Renting and finding tenants without agents

mchale

skintandscared wrote: »

I've been a tenant for 8 years now. Only moved twice, when landlords have sold up. We've decorated the flats we've been in and left them in a better condition than when we moved in. I'm on a DMP and would totally fail a credit check but we've never missed a penny of rent and it's always paid by direct debit a few days before its due. Never missed a bill payment either. I would NEVER agree to having a guarantor. Rent is my responsibility, not somebody else's (and parents are retired anyway). On paper I'm probably a risky tenant but in reality I'm the best tenant a landlord could wish for.

I see your point, but unfortunately as in life, its the small percentage that screw it for everyone. Ive got a couple of tenants on LHA and they are the best tenants anyone could ever wish for.

abby1234519

cluons wrote: »

But if you put too much burden on tenants, the good ones will probably just go somewhere else and you will likely have to compromise to find someone willing to accept all the conditions. Just my opinion...

I've got a guarantor, a lot of private landlords want you to have one.

Although it could be because I am 22, am a single parent student paying some of my rent through LHA! I worry about when I want to leave this house in 2 years. As in will I be able to rent if I don't have a guarantor. My grandma is my guarantor and she isn't going to be around for ever.

sarahevie

Not everyone needs a guarantor, I have never been asked for one, but certain groups of people landlords often see as 'high risk.' Rightly or wrongly.

For the OP I've been a landlord for the past four years and have never employed an agent, nor have any of my tenants left with rent arrears although I have had issues with property damage.

My father has been a landlord for eleven years, always just sticks a handwritten sign in his properties and has had no problems getting good tenants.

SAK45

I agree with the above, I personally stick to agents as i don't have the time. But, i know so many people who manage their own properties and find tenants, not heard of many problems. But, then again you could face issues of non payment either way.

skintandscared_2

I do appreciate that some people on payment plans or whatever spoil it for the rest of us. I'm 43 and my partner is 50. We NEVER bother our landlord and fix most things that need dealing with ourselves. I would hope that a reference from our agent as perfect tenants would be good enough for a future landlord.

Both our sets of parents are retired and I would never contemplate a guarantor arrangement.

We would love to rent privately, to obtain a lower rent for one thing. We want to move from this 1st floor flat to a ground floor property with a garden but the main reason for holding off is the £300-odd charges from the agents just to move. They want £50 per person just to renew a tenancy agreement! It's not that we can't afford it, I just really resent paying it!

If there are any private landlords out there in Bishops Stortford who have a house to rent and want the perfect tenants let me know!!!

thegirlintheattic

I have never been asked for a guarantor, even when I was a student, and would never rent from a LL who wanted one. I am an independent, employed adult, if the LL isn't going to treat me like one I don't want to rent from them.

OP be sensible, unless your tenant has no income or the credit check looks iffy, do not try to get them to up through the hoops of a guarantor, there's no point and your likely to drive away otherwise good tenants.

gazfocus

We've been renting houses for around 6 years now (3 different houses) and the first landlady wanted a guarantor that owned their own house. None of my family owned a house at that point but a friend kindly offered to be guarantor but he was constantly worrying about whether he was going to get a bill for rent (even though we paid on time, every time) or whether there was any damage to the house, etc, so much so that he kept a close eye on us and it made us feel very uncomfortable. Needless to say, we wouldn't even consider a house if we needed a guarantor again.

We always make rent our first priority, fix small things ourselves (including replacing light fittings if we need to) and generally try to not have to contact our landlord unless we desperately need to. At the end of the day, if we don't pay the rent, we're likely to be kicked out and as had been said before, the landlord should be willing to treat a tenant as an adult.

discplayer

As pointed out above, using agents doesn't protect you from tenants not paying.

I've always found tenants and managed myself. I've used a referencing/credit checking agency like the agents do and not had problems in 7 years (touch wood etc!). I've used Letsure for the referencing.

You just have to be prepared to take calls when you're planning a nice day out or are busy in the day job. New equipment and maintenance reduces the chance of a call but things still go wrong.

PasturesNew

abby1234519 wrote: »

I've got a guarantor, a lot of private landlords want you to have one.

Although it could be because I am 22, am a single parent student paying some of my rent through LHA! I worry about when I want to leave this house in 2 years. As in will I be able to rent if I don't have a guarantor. My grandma is my guarantor and she isn't going to be around for ever.

Well, that's nice.... if my granny were still alive she'd be 112 this year.

Not everybody has a guarantor.

jimjames

discplayer wrote: »

As pointed out above, using agents doesn't protect you from tenants not paying.

In some ways I think an agent might make it more likely that you get tenants that don't pay. If you are a fair & reasonable landlord and select your tenants with care as it is your house then I think you may be less likely to have problems. Dealing with tenants directly gives both sides more of the human angle and direct contact. An agent is only interested in filling the property and getting their fee. As long as they have done the required checks they have no real concern with how good the tenants are going to be.