Lack of response from lodgers looking for rooms on websites?

katejo

I currently have a room advertised on Spareroom. There are many room wanted ads from potential lodgers and I do reply to some or just express interest. However I have found that they rarely bother to reply. They don't even click on the auto rejection which sends a brief standard message. Has anyone else found this?
If lodgers contact me first I always send a reply even if it is clear that they are not suitable or have not read the ad properly.

I have just about given up replying to their ads and just wait for them to contact me

moneyistooshorttomention

You may have to try and rack brains to see if you can think of a way to make yourself stand out from the crowd a bit. Reason being that so many people are chasing after lodgers these days, as its become pretty standard advice to people if they are struggling to pay their mortgage (or just want some more money for consumer goodies/p**ing up against the wall) to take in a lodger if they have a spare room.

I know that one of the reasons I had to give up taking in lodgers many years back was because I was offering standard level accommodation for a standard level price and too many other would-be "take in lodger" people had jumped on the bandwagon and started offering rooms too. Thus, lodgers were often able to get a better standard of accommodation than I was offering and I found I was having to "make do" with worse lodgers than I had had at the outset...hence giving up taking in lodgers.

kBHX

Personally I never contacted people with wanted room ads. If the person was interested in my ad and actively looking they'd contact me. Its also likely that those individuals you've contacted have already secured rooms but not updated or removed their adverts.

A lot depends on the demand for rooms in the area, price and the quality of the room. As a tip, upload some pics of the room if you haven't already done so. It makes a big difference. Also make sure your ad has enough info to eliminate (where possible) unsuitable calls. i.e. facilities on offer and your requirements like non-smokers, age etc.

towanda

I don't know if this will help or be applicable to your ad but one thing that would really deter me from a room offered would be if they were looking for a huge deposit, just for a room. I looked around on Spareroom for a while and the amount of people wanting you to hand over nearly a grand in cash (just deposit - not including rent) was shocking! If I wanted to hand over £800 or so, I'd carry on renting entire flats (and at least it would be protected).

The other thing that I personally found offputting were the ads with things like 'minimum term 6/ 12months', again, if I wanted to be locked in for that amount of time, I'd rent a flat.

PollyOnAMission

I found the one thing that always guaranteed me finding a lodger when it wasn't looking too hopeful was allowing pets (in my case one had a dog and another had caged rats). Obivously this totally depends on you and your circumstances but it could really make you stand out. Also, most of my lodgers have not been people with oom wanted ads, rather people who have seen my ad and contacted me directly.

FR_262

I usually wait for them to answer my room offered ads. I'm a live-out landlord, charge a £200 max deposit and have a 6 months contract.

If a tenant only wants a short contract it's not really worth while taking them on as I'll only be advertising again soon.

getmore4less

When I was looking and I got interest from people with rooms that I had not considered it was usualy because it did not fit my criteria.

The main one was that I wanted center very close to my workplace and places to go out(short term in a city not looking to make a home) and these were often places too far out to consider till I got desperate.

Make sure you match the wanted criteria as close as you can.

IN the back of my mind unless it was a new Add I thought what else is wrong that no one wants it.

katejo

Sorry but perhaps my message wasn't 100% clear. It isn't that i have had no interest in the room at all. I think i will find the right person and I am not in a desperate hurry. My ad has good pictures, has a central location near to public transport and shops and is very reasonably priced compared to some other places. My last lodger stayed over 3 years but i am pretty flexible about time. 3-6 months is fine and they can give a month's notice if they really don't like it.
It will also be newly decorated and I may get more responses once it is complete by early February.
My original question only concerned lodgers who have a room wanted ad which is very recent (I only reply to new ones which fit my description well). If they think that all landlords who reply must be having problems with finding someone, why do they bother with an ad? Why don't they just search the rooms available?

dacouch

Is the room available to rent immediately or is it not available until Feb

katejo

dacouch wrote: »

Is the room available to rent immediately or is it not available until Feb

Not available until Feb but I wouldn't contact any potential lodger who needed it more urgently.

buglawton

People who post room wanted ads nearly always hope in their dreams to pay 25% below local market rate and/or have additional wants like pets accepted.