How long does it take to rent out a property?

LEJC

I know its a piece of string type question ...but to all LL's out there whats the average time your property takes to rent between tenants?

We are taking first steps on the letting ladder and our property has been marketed for 6 days now....lots and lots of interest via the website and hits on rightmove etc...5 viewings but no takers as yet.

A couple of aspects in the house are not finished yet which is why we have stipulated ut wont be available until 1st august...we still have the gardens to bring up to standard

Im probably being far too impatient too but im wondering if the fact that viewers are seeing it in an incomplete state may be putting them off or indeed the fact that its not available yet

Due to have the first feedback session with the letting agency next week and I'm just wondering if my expectation of renting quickly is too high

So LL's how long should we expect to wait...and tenants...how much do you consider a marketed property that isnt available until a specific date?

benjus

Bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question - depends on lots of factors, such as the balance of supply and demand in the local area, the local demographic, the price you are marketing it at relative to the local market...

In high-demand areas such as most parts of London, any reasonably-priced property can expect to go quickly. If your area is predominately owner/occupiers, it may take longer.

Werdnal

I would say your "work in progress" status doesn't help. Anyone already in rented property would need to give atleast a month's notice to leave, and they would be reluctant to commit to your place if there is any chance you won't be ready when they have to move.

Have you researched you local market, check out what other places are renting for, who your target tenants would be - don't just take your agent's word for the level of rent you can charge, see what similar properties there are in the area.

LEJC

Thanks for your reply benjus...I appreciate there are local factors to consider regarding location etc...which is why I too started my post with the reference to a piece of string...

I think perhaps what I am interested in is the views of tenants about how seriously they view properties that are not available until a certain date...or indeed how many properties they feel they view "in the flesh" before they make a choice.

It seems to me that all the viewings we have had so far are perhaps a little "luke warm" as they have not been partictularly well matched to the property or not been in a position to move yet...even maybe"just started looking"...seems to be a standard response that comes back.
I am wondering if the lettings agent is not particularly matching the type of prospective tenant to the property...one mentioned that she preferred a one bed flat because it was cheaper and smaller to our house...which got me wondering why they would have thought she would be interested in something treble the size and almost twice the price!

LEJC

Werdnal wrote: »

I would say your "work in progress" status doesn't help. Anyone already in rented property would need to give atleast a month's notice to leave, and they would be reluctant to commit to your place if there is any chance you won't be ready when they have to move.

Have you researched you local market, check out what other places are renting for, who your target tenants would be - don't just take your agent's word for the level of rent you can charge, see what similar properties there are in the area.

The inside has been totally refurbished...and its just the gardens to tidy now...in setting our "available from date" we have factored in the garden being to the standard of the rest of the house
Local market seems good and other letting agents seem to be advertising and letting properties in the area for at least the same and sometimes more...so at this stage we dont feel that the price is pitched off the mark.

Im hoping that a nice sunny weekend will bring not just interest but maybe an offer!

Manchee

I am a tenant, I dont think it would put me off too much the fact that it was still a work in progress assuming I knew it was being done professionally, not just a DIY job by the Landlord and that there were actual deadlines being worked to. However I would want a clear plan of what would happen if we reached the move in date and it wasn't completed. I think it would be more important to me that the size is right and the rent is reasonable and how much the letting agent rip me off.. *cough cough* sorry.. charge.

tim123456789

LEJC wrote: »

I am wondering if the lettings agent is not particularly matching the type of prospective tenant to the property..

Agents don't do any matching at all.

They simply put the properties on RM and let prospective tenants find then for themselves

tim

LEJC

tim123456789 wrote: »

Agents don't do any matching at all.

They simply put the properties on RM and let prospective tenants find then for themselves

tim

I thought as much....
ive just looked at the feedback on the latest viewing where the prospective tenant I was told prior to viewing was very interested...

reasons for not liking the house seem to be that they want the master bedroom ie the largest one of the 2 doubles to be in the back of the house rather than the front ..and wants to live on a very very very quiet road....our road is only listed as quiet in the particulars!...

all things which we have no control over but could really have been established by reading the room sizes on the particulars or even looking at the google street view map to see the locality and type of area.

pcgtron

It would totally depend on the area and the price.
I rent my flat in North London, approx 60 seconds walk from a tube and bus station.
It went on the market on the 3rd Jan, no interest for about 3 days. Agent dropped price by £10 a week, all of a sudden loads of interest and was taken on the 1st weekend after Christmas, approx 7 days after it went on the rental market. The £10 a week off the price made a massive difference as it was obviously on the cusp of a rightmove price bracket.
As with all house sales, price is king when renting in some areas, others might take a while (Rural Locations etc)

AlexMac

Agree with pcgtron; in my experience, rentals turn over as fast as the agents can do the reference checks and I can do the re-decs or repirs between tenants, and people will snap them up if the price is right;

I reason that as my BTL is rented out at a 'soft' 780pcm I get £9360 pa, but if an asking 'market' rent (the one suggested by an agent) of 850pcm means it takes another month to market, I only get £9350 by the year end so it pays to be generous. ( In my case these are real figures for one of my 2 modest BTLs; and that tenant has stayed put for almost 3 years as the rent's still soft, saving me thousands in void costs and agency fees) .

I don't think the untidy garden would put people off (but once it's in shape, get the agent to write the obligation to maintain and mow into the lease, or you could end up like a mate of mine who had to pay gardners £700-odd to recover and re-turf it after a few of years of weedy neglect.

And a final thought- maybe less important in these days of web-search, but locally, no lettings EA expects sole agency.... So why not double (triple or quintuple up?)

LEJC

I think we will finish the gardens and leave it with the letting agent a further week or so..and then look at possible multi agent after that.

I am mindful that its been priced as a better example of the the type of property it is but thats because everything is new...we undertook a £40k refurb on it so it is one of the better examples of rentals in the area....there are properties on with other agents at higher prices and they all seem to have rented...although i'm assuming they rent at the asking price when infact they could have accepted lower offers...at the moment it would be nice to be in the position to consider an offer...but none have been made!

So far it seems as if the prospective tenants have been out for an afternoon of viewing rather than being in the position to want to move in.

I do understand the comment about slightly reducing price which is something we are open to but at the moment or at least until after 1st august we will see if any of the rightmove clicks transfer into further viewings and possibly an offer

Thanks all for your input.