How Long to Wait on Landlord?

gardenia82

So...we put an offer in on a rental place Monday night. It's now Friday morning and the landlord hasn't responded. Agent has nudged them. I am sure there's a perfectly good reason, and that either something has happened (I hope nothing bad) or there's some other valid reason (I refuse to jump to conclusions). My question is, how long do we wait to hear? Usually this wouldn't bother me but a) There's a second house that would suit us and I would hate to lose that one too because we just let this roll on, and *bites nails* Really wanted to be sorted by Xmas!

Just wondering what other experiences were with this sort of thing.

In relation to processing the documents (credit checks, employment refs) - how long do those take usually?

Thanks!

novelty-socks

When I've made offers on rented places, I've usually heard back from the agent quickly. For my current flat, I made the offer one afternoon and heard back from the landlord the following morning.

I would go back to the landlord, explain that you need a decision soon, and give them a deadline, after which you'll be withdrawing your offer and looking elsewhere. Maybe give them a couple more days — you could say you want to hear back by midday Monday, for instance.

I don't like jumping to conclusions either, but I've had very mixed experiences with letting agents and wouldn't be surprised if they've failed to pass on the message properly or something.

(The other thing to keep in mind is that if the agent / landlord are this slow when you want to give them money, imagine how slow they'll be when you have a problem that needs fixing.)

Referencing and credit check etc doesn't have to take long, but you're often a hostage to how quickly your referees reply.

gardenia82

novelty-socks wrote: »

When I've made offers on rented places, I've usually heard back from the agent quickly. For my current flat, I made the offer one afternoon and heard back from the landlord the following morning.

I would go back to the landlord, explain that you need a decision soon, and give them a deadline, after which you'll be withdrawing your offer and looking elsewhere. Maybe give them a couple more days — you could say you want to hear back by midday Monday, for instance.

I don't like jumping to conclusions either, but I've had very mixed experiences with letting agents and wouldn't be surprised if they've failed to pass on the message properly or something.

(The other thing to keep in mind is that if the agent / landlord are this slow when you want to give them money, imagine how slow they'll be when you have a problem that needs fixing.)

Referencing and credit check etc doesn't have to take long, but you're often a hostage to how quickly your referees reply.

I'm pretty sure the agent is on the ball - they've always got back to me within a few hours. I also had a really good feeling about them when we met, compared to some of the others.

In terms of management, it would be the agent managing, so I would be going to them with problems not the landlord.

By referees do you mostly mean our employers? They are both sitting ready and waiting!

Thank you for the advice. We were thinking of waiting until tomorrow then giving a Tuesday morning deadline, so that's about right. What's strange is they got back to us very quickly on our first set of questions, but not the second.

theartfullodger

You never know why..

- could be because he is an incompetent w*nk&r: Being thus is no bar to being a landlord in UK: Nor to being a tenant: Nor to being an agent...

- he could have some crisis - hospital, relative, been arrested, on holiday.. who knows...

Keep asking, politely (or you likely p*ss him off) but keep looking elsewhere...

Marvel1

gardenia82 wrote: »

In terms of management, it would be the agent managing, so I would be going to them with problems not the landlord.

.

Who in turn queries with the landlord.