Getting started as a renter
How to search verified homes, read the evidence behind a badge instead of trusting its colour, work out what moving in will really cost, and apply — without paying anyone before you have seen the place.
Anyone looking for a home to rent in Ghana, including people searching from abroad on behalf of themselves or family.
By the end you can
- Search with the filters that exist and sort results by trust or by move-in cost.
- Read the four verification checks on a listing and tell the three inspection methods apart.
- Calculate the full move-in cost and know which part comes back to you.
- Understand the Rent Act position on advance rent before you hand over money.
- Submit an application and track it.
- Recognise the situations where you should stop and report rather than pay.
Lesson 1 of 6
Open a renter account
Objective. An account that can save homes, message landlords and submit applications.
You can browse Domicium without an account. You cannot apply, message a landlord, or save a home without one.
The account is free. Identity verification exists for renters too, but it is not required to search or to apply.
- 1Open /signup.
- 2Under “I want to…”, leave the first card selected: “I’m looking to rent”.
- 3Enter your full name, your email address and a password of at least eight characters.
- 4Tick the consent box covering the terms of use and the privacy policy.
- 5Press “Create free account”.
You did it right if. You land on /dashboard/tenant, the heading reads “Tenant dashboard”, and the left rail shows Saved, Applications, Viewings and Messages under “Renting”.
Watch out. The “Rental passport” page collects employment, income and guarantor details but does not yet save them — the form has no working submit, and the summary panel on your dashboard shows sample figures rather than yours. Do not rely on it to carry your details to a landlord. Put what matters into the message you send with each application instead.
about 5 minutes
Lesson 2 of 6
Search with the filters that exist
Objective. Results narrowed to homes you could actually take, ordered the way you want.
Search results are already restricted to listings that are active and on a property verified to bronze or above. Nothing unverified reaches the public search at all, so every result you see has at least had a real, named person checked behind it.
The sidebar has six controls and no keyword box. Filter by place and price rather than by typing an area name.
- 1Open /search.
- 2Choose your “Region” from the first select, and a “Property type” if you have one in mind.
- 3Set “Min beds”.
- 4Type a figure into “Max rent”, then click outside the box — the filter applies when the field loses focus, not as you type.
- 5Set “Verification” to “Bronze+”, “Silver+” or “Gold only” depending on how much assurance you want.
- 6Tick “Diaspora-friendly only” if you are searching from outside Ghana and need remote viewing and payment.
- 7Choose a sort from the pills above the results: “Most verified”, “Newest first”, “Price: low to high”, “Price: high to low”, or “Cheapest to move in”.
You did it right if. The result count line updates, your choices appear as removable chips above the results, and the sort pill you chose is highlighted.
Watch out. “Cheapest to move in” is usually the sort you want, not “Price: low to high”. A home with lower monthly rent and eighteen months of advance can cost far more to move into than a dearer one asking six. Sorting on the headline rent hides exactly the number you are trying to compare.
about 6 minutes
Lesson 3 of 6
Read the evidence, not the badge
Objective. The ability to tell what a listing’s badge does and does not prove, check by check.
A tier collapses several very different assurances into one colour. Somebody proved who they are; somebody proved they may let this place; somebody looked at the building; the map pin is where they say it is. Those are four separate questions, and a colour cannot answer them.
So every listing carries a panel that renders the checks themselves. A check with no record is shown as not done rather than hidden, because hiding it is how a gold badge comes to imply an inspection nobody performed.
- 1Open any listing and find the panel headed “What has been checked”.
- 2Read the summary line: it tells you how many of the checks currently stand.
- 3Read “Lister identity”. This says a Ghana Card was checked against the account holder, and whether a selfie was matched to it.
- 4Read “Authority to let”. This says ownership or written management authority was supplied and checked.
- 5Read the inspection row, and note which of the three methods it names. “Documents reviewed” means nobody from Domicium has seen the property. “Live video walkthrough” means an officer was walked through it on a call, guided by the lister. “Physical inspection” means an officer attended in person.
- 6Check the dates on the inspection row. A row marked “Due to be redone” describes a check that has lapsed.
- 7Read “Location confirmed”. This is only true if GPS was captured at the property during a visit.
