URGENT - Brighton - Advice from anyone in Lewes Rd area

booey_2

Awwww....Eager Learner

What a rotten week for you

Have a phone around all the EA's that do rental, explain your situation about moving out on the 5th of next month. They may have some places that are currently have tennants but will be available at around that time.

Got to be worth a try!

meanmachine_2

Sorry to hear that.

It really is a very stressful process. But moving from one rental to another is at least less involved than buying and selling.

I'd check rightmove and particularly findaproperty. Always loads of Brighton rentals on there.

What was the issue with the survey?

EagerLearner

Hi Booey & MeanMachine... thanks for the posts - I have now had the wine and feel better!

I may take Wednesday off to view some properties. And book a cruise.

Well, ok, maybe just view properties ;op

We have seen a few 1 bed flats in Brighton that could fit the bill, I guess you never can tell with an agent that the landlord will be any better than with no agent (ie privately) so we'll just have to gamble.

Thanks for the posts ;o)

EagerLearner

Doozergirl

I'm really sorry about your bad survey EL. Your landlady sounds like a right biyatch too.

She can't know very much as there's no need to sign a new lease and pay the agents as generally with an AST, the lease automatically reverts to what is called a 'periodic tenancy'. Look at this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=177287

I bet you can find somewhere nicer and with a more predictable landlord though!

EagerLearner

Hi Doozergirl - she just wanted out of the agency agreement and fees completely, and whilst we were in the property the agency still had dibbs on us and the contract. She was just so mean spirited about it - having promised we could sign and telling us to go sign paperwork at the office, then when we got there they had been instructed not to renew. I really had some choice words for her, but am now focusing on the next nice new flat.

Not the May bank holiday we'd expected but hey - thanks to everyone for the kind words of support!

PS: Where are the thank you buttons, I wanted to thank you all!

EagerLearner

sophistica

Hi ...sorry to be "doom and gloom" but like Stompa I was a student in Brighton 30 years ago and I have lived there for 18 years and have a "buy to let" property in Brighton too...so I know it very well and I know a bit about property too. Coombe Road is a flea pit and it always has been. The brothel is the last straw. There is only one thing that matters when it comes to property and that is locatation and you should be aiming to buy the worst house in the best street not the other way round. I realise how distressing this must be for you. Here are some ideas to get on the property ladder. 1) Investingate shared ownership, 2) Buy a flat 3) Get a new mortage adviser who can research the maximum you can borrow. 4) Borrow more and see if you can rent out a few rooms (very easy in Brighton). Good luck.

Dan29

EagerLearner wrote:

We are now in a situation that we need to find a 1 bed flat in Brighton pretty quick – before 5th June – but all flats seem to be available ‘immediately’ and not in 4 weeks.

I’m now off to open a bottle of wine and hope not all landlords are greedy, backstabbing slumlords! If you are a landlord/landlady and want to prove you go against this rule, please PM me!

Speaking as a landlord, I think her behaviour is appalling. People who treat others like that always get their comeuppance in the end though.

Good luck with finding a new place - hopefully more flats that are vacant from the beginning of June will become available now we're into May.

If you're renting for a year, I doubt property prices in Brighton will go up by a huge amount during that time. When the time comes, sophistica's advice about buying the worst house in the best street not the nicest flat in the seediest area of town seems good

clipboard2

Hi Eagerlearner!
During some periods of the housing market, it costs less to let someone else be your landlord (you rent) rather than paying yourself to be your own landlord (you pay interest on a mortgage). Now is one of those periods.
The secret is to wait.... until the window of opportunity opens (like it did 1989-97) when house prices are low relative to rents. (rather than vice versa now).
Please don't feel pressured to buy now/last chance saloon etc. The housing market cycle will surely turn around again in your favour. Buy at the bottom, sell at the top. Your surveyor has possibly saved you from making a costly mistake ( it wouldn't be easy to sell a property near a brothel), although these days you can get a mortgage on just about anything if you're prepared to risk your own money.
I work occasionally in Brighton, and I'm struck by how stressed and depressed folk are there. I guess the high property prices /low wage combination doesn't help.

EagerLearner

sophistica wrote:

Hi ...sorry to be "doom and gloom" but like Stompa I was a student in Brighton 30 years ago and I have lived there for 18 years and have a "buy to let" property in Brighton too...so I know it very well and I know a bit about property too. Coombe Road is a flea pit and it always has been. The brothel is the last straw. There is only one thing that matters when it comes to property and that is locatation and you should be aiming to buy the worst house in the best street not the other way round. I realise how distressing this must be for you. Here are some ideas to get on the property ladder. 1) Investingate shared ownership, 2) Buy a flat 3) Get a new mortage adviser who can research the maximum you can borrow. 4) Borrow more and see if you can rent out a few rooms (very easy in Brighton). Good luck.

Thanks Sophistica - we realise that now, you should see how annoyed the estate agent is, and the vendors who had secured their own property already! I feel bad for them, but now happy to continue renting and go on a summer holiday instead of becoming a homeowner in such an expensive market :rotfl:

When the time comes we'll definately be taking up your advice - worst property on the best street is something we were told a while back, but now we really will heed that, thanks for the reminder :T

EagerLearner

EagerLearner

Thanks Dan29 - we honestly could not have been any more helpful, clean or timely payers, but she wanted out of the agency agreement so we were the ones who suffered. It was hard, as she had forced us to accept a £65 rent increase per month (already having hiked the rent by £20 in January) on Thursday and only gave us 24 hours to decide. On Friday she then said the increase would take effect in 2 months, so we agreed. When we were on our way to sign the contract on Saturday morning, she denied all and called the agent who quoted her as 'spitting blood' - what she is clearly aiming for is that we look like the bad guys so she 'had no option' but to rent privately.

It's the fact that WE would have been therefore paying the £65 agency fees for her, and she still messed us around!

Sorry - I now realise it was you who said 'Buy the worst property on the best street' and not Sophistica - thank you though!

EagerLearner