anyone rented through Flatland in London?

Bumsnogger · 14 September 2011 at 11:51PM

Hi

I'm going to secure a flat to live in during my degree next week in the London area, have found a number of properties that suit my budget and requirements and they're all through the estate agents Flatland ... i've heard differing reviews on these guys but to be honest apart from the fee you have to pay them up front before you view anything etc, it seems to be a pretty decent service in terms of saving money and avoiding other daft fees through other estate agents and there fore suitable for students who are looking to avoid certain things and save as much as possible when securing a flat to live and while renting etc ...

anyone with any feedback .. be much appreciated thanks

lynzpower · 14 September 2011 at 11:54PM

Why do you have to pay upfront? Sounds like a total con to me.

I have seen what they advertise and it looks overpriced ( they used to have pages in the lOOT)

Personally I have always avoided them as they look dodgy , just the advert gives me that impression.

I can recommend a letting agent in east london, im sure others would recommend letting agents too.

Where are you looking to live?

Bumsnogger · 14 September 2011 at 11:57PM

i'm going to be living west london, anywhere surrounding the acton area which is where my music school is so so far been looking places like Chiswick where theres some good flats i'm viewing monday, but the more advice the better to be honest, im really on a tight budget for my first few months and have decided to avoid a big house share as its not really my thing and have been totally messed about by various estate agents in acton. costing an absolute fortune etc

lynzpower · 15 September 2011 at 12:37AM

Have you had any info from the college, mine has an accommodation office, or a list of accredited student landlords.

are you looking for a one bed flat then ? what are you looking to spend?

I am in East London so Im sure my agent is a bit far out for you?

Bumsnogger · 15 September 2011 at 12:56AM

to be honest the info of all the agents etc the uni provided in the acton area were all rubbish to deal with apart from one or two, yeah i suppose east is a bit far out, it has really got to be west for me ..

im maxing 500 a month rent at the moment for my flat, but finding a lot of places that are going even cheaper for decent studio flats. Im not fussy just want it to be relatively modern still and clean etc ... i guess im just going to have to be in the right place at the right time. its just until i secure a decent earning part time job during my guitar degree i need somewhere cheap to be able to manage properly so i don't want to be going over 500 a month to be honest. i have around ten thousand a year to live on and whatever i earn from work on top of that at the moment so need to work around that budget.

Bumsnogger · 15 September 2011 at 1:02AM

sorry forgot to add, yeah a one bed flat ideally, with other things included preferably own shower room etc and not shared but keeping an open mind ...

moneysaver789 · 15 September 2011 at 5:09PM

If your looking on their website or on zoopla or another property finding website and there are flats advertised by flatland they propbably are old or just some example they put up but in reality not actually available. I used them last year and i did get a studio but they did send me to a few dumps too. You should call them to check if they are really available but its best to stick to a proper estate agent.

lynzpower · 15 September 2011 at 5:10PM

The problem is that your budget is really low to be honest for a one bed flat... just from looking on rightmove....

Bumsnogger · 16 September 2011 at 12:38AM

yeah i called them the ones im looking at are indeed still available, its whether the pictures are really what the state the places are in. to be honest my budget of 500 a month is pretty much the norm for most students who are studying where i am at the moment in most house shares and flats apparently work out cheaper anyway for what im looking at, flatland claim to "specialise" in finding low priced studio flats etc for people in similar positions to myself, once im working in london too and settled i can raise my budget and look elsewhere. ive found a lot of places available well within my current budget so its just a matter of viewing them and deciding what to go with now. im still going to go with flatland next week and see what happens. if its not to be then nevermind i'll have to go somewhere else ... if i have to go above the 500 a month rent mark then i'll have to take it on the chin haha

Bumsnogger · 16 September 2011 at 12:40AM

moneysaver789 wrote: »

If your looking on their website or on zoopla or another property finding website and there are flats advertised by flatland they propbably are old or just some example they put up but in reality not actually available. I used them last year and i did get a studio but they did send me to a few dumps too. You should call them to check if they are really available but its best to stick to a proper estate agent.

what was the studio like you ended up in?? was it a decent place .. what were you paying for it?? how did you find them as a whole in dealing with?? i understand its best to stick with proper estate agents but the only reason im currently dealing with flatland is just purely down to the experiences i had with a lot of estate agents based in Acton the other week, they were absolutely dreadful to deal with. one in particular, as soon as it come to signing on the dotted line and handing over the money to hold the house their attitudes totally changed, they suddenly become untrustworthy. doing things like scaring us into extending agreements what we'd initially signed hours later on the phone, despite promising us the holding fees had secured us the property and no one else will get it, telling us other parties are now interested so its up to the landlord, we may not get our money back etc. i decided to go at it alone and look for my own flat for peace of mind. i put a fee down on a big house in acton with four others but we've been totally messed about since and the estate agent/landlord won't be clear on what the situation is and it looks like whatever happens, we won't get our money back even if the landlord decides he wants someone else to rent the place and not us. this is along with all sorts of other crazy fees he added to it, which i have since learnt from others that he should not be charging such amounts for.

moneysaver789 · 16 September 2011 at 11:05AM

I can understand your frustration with estate agents. My studio was pretty small but they all tend to be. It was in hammersmith for 700pcm, studio around that area and near where flatland is itself tend to be alot. It was clean with own bathroom. Not sure if ill find a place like that right now, but if its in acton it should be easier.

anyone rented through Flatland in London?

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