How long does it take to rent out a property?

sandsni

Don't allow yourself to become too desperate at the expense of making sure the tenants are to your satisfaction - make sure the references check out and don't take it for granted that the LA will do the leg-work. It's better to have a void period than get the wrong T and be stuck with them. Just my 2p's worth :-)

tim123456789

LEJC wrote: »

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.

You're right about the general area, but IME it is next to impossible to get EA's to correctly tell you which side of the house specific bedrooms are on.

They: don't know, can't remember or just guess (wrongly). I've given up asking and end up visiting properties myself just to find out this information.

tim

franklee

LEJC wrote: »

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!

When doing price comparison have you taken the fees the agent charges the tenant into account. These fees can easily vary by several hundred pounds from agent to agent, say a 400 pound difference is an extra 33pcm on the rent over a year. All too often it seems to me new landlords don't even ask what fees the agent charges the tenant when comparing agents and rents of other properties.

Also some agents have a bad reputation and often these agents have many lovey properties listed available to rent on rightmove so a new landlord may be attracted to them. However the better agents will have most decent places let agreed pretty fast so won't have many lovely properties available.

In short have you looked at your agent from a tenant's point of view as well as your own?

From your description you should have had some offers, considering tenants likely have to give a months notice and the inside works are done I would not let finishing the garden be a deterrent to making an offer. If the kitchen and bathroom are finished make sure they are really clean for viewings if not already done.

LEJC

tim123456789 wrote: »

You're right about the general area, but IME it is next to impossible to get EA's to correctly tell you which side of the house specific bedrooms are on.

They: don't know, can't remember or just guess (wrongly). I've given up asking and end up visiting properties myself just to find out this information.

tim

perfectly valid points I agree....but with our house the master bedroom covers the front elevation of the top floor of the house and commands a lovely view to the front....the second double bedroom is at the back of the house and overlooks adjacent gardens...Its very much the standard layout of all the houses in the area that have unconverted loft spaces.

I will I think ask the LA to perhaps include room sizes to avoid further confusion

LEJC

franklee wrote: »

In short have you looked at your agent from a tenant's point of view as well as your own?

From your description you should have had some offers, considering tenants likely have to give a months notice and the inside works are done I would not let finishing the garden be a deterrent to making an offer. If the kitchen and bathroom are finished make sure they are really clean for viewings if not already done.

Thanks franklee...you really do make a very valid point and one which perhaps we had not considered.

We have opted for a well respected EA who offers Lettings as well...and has a local office within a 5 min walk of the house...they also have several offices in the town and a central letting office...I understand that they are marketing it in the local office and the central office.

I know that the company charge pretty high fees...or they at least seem that way to me,but having never rented out a property before we felt we were going with a well respected LA rather than someone who deals exclusively with the lower end of the market.
We were also able to secure a % reduction in our management fees which at the time of sign up seemed inticing however it now seems that whether the fees are 15% or 8% it makes little difference if we cannot find someone who is prepared to make an offer to rent!!!

They insist that all the fees are paid in effect upfront for the years tenancy by us...so once we pay check ins,inventories,management fees etc for the year it will be month 3 before we get a return from the agent....I'm ashamed to say..I have no idea what the flip side of the charges are for the tenant but that possibly was a consideration we have ovelooked when choosing our LA.

Dont get me wrong...the house is not "exclusive" in any way but I think we have refurbished it with integrity and it is what it is...a 2 bed house...but we do hope that whoever rents it will be appreciative of our efforts and we do hope to attract either 2 sharers a professional couple or small family....sadly we are not wanting to accomodate pets.

The inside of the property is completely finished and IMO the photos taken are very reflective of the house and show a very good representation of it...at the moment we have asked for no outside photos purely because both the front and back gardens still need a little work on...but hopefully by next weekend they will be looking good too!

At the moment feedback from the LA themselves is that the property ticks the right boxes...and people who we know who have loooked either in the flesh or online are not pointing out any major things we have done wrong..or at least feel too polite to.

The EPC was also done last week and we have quite an impressive rating considering its not a new house and apart from the inclusion of cavity wall insulation which is not possible on the frontage there were no other suggestions for improvement....it also has a fairly low council tax banding compared to other houses in the area


Today was a little dissapointing as there were no viewings but I have just checked in on the website and we have one scheduled for monday pm so hopefully that will produce either some constructive feedback or an offer.

Our initial thoughts are to finish the gardens and then market with this agen for a further few weeks before possibly moving on to another LA

franklee

LEJC wrote: »

I know that the company charge pretty high fees...or they at least seem that way to me,but having never rented out a property before we felt we were going with a well respected LA rather than someone who deals exclusively with the lower end of the market.
We were also able to secure a % reduction in our management fees which at the time of sign up seemed inticing however it now seems that whether the fees are 15% or 8% it makes little difference if we cannot find someone who is prepared to make an offer to rent!!!

They insist that all the fees are paid in effect upfront for the years tenancy by us...so once we pay check ins,inventories,management fees etc for the year it will be month 3 before we get a return from the agent....I'm ashamed to say..I have no idea what the flip side of the charges are for the tenant but that possibly was a consideration we have ovelooked when choosing our LA.

Can I suggest that on Monday you ring all the local agents and ask them all fees they charge the tenant. That way you will know how much upfront the tenant would need to move in to your property for each agent. If your agent is pricey perhaps go back to them and negotiate down the tenant's fees as well as having negotiated down your own.

Also you may be better off (depending on area) with a lettings only agent.

PS: You can also post the rightmove link here for comment if you like but TBH your property sounds great so I'm thinking it's got to boil down to prices.

LEJC

Wise words franklee...thank you...I will contact them on monday

I did wonder about posting the link but decided against it mainly because I am aware its getting a lot of hits both through RM and the LA and I didnt want to distort the figures too much.
I'm also aware that what you get for one price in the country will be different from place to place so unless people have a specific knowledge of the area they may not be able to make a rounded judgement....what we are hoping to get for our 2 bed would probably give you a 4 bed in other areas.

The price set was suggested by the agent rather than us. The option of being open to offers has not been discussed yet I think because we have yet to proceed beyond luke warm viewings.

But if you wanted to give some impartial feedback then maybe I could PM link...I really would appreciate an unconnected persons view.