sold our house,now looking for a place to rent

carla40

we have sold our house, the EA has told us today we could be moving in about 6 weeks, we are now looking for a place to rent, does anyone have any advice about renting as we have never done this before, thanks in advance :beer:

PasturesNew

I think the most important one is: don't sign anything until you've exchanged contracts on your sale. If you sign the AST and your buyers pull out you'll be stuck paying the rent on a place you're not moving to.

If you don't think your credit checks will look good, then line up a guarantor ready for when asked for one. Alternatively, think about whether you can offer the full six months' rent up front.

muskoka

I've never rented before, but was just about to before I was advised by helpful folk on this website about a few things. I am NO EXPERT on this and I'm sure someone will be along shortly to advise you.

I'd stick to an ARLA registered agent
Make sure you can take away a sample copy of the contract to read/have checked BEFORE you part with any money...

Happy hunting

carla40

thanks both, we are going to start viewing soon, so we haven't got a mad rush when we've exchanged,

tootsmyboots

We have just done the exact same thing. I dont know how busy the rental market is in your area, but in mine they get snapped up quickly. So my advice is have a back up place ready too in case your first choice goes. Our LA didnt even warn us someone else was interested in the place we were ready to go on until she signed the other family up!

Are you renting for a long term home or so you can look to buy without pressure? We are only here while we buy our new house so I was willing to compromise on features that I wouldnt compromise on if I was buying.

partlydave

carla40 wrote: »

we have sold our house, the EA has told us today we could be moving in about 6 weeks, we are now looking for a place to rent, does anyone have any advice about renting as we have never done this before, thanks in advance :beer:

Watch out for high admin fees that agents charge for checking your references etc.
I sold my house in 2007, then pulled out of my purchase with only 10 days before planned completion so had to get a rented house sorted out in a hurry.
On the day I moved out I had all my furniture etc on the lorry, went to the agents to pay the deposit, 1st months rent etc. I had cash for the rent, but offered a cheque for the deposit but the agent said it had to be cash as well, so a quick panicky trip to my bank to get more cash. I was effectively homeless for an hour or so:eek:

franklee

Read the sticky threads in this forum for a good start.

carla40

tootsmyboots wrote: »

We have just done the exact same thing. I dont know how busy the rental market is in your area, but in mine they get snapped up quickly. So my advice is have a back up place ready too in case your first choice goes. Our LA didnt even warn us someone else was interested in the place we were ready to go on until she signed the other family up!

Are you renting for a long term home or so you can look to buy without pressure? We are only here while we buy our new house so I was willing to compromise on features that I wouldnt compromise on if I was buying.

hi, we are looking to rent long term, what is annoying is that the agents that are advertising the houses has my name and number to ring me when they become vacant so that we can view them, but they dont bother to let us know if it gets let before you can view it

carla40

we've had a setback with our sale now, we thought we were about to exchange contracts anytime and now our buyer has now informed us that she is now waiting for a court case from her hubby whom shes divorcing, to get money from him (which is her deposit for our house) she said it should be in a couple of weeks, and then he will have 28 days to pay her all money that is owed to her. as we are going to rent we still have no idea when we will be able to get another house, and we definately can't put any money down, i just feel she will pull out soon,