Landlords need to be more realistic

IveSeenTheLight

PasturesNew wrote: »

First I've heard about it. Obviously there has to be a first... and that was just it.

And when will be the first tenant register scheme?
Maybe there's an oppertunity there, a gap in the market.
Time to dig out that OU web maker books again

carolt

How about speedrenting - where potential renters/landlords meet to 'find' each other?

Actually, it's just occurred to me that that is less mad than I thought - I did indeed read about exactly that somewhere recently, although it was for people looking to rent a room to a lodger rather than rent a whole place.

Anyone remember the article I mean? I think it might have been in one of the free London papers?

IveSeenTheLight

carolt wrote: »

How about speedrenting - where potential renters/landlords meet to 'find' each other?

Actually, it's just occurred to me that that is less mad than I thought - I did indeed read about exactly that somewhere recently, although it was for people looking to rent a room to a lodger rather than rent a whole place.

Anyone remember the article I mean? I think it might have been in one of the free London papers?

I heard about this before and as a LL think it is totally mad.
Reduces the chance of credit / reference check.
How does the tenant see the property?
Is it set up per area? or Is it set up by type of property?
You could be speaking to someone looking for a totally different type of property or in a different area.

Far better to advertise and receive calls from people genuinely interested in seeing your property.

PasturesNew

As a tenant it is very expensive to move between properties. Money the lower paid just simply don't have. When I move from here I'll have to be referenced, find a deposit and the first month's rent up front, so I'll need to have about £1.5-2k for that. Quite a lot of money for most single people on a low salary. Especially if you've just found that lot to move into somewhere when your LL says they're selling up and you have to be out at the end of the first 6 months. How many can find up to £2k spare at short notice? That's a year's hard savings for a lot of people.

silvercar

PasturesNew wrote: »

As a tenant it is very expensive to move between properties. Money the lower paid just simply don't have. When I move from here I'll have to be referenced, find a deposit and the first month's rent up front, so I'll need to have about £1.5-2k for that. Quite a lot of money for most single people on a low salary. Especially if you've just found that lot to move into somewhere when your LL says they're selling up and you have to be out at the end of the first 6 months. How many can find up to £2k spare at short notice? That's a year's hard savings for a lot of people.

Still a load cheaper than selling a house and buying another.

IveSeenTheLight

PasturesNew wrote: »

As a tenant it is very expensive to move between properties. Money the lower paid just simply don't have. When I move from here I'll have to be referenced, find a deposit and the first month's rent up front, so I'll need to have about £1.5-2k for that. Quite a lot of money for most single people on a low salary. Especially if you've just found that lot to move into somewhere when your LL says they're selling up and you have to be out at the end of the first 6 months. How many can find up to £2k spare at short notice? That's a year's hard savings for a lot of people.

Not quite true PN, the costs you are describing are for a first time renter

When you move: -

you should get your deposit back (unless you have damaged the property) therefore can be used for the deposit on the next property.

first months rent up front - You'd be paying that month anyway

the only costs you have on the property additional are possibly half the credit check or inventory check.

Granted you'd have moving costs as well.

If your concerened over moving, you could negotiate a longer tenancy agreement

carolt

That's assuming your landlord is decent and gives you your deposit back immediately. And there'd still be a time lag, even if they do - you usually need at least a couple of days overlap, even in a small property to allow for moving from one to the other and cleaning. And the deposit/rent would have to be paid up front, before the deposit from the first property was returned. So you'd be likely to having to fund 2 deposits for at least a couple of weeks, usually longer - much longer if you get an annoying landlord.

Plus cleaning costs - many places specify professional cleaning.

IveSeenTheLight

carolt wrote: »

That's assuming your landlord is decent and gives you your deposit back immediately. And there'd still be a time lag, even if they do - you usually need at least a couple of days overlap, even in a small property to allow for moving from one to the other and cleaning. And the deposit/rent would have to be paid up front, before the deposit from the first property was returned. So you'd be likely to having to fund 2 deposits for at least a couple of weeks, usually longer - much longer if you get an annoying landlord.

Plus cleaning costs - many places specify professional cleaning.

