Where have all the rental ads gone on gumtree?

littlesaint

I am starting to look for a place to rent with my boyfriend in south London.

When we last looked in September 2007 there were loads of places to choose from on Gumtree. We viewed three suitable properties with private landlords and eventually chose a great place with a top landlord.

This time round I am finding that there is very little on Gumtree in our chosen area. Also the handful of properties there are in our area seem to be through agencies. In the past, I have had some bad experiences with agencies and prefer to avoid them (and the fees they impose).

My question is, what has happened? Is it the time of year? Is it the economy? Are more landlords going through agents? Is Gumtree no longer the place to find flats through private landlords? If not Gumtree then where else

BitterAndTwisted

I honestly think you're lucky that you can't find anything to rent through Gumtree. It's a site notorious for dodgy scammers. If you're intent on using the site why not post up a "property wanted" ad if you're intent on not going through an agent?

ukjoel

I had a call from my old letting agent last week asking if I had sold as they now had 32 renters looking for a 3 bedroom and only one on the books. She said there was a shortage of propertys but the house situation was worse than flats.

Reckoned she could get 20% more rent than I was getting 6 months ago.

G_M

Gumtree? Last thread here about that was a guy who was 'shown' a property to let by the 'landlord' who drove him passed it! LL then asked for a months rent in advance + deposit and said the contract would be posted out in a few days.

Needless to say the tenant lost his money.

lucystardust

I think the time of year might be having an impact, people tend to move out during the summer when the weather is nice. My friends and I were looking for a place last August and there were loads about, but we had to put it off for a bit because of complications with one of my h/mates. By the time we were looking again in October there were hardly any houses about.

Gumtree can be really useful as a way to find a house without the involvement of letting agents, you hear horror stories but alot of ads on there are genuine. Good luck with your househunting!

Goodwill_2

Like previous posts, Gumtree is unfortunately littered with scammers. You'll find more info on the Gumtree forum. I was looking for a car on there and 90% of the ads were scams telling me transfering money to western union! It's a shame because the site is useful and FREE!!!!

There are loads of other sites, try typing in flat share in google. You'll find great sites such as easyroommate.

Good luck

omen666

if your sensible enough you will not get scammed, i never have been and found 3 decent properties on there.

To the OP would also filter out Estate Agents etc, also check rightmove

littlesaint

Thanks for the tips - we are looking for a 2-bed flat. I am a very experienced renter and aware of the scams around - we got approached by loads of scammers last time we put a property wanted ad up.

I found my current room through gumtree but my boyfriend is moving back to London and we want to live together. I am aware of the website Moveflat, which I have also used.

Goodwill, thanks for the tips but I am not looking for a flatshare. I will have a look at easyroommate, however, to see if they do whole properties.

On a positive note, the ads in my area of London seemed to have picked up in the last week - perhaps it is something to do with the time of year and more people looking to move in March.