Newbie landlord advice please

mumlady1 · 30 January 2013 at 7:34PM

Hi everyone, as a newbie landlord I'm hoping one of the more experienced landlords on here can offer me a little advice please.
I have had a flat advertised for a month now with only 1 viewer! They are a young couple, both employed & keen to take on my property, however, they don't have both the deposit & first months rent! They only have 1 or the other.
If I understood them correctly they want to pay the deposit now, pay the first months rent on 26 Feb when she gets paid & the next months rent would be due on the 2nd/3rd March depending when they move in.
They seem a genuine enough couple but will they come up with the cash? Hmm,
Would any other landlords out there take a chance on this one?

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G_M · 30 January 2013 at 7:42PM

No.

If the tenancy starts out like this, you'll be forever listening to excuses as to why the rent is a week late this month, 3 weeks next month, missed copletely the month after....

grifferz · 30 January 2013 at 7:50PM

I agree with G_M.

You have to see having a roof over your head as the #1 priority. That means saving up a deposit and first month's rent. That means saving up an emergency fund while you do have a roof over your head.

By not having done this, your prospective tenants have shown that they will not do this in future - keeping their roof over their head is not their #1 priority. The first time they find something more interesting to spend their money on, they will be giving their excuses to you as to why you didn't get paid.

Ask them to borrow the money from family, friends, a bank etc. If all of these sources consider them a poor risk then why should you do otherwise?

mumlady1 · 30 January 2013 at 8:23PM

Thanks Grifferz & GM, thanks for your advice. I was pretty much thinking the same thing myself but as I said, I'm new to this so still finding my feet. I appreciate your replies, thanks

dimbo61 · 30 January 2013 at 8:34PM

Try Gumtree for a 2 week feature advert with some good photos of the property.
You need the deposit+ First months rent and take a tenants reference, employer reference, credit checks

mumlady1 · 30 January 2013 at 8:43PM

thanks dimbo61, we're already on Gumtree but the flat has been redecorated so new photos on the list of things to do at the weekend!
I've already advised the couple that we would require these references - I was trying suss them out a wee bit - but they didn't seem fazed by it!
Although my gut instinct is a 'no' I just wanted to see what others thought

armour · 30 January 2013 at 8:44PM

No way.
Surely you're going to take up references/ credit checks. If they can't scrape together 2 months rent then they'd probably fail these.
Having only one interested party over the course of a month suggests you are pricing too high.
Over 13 yrs of letting property I've had few "voids" mainly because I set the rent maybe 10% below market value then pick the best quality tenant.

mumlady1 · 30 January 2013 at 10:27PM

Hmm, that's interesting Armour, I hadn't thought about the rent being too high. It's priced pretty much the same as other flats of a similar size in the same area but maybe there's something I've overlooked. I'll redo the photos and have another look at the description. If it still hasn't moved in a couple of weeks ill take your advice and re price, thanks

SuzieSue · 30 January 2013 at 10:36PM

We used Upad to advertise our flat - they advertise on Rightmove and some others as well as Gumtree and are quite reasonable.

Kynthia · 30 January 2013 at 10:55PM

No, don't do it. It sets a precedent that you don't want.

The only time my flat took that long to find a tenant was because I let a new agent convince me to price it at a higher amount. That extra £50pm cost me a month's rent which makes no financial sense. I know a private landlord that deliberately prices his house below the going rate because that way it generates a lot of interest. He then gets to pick the best from a selection of possible tenants, they are grateful and therefore treat the property well and stay long term meaning less voids. All of this makes good financial sense to him.

BigAunty · 30 January 2013 at 11:59PM

No - 99.9% of landlords ask for rent and deposit in advance and we often see negative posts from landlords who rue the day they have handed over keys without doing a thorough tenant screening check and/or without the upfront payment.

Two employed tenants and they can't manage to save sufficient funds for the type of lifestyle they feel entitled to? And they can't get a loan or overdraft either between them? Realistically, how can a couple who appear to have no savings left over once they've handed over a month's rent to you, then hand over the equivalent of 2 months rent soon after within the space of week and comfortably live until the next payday?

It's very bold of tenants to ask to defer the rent or deposit, btw, since they are the norm. They wouldn't dream of asking a garage if they can just drive the new car off the showroom without paying the necessary upfront fee, ask a holiday company to send them airtickets without paying the full balance and so on.

It is a fact that poor tenants often target novice landlords who let out their own properties without an agent, hoping to avoid the basic processes, and hoping that a sob story may move them, knowing that any good agent would not give their requests the time of day.

Join a landlord's association, go on a course, find out all your rights and responsibilities and never deviate from the good basic practices of thorough tenant verification and upfront deposits/rent.

Newbie landlord advice please

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