Renting a flat

gozaimasu

Really old thread. Goodbye.

paintpot

Are you asking these questions before having viewed? If so, then you maybe need to tailor your approach.

Sometimes, you need to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince

I would suggest you get out there and do some viewings. The property should throw up some clues as to how well it is maintained, meeting the landlord will give you an indication of who you will be dealing but I really feel that you should ask the landlord such questions face to face.

Landlords often are faced with the same issues as tenants i.e waste of time prospective tenants. S/he doesn't know you, so firing off a load of questions before you have seen the property has possibly made the landlord wonder what is going on, as being honest, despite the sticky, your approach is not the usual - rightly or wrongly. There are alot of timewasters out there for landlords in the same way that there are rubbish properties out there for tenants.

I find all sorts out about tenants just wandering round the house casually asking questions and entering into conversation and I gauge them from there. I get a gut feel. Some will be a "no" some a "yes" subject to checks and some a real "maybe" subject to checks. Then I do the checks.

You don't have to fire the questions off like the landlord is under interview as such. Go and see the property, ask some questions, state your interest if you are interested and then raise further questions if you have them.

If you are after a shared property then photos of every room is not always usual. Equally, in my opinion, photos still hide a multitude of sins.

If you like the property, ask the landlord for a viewing. Take things from there.

However, I would be wary of landlords who decline to answer important questions. If it doesn't feel right, walk away. Of course, current tenants can be a good souce of info.

PasturesNew

gozaimasu wrote: »

taking into account the Sticky

Hey guys ... come quick... somebody's read the Sticky!

I've never read it.

paintpot

PasturesNew wrote: »

Hey guys ... come quick... somebody's read the Sticky!

I've never read it.

I have, or some of it anyway I was "around" when it was constructed and think I may have contributed too

It's very useful for tenants and there have been quite a few posts started on there aswell.

However, it is a VERY long list of things to consider and buried in there is a point which states something along the lines of "it would be unrealistic for a tenant to ask a landlord every single quesion or pick up on every single point".

It's a guide, tenants should use it to pick out useful tips that perhaps they hadn't considered before and it may enable them to identify any red flags.

tbs624

gozaimasu - I agree with Paintpot: why would a LL want to divulge all that over t'internet/via email before you have even viewed the property? Bear in mind that much of what is in the sticky, as with other threads, is merely posters' opinions, sometimes based on their own experience or specific knowledge, and sometimes not.

I don't necessarily agree that you can judge how good a LL will be by the length of time they have been one - there are some LLs who have been letting property for 20-odd years and they have always done things a certain way, & will probably never change until slapped with a mighty fine for some breach of the current rules. On the other hand, you can get a newish LL who is up to date with all legalities & is keen to make a success of it all, so tries their very hardest to get things right. Accreditation schemes in Eng/Wales tend to be used by LLs who want to let to a certain sector, say students, HA/HB tenants - some Council's don't run accreditation schemes and, in any event, the fact that a LL is not signed up to one doesn't, per se, mean that s/he will be dodgy.

The last of your questions is fine to ask at a very early stage since you could not go ahead if that was the only means of you providing a bond, but the rest are probably best discussed in person. As for scheme-registering a tenant's deposit, it's a clear legal obligation for the LL to do so & that's one to discuss when you know that you are definitely interested in the property.

gozaimasu wrote: »

It's so annoying looking for flats on the internet - it's just a minefield of potentially dodgy people either with genuine ads who are bad LLs, or completely invented properties, or those ads with no photos of the bedroom they are wanting to rent, but photos of the kitchen etc.

The LL may also feel that letting is a bit of a minefield with random people wanting to know details of his business methods before he has even met them or shown them a property. Why not try contacting the local LL association for contact info on landlords who self-manage their properties, and do it f2f?