Put flat on the market for under price I think

DaftyDuck

It's not negativity, it's realism, and good business sense. Just use a calculator, and play with some numbers. How much extra rent do you need to charge to fill a void of one, two months? How much extra to pay agency fees?

As to increasing the offer price after the viewings have been booked? no, I'd never do it. It's one way to ensure bad blood between you and your tenants from day one. Why would they care for your property (over and above their legal due) if you 5crew them like that from the outset? Stick to the price you advertised at, and suck up the so-called "loss". It's less than it'd cost to repaint a wall, or recarpet a room.

Charge a reasonable rent and be fair, do good tenant selection, and end up with a happy relationship. And get to sleep at night, and have trouble-free holidays!

Edit: I see I'm not alone in my view, I just type too much! :D

PasturesNew

Let people know before they view. I'd think you a thoroughly greedy piece of work to get me there under false pretences, then tell me the rent's more.

People've got far better things to do than view flats where the price is changeable. I'd rather stare at the fluff in my navel all evening than waste my time with flakey landlords.

Nobbie1967

If you think 3 quick viewing means you've underpriced the property, then tell the viewers before they waste time coming to look. Anything else is just manipulative and misleading. Even if they do sign up, they'll probably look for ways of screwing you over at the first opportunity, I know I would for some thing so premeditated. What's good for the goose...

TriggerCut92

justaquestion wrote: »

What an attitude to display to someone who took the time and trouble to give you their opinion.


Glad I don't have you as my landlord.

Hahaha unbelievable. Came straight out the gate with a horrible attitude towards the whole scenario. I'm looking to have more money. If someone doesn't want to pay more then that's fine. I'm not forcing them too. You see it as my trying to mess someone about when in actual fact I'm looking to tell them. Just figuring out the best way to go about it.

MrJB

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

Hahaha unbelievable. Came straight out the gate with a horrible attitude towards the whole scenario. I'm looking to have more money. If someone doesn't want to pay more then that's fine. I'm not forcing them too. You see it as my trying to mess someone about when in actual fact I'm looking to tell them. Just figuring out the best way to go about it.

You are messing them about. You should have decided on the price you were happy with prior to marketing.

Grenage

This must be flame bait; surely you jest?

If you saw a cupboard for sale for £75, went to view it, and then were told it was £95 - would you be irritated? Of course you would.

Obviously you should tell the viewers that the price is no longer as advertised.

DaftyDuck

OK, let's see if a different answer pleases you better:

I'd not tell them until they'd all viewed. See how many want it as, if none do (or only one), you'd be better sticking to that price. But, if two want it, I'd definitely bump the price up by thirty smackers, or more if all three want it. After all, I'd rather have £200 (after taxes ) in my pocket and a pi55ed-off tenant in my £££-worth of flat. It's all about wanting the extra money, and if I've messed them about by not telling them from the outset: tough...

Oh, hang on. It's about £200 a year. That's about two weeks rent... two weeks to readvertise when these three bog off, two hundred to clean up the chewing gum they might bung under the carpet, fix the cooker switch they'll hold together with BluTack, find some matching curtain hooks like the ones they've half-inched, cover the cost of advertising the next time (in six months) when they've moved on, or maybe cover the search costs when they've boogied off after four months, swiping the cushions....

Don't increase the cost (and don't bung the rent up too quickly either). IT'S NOT FINANCIALLY WORTHWHILE....

Seriously..


..

Really.

Really....



It isn't!

penguingirl

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

Hahaha unbelievable. Came straight out the gate with a horrible attitude towards the whole scenario. I'm looking to have more money. If someone doesn't want to pay more then that's fine. I'm not forcing them too. You see it as my trying to mess someone about when in actual fact I'm looking to tell them. Just figuring out the best way to go about it.

I guess for a viewer it's frustrating that they have already made an effort to book a viewing to be told it is not as it was advertised. Feels a little bit like a 'bait and switch' trick, which I don't think was your intention. Yes they can cancel the viewing, but they may well have made arrangements to be available. I would also become suspicious about what else had changed/ was going to.

Imagine you go to a filling station because you need to buy petrol. You see from the main road that is advertised for 99p a litre so you drive round to it and then when you are about to fill up you get told 'oh by the way, it's £1.09 a litre'. Obviously you have the choice to drive away, or you might just suck it up and fill up because it is convenient. But in the shop you aren't going to buy the chocolate bar advertised at 50p or go there again next time you need petrol as you no longer trust them.

I know that's a silly example, but tenants need to trust their LLs, and something like changing the price before viewing would break that trust. Obviously you can still do it, but I would get your advert changed asap and expect your current viewers to cancel. If you think more viewers will come along who you've not got a damaged relationship with then it may be worth the risk.

Tansy_1980

I think a landlord who only tells tenants at a viewing that the rent has gone up would be viewed as opportunistic and unprofessional, at best. In your shoes I would contact anyone who has expressed an interest in the property and explain that you've decided to put the price up and ask if they still want to go ahead with the viewing.

If I said I wanted the property and then the landlord phoned me to see if I would pay more, I'd feel like he or she was horsetrading and not to be trusted. It would give me very bad vibes and make me think that I was dealing with someone without too many scruples. I'd also feel as though the landlord was taking advantage of me and, in unlikely and extreme circumstances, this kind of behaviour could even leave you open to accusations of illegal discrimination, depending on the characteristics of your viewers.

Then, you should make sure any listings or advertisements are amended to reflect the increased price. Otherwise you could certainly be in breach of the CAP ruling on fees and may even be in breach of the Consumer Rights Act (I don't know this for certain, but I think you should be very careful about having misleading pricing out in public once you are aware of the problem)

Please understand that I am not calling you unscrupulous, opportunistic or unprofessional. I'm simply trying to see it from a prospective tenant's points of view.

Mossfarr

You are already receiving an increase of £120 per month since your last tenant - thats £1440 more per year. Be satisfied with that, you've already seen from Rightmove that this is more than others in the area.
Asking for even more can only be considered sheer greed.

You can always increase the rent annually from now on to keep in line with market price for the area.