Is it cool to haggle on rent prices?

joshuaasmith

The longer that you stay, there is a possibility that you can ask for a reduction in rent. My mum rents a property and as it was through one of the major estate agents they take increasing less and less each successive year, so in the 4th year she was paying the estate agency almost nothing.

plane_boy2000

As a landlord I always expect people to try, but so far none have - perhaps people dont or its just that I am so good as a landlord that people are willing to pay anything!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

As it happens I live in Bristol and know a little about the rental market so if you give me some idea where you are looking I may be able to offer some advice. Some areas have been developed a lot recently and as such have a high level of BTL property which is likely to enable you to push the price down a little.

sarah_elton

When I rented I negotiated down the rent. Depends what the property's on for compared to the local market though.

If you happen to have 6 months rent in the bank, you can get more off by paying all 6 months up front. My mum did this when she rented for a while after selling. You lose interest of course but if you get a hefty amount off the rent it more than makes up for it.

jaype

Be very careful about paying 6 months' rent upfront. What if the landlord defaults on their mortgage? If ou have to do this, make sure first that you get the landlord's address and check the electoral roll and Land registry to make sure they live where they say they do and actually own what they say also. You wouldn't hand over thousands of pounds to a stranger in any other circumstances, would you? Last time we rented we got £75pcm off the rent. The time before, 80. No harm in asking, stressing good points like being able to sign up for a year. Look at how long the property has been on the market (some sites like findaproperty have functions to show when they were added in) ie how desperate the owner is to get it off their hands. You can also check on nethouseprices to see when it was bought. If this was a long time ago, chances are they have a small mortgage so much of what they are asking is pure profit, not money necessary to cover their debts, again making thm more amenable to haggling it down a bit.

Rimo2021

samjhudson wrote: »

Hey there people

My girlfriend and I are just considering getting our first flat together in the Bristol area, but I'm a bit dismayed at rent prices . Just wondering if its generally considered ok to haggle with letting agents/private landlords over price?.

Thanks in advance guys
Sam

P.S If anyone has any advice on finding flats in this area I'd be grateful also

I rented out a flat and it didn't bother me if people try and haggle. Last time it happened I just said I would keep looking for tenants at full asking rent (had only just advertised) but to keep looking and get back to me in a few weeks if it hadn't gone and they hadn't found somewhere else in the meantime...it just boils down to supply and demand.

Sisyphus

There is no science to finding the exact rental price. If they like the look of you they may well agree. There is more to the landlord/tenant relationship than just the rent.
We knocked £30 a week off our landlords' original asking price. We agreed a further £10 reduction when we renewed.

liz545

There's no harm in asking, in my current place I negotiated £50pcm off, as the landlady already knew me, and my OH already rents from her. In my previous place I negotiated £150pcm off, as while the property had 4 bedrooms, one of them was a tiny box room. It's a lot like 'snagging' a house you're about to buy - you're looking for a fault that you can claim a discount for, or an area where you're worth the discount - reliability or good character. The worst that can happen is they say no, and if they do, there's no reason why you can't accept the asking price!

BrunoM

Seeing flats at the moment, and this weekend an agency actually told us "it's on the market at 1100, but the landlord is expecting offers of 1050 or so.". It wasn't worth 1050 either but that's a different story