points and rental hubs in Kathmandu, a room-showing fee of about Rs 500 is commonly asked for before you are shown anything, and commission of roughly Rs 2,000 for one room up to Rs 4,000 for a flat once you take one. Those figures are the ones reported by The Kathmandu Post in February 2026.

Room-finding is not a recognised business category under Nepal's Consumer Protection Act 2018, so there is no fee standard, no receipt, and nothing to point at when a viewing never happens. That is a gap in the rules rather than a verdict on the people working inside them. Plenty of agents earn their fee.

What you can insist on is knowing the amount before you pay it, and getting something in writing for it. If neither is on offer, that is the signal, not the amount.

Shifting. A pickup within the valley is usually a few thousand rupees, more if there are stairs and no lift.

The electricity and water meters. Ask whether the meter is shared or separate before you agree a rent. A shared meter split by room count can quietly cost more than the difference between two rents.

Any deposit for a separate water tanker arrangement, and whether the internet connection transfers or has to be installed new.

None of these are large on their own. Together they are often another month's rent, and they are almost never discussed until after the advance is paid.