You did it right if. For the listing in front of you, you can say which of the four checks stand today, and whether anyone from Domicium has physically been inside the property.
Watch out. Do not treat a video walkthrough as equivalent to a physical inspection. The walkthrough was guided by the person making the claim, and the officer chose nothing about what was shown. Both are worth something; they are not the same thing, and the panel keeps them apart for that reason. Note too that an inspection describes the day it happened — video checks lapse after six months, physical ones after a year.
about 9 minutes
Lesson 4 of 6
Work out what moving in really costs
Objective. A clear figure for what you must find up front, and a clear view of what comes back.
The move-in cost is the rent advance plus the security deposit plus any fees. The advance is rent paid before you occupy and does not come back to you. The deposit is security against damage and unpaid rent, and is refundable at the end of the tenancy.
Twelve months in advance is common in Ghana. The Rent Act 1963 (Act 220) restricts advance rent, and although it is not consistently enforced, you are entitled to know your position before you pay a sum that size.
- 1Open the listing and find the price card on the right.
- 2Read “Rent advance”. The sub-label says “Not refundable”. Note both the amount and the number of months.
- 3Read “Security deposit”. The sub-label says “Refundable at the end of the tenancy”, or the row reads “None”.
- 4Read “Total to move in”. This is the figure you must actually find.
- 5Read “Available from”, so you know when the money is needed.
- 6If an amber note appears below, read it in full. It appears when the advance is six months or more.
- 7If the advance is more than twelve months, treat that as unusual for Ghana and consider asking for it to be reduced.
You did it right if. You can state the total to move in, and separately the portion of it that is refundable at the end.
Watch out. Never send money before you have seen the property, and never send it outside Domicium. A request to pay into a personal account “to hold the place” before a viewing is the single most common way people lose their advance. Use “Report abuse” rather than paying and hoping.
about 8 minutes
Lesson 5 of 6
Apply for a home
Objective. An application submitted to a landlord, and a way to follow it.
Applying is free and does not commit you to anything. It puts you in front of the landlord with a short message.
You can only apply once to any given home. A second attempt returns a notice telling you so rather than creating a duplicate.
- 1Open the listing and sign in if you have not already — the panel shows “Log in to apply” when you are signed out.
- 2Write a short message to the landlord in the box provided. Say who will live there, what you do, and when you want to move in.
- 3Press “Apply to rent”.
- 4If you have a question first, use “Message landlord” instead. That opens a conversation without applying.
- 5To follow the application later, open your tenant dashboard and choose Applications from the left rail.
You did it right if. The listing page shows the confirmation “You’ve applied to this home” with a “Track your application” button, and the application appears in the “Your applications” table on your dashboard.
Watch out. “Request a viewing” on a listing page is not a booking system — it only links to the sign-up page, and there is no viewing calendar behind it. Arrange the viewing itself through “Message landlord”, and keep that arrangement inside Domicium so there is a record of it.
about 6 minutes
Lesson 6 of 6
Keep yourself safe
Objective. A short set of rules that protect your money, and the route to use when something is wrong.
Verification tells you who someone is and what has been checked about a property. It does not predict how they will behave, and no badge on this platform claims otherwise.
Most losses in Ghanaian rentals happen off-platform, in cash, before a viewing. The rules below are boring on purpose.
- 1Do not pay anything before you have seen the property, in person or on a live video call you initiated.
- 2Do not pay outside Domicium. A landlord who insists on an off-platform transfer is removing the only record you would have.
- 3Check the “What has been checked” panel before you go, and be more careful where the inspection row says documents only.
- 4Keep negotiations in Domicium messages, so the conversation survives a dispute.
- 5If someone asks for money before a viewing, asks you to pay a third party, or pressures you to move off the platform, stop and use “Report abuse”.
- 6If you have already paid and something is wrong, raise a complaint from your tenant dashboard rather than only messaging the landlord.
You did it right if. You can name the two rules that matter most — see it first, pay on-platform — and you know where the report and complaint routes are without looking.
Watch out. Do not let a gold badge relax the rules. Gold means an inspection was recorded on a particular day, and an inspection is a description of that day. It is not a guarantee about the person, and it is not a substitute for viewing the place yourself.
about 6 minutes