My usual method is to inspect the property at the time of handing back the keys and then instruct a bank transfer online to transfer back the deposit.
I have upon request had cash upon the check out, but I really do not like to carry so much money. It also looks more professional on my accounts to see the transfer rather than a physical transaction

I believe the cash transaction was because they were leaving my property and moving to a larger property so was taking the deposit from me to the new LL estate agent. So it is possible to transfer one deposit to another property if arranged in such a way

failing that I guess you have the DPS scheme

**EDIT** As for cleaning, I always ensure the properties are clean to a standard I would expect in my own home. So far, I have had very good tenants who left the property exactly as I had expected.
I would not insist on professional cleaning and I recently have bought an extremely good carpet cleaner to freshen things up between tenants. I would not charge for this unless there is a substantial damage / stain which was not there before.
at the end of the day, you have to calculate a but of wear and tear into the rental

kellybigboobs

IveSeenTheLight wrote: »

My usual method is to inspect the property at the time of handing back the keys and then instruct a bank transfer online to transfer back the deposit.
I have upon request had cash upon the check out, but I really do not like to carry so much money. It also looks more professional on my accounts to see the transfer rather than a physical transaction

I believe the cash transaction was because they were leaving my property and moving to a larger property so was taking the deposit from me to the new LL estate agent. So it is possible to transfer one deposit to another property if arranged in such a way

failing that I guess you have the DPS scheme

**EDIT** As for cleaning, I always ensure the properties are clean to a standard I would expect in my own home. So far, I have had very good tenants who left the property exactly as I had expected.
I would not insist on professional cleaning and I recently have bought an extremely good carpet cleaner to freshen things up between tenants. I would not charge for this unless there is a substantial damage / stain which was not there before.
at the end of the day, you have to calculate a but of wear and tear into the rental

That is all very nice but not the experience of most tenants.I have rented (I am on a low income but have always worked) privately for nearly 15 years and have NEVER had the deposit the same day as the check out.I even had one agent charge me £25 to re-hang some curtains which I'd taken down to wash (not that they were washed when I moved in...)and had packed by accident.She wouldn't let me visit the old property to hang the curtains myself but said if they weren't returned then I'd be charged to replace them!She also charged me to have the carpets cleaned when I'd already paid out £100 to have it done.

It's all very well for nice landlords that don't use agencies (my sis has one) but most people are not so fortunate.I have just forked out £375 for credit checks,deposit security and holding fee on a property only to have a CCJ revealed on my file.It is NOT my CCJ.I have yet to get to the bottom of the matter (only discovered the problem 15 minutes before the court closed,was put on hold for 10 minutes then connected to an answer machine telling me they were closed til tomorrow:rolleyes: ) but in answer to the person that said they didn't know you could have an outstanding CCJ against without knowing about it,neither did I,but I certainly do now!It may well transpire that I have forked out all that money for nothing when I am a perfect tenant.I pay my rent on time and look after the homes I rent well but a LL will not be able to know that if all they are looking for is black marks I didn't even know I had,and can assure you I am not responsible for either!If the house falls through I then have until the 12th of Jan to find somewhere for myself and my 2 children to live,and absolutely no spare cash to make it happen.

This is the 4th time I will have moved in 3 and a half years.Not by choice I can assure you.The first time was 2 years ago after my marriage ended,then we had to move 9 months ago as the landlady decided to move back from abroad due to financial difficulties.And the same thing has happened in the new property too.If I am fortunate enough to secure the house I have spent £375 on to look at once:eek: I have asked for a 12 month contract but there is no garrantee the LL will agree or not ask for a 6 month get out clause.There is only security for LLs in my experience.

I would happily enrol on a tenants register.I would be number 1 on the list:rotfl:

WTF?_2

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Great. The economy takes a turn for the worse and Landlords are expected to go bankrupt so that their tenants can afford the rent. How's that work then?

Strange, quite a few here (including a lot of LLs) cheering on the various measures to let people who fall behind on their mortgage stay in their house without the bank jumping in to repossess. Never a thought for the banks who are owed the money or the taxpayer who will end up subsidising it.....

Why shouldn't hard-pressed renters enjoy the same ability to default on their monthly payments for up to six months?

I guess it's different when it's your income stream, eh landlords?