First Time Rental?

ukbill69

Moving in with my partner and we want to rent as house/flat prices are very high at the mo.

We are looking for a house/flat of around £400PCM, now at this price you dont get much when you search, but if the property is up for say £575PCM, do you think landlords would come down? or would it be better to find out who the landlord is and cut out the estate agents.

Any help would be great,

thanks!

Doozergirl

You might get £25 off at £575 but market rents are pretty set and if it's a decent property, there's generally demand for them, unless you're in the middle of a city with 1000s of new build apartments.

The landlord uses the agent primarily for peace of mind, I think. They know that tenants will be properly credit checked and referenced, otherwise it's pretty easy to stick an ad in the local paper.

Might have to set your sights lower at a smaller property?

ukbill69

Well at £400PCM thats for 1 bedroom share or maybe a flat.

Arch-Angel

A possible tip - never used it, I read it on another website - is to offer to pay 6 months rent in advance but get a discount on the "monthly rent". 7.5% to 10% reduction is apparently normal for such a move.

Whilst I accept that this is not for everyone, you might consider using your "deposit savings" to pay the 6 months rent and then save the normal monthly rent to pay your savings back.

However - health warning! - I cannot say if this is a good tactic to use. Therefore comments on this idea are welcomed.

Barcode

You're living in la-la land if you think a rent of £575 will come down to £400. Perhaps £540-£550. Maybe you could try Gumtree? Cut out the middleman, no agency fees (these can be extortionate, I have paid £50 for a credit check which seems average). I don't know how risky this may be.

monkeymonkeyrarara

hello all,

I've just "negotiated" 25 quid off the rent of my new flat (2 bed top floor £475 pm. Moving in next week. Its always best to be extremely pleasant to both estate agent and landlord.

flybynight

we manajed to get £30 off our rent (£630 down to £600) by agreeing a 12 month contract instead of a 6 month. but the chances of getting a £575 property for £400 im guessing are pretty non existant

abaxas

Dont be scared to offer low rents. I cant comment on your area, but in Sheffield there is such a glut of new build flats you'd be insane to offer full rental. The housing market has cooled sufficiently to force all the BTLers who expected capital gains in their flats to be forced into actually renting them at less than the equivelent mortage.

Remember that renting is a buyers marketplace, if the landlord doesnt want your money, dont give it to him. Let him/her have the voids.


Infact I've just secured a 12 month tennancy on a nice 2 bed new build flat for 450PM instead of the advertised £550 PM. (sold 3 months ago for £115,000)

ukbill69

thanks for everyones advice, im going to keep an eye out. Is it worth ringing estate agents to get on there lists. Not going to move untill January/Febuary.