selling and renting - q's and any advice for newbie to renting

aliby21

wow! loads of useful information there franklee and walwyn, thank you so much! I'm going to start with looking for places that will be big enough for me to take all my belongings - useful packing tips franklee, I'd like to try and keep as much as possible in boxes, rather than unpacking/repacking, and the idea of making an inventory is a top tip. Franklee, I'm going to print out your reply and use it as a checklist for what I need to do/not do when talking to agents/LLs!

It is so reassuring hearing from people who have done this, i am feeling a lot less nervous about it already

glasgowdan

We've just sold and gone into rented too. The main thing that bothers me is that we'll have 6 grand less to spend on a house after the 6 months, but it is good to know we'll not be in a chain.

We're also finding very little coming on the market that suits us, it's driving us nuts. The reason we have done things this way is that we had started the process of buying in a new area, put ours house up for sale and had a buyer. We changed our minds about the new house, very emotional experience, but felt it would have been wrong to cancel our sale so honoured it. Our house was under offer in 5 days so if i could go back in time I'd stick on the old house and wait.

Best of luck finding something.

tacpot12

When viewing properties to rent, look carefully for signs that the landlord does not care about the property. There can be lots of clues to the landlord's attitude if you look carefully.

Good luck.

HappyMJ

tacpot12 wrote: »

When viewing properties to rent, look carefully for signs that the landlord does not care about the property. There can be lots of clues to the landlord's attitude if you look carefully.

Good luck.

Such as what? Landlord's must meet their statutory obligations but there's no need to paint the walls and replace the carpet every few years if they don't wish to. It doesn't mean they don't care about the property it's just they may feel it's an expense that can wait and when you're in business profit should come first.

Why would an investor not care about the asset which is making them money? No half decent landlord is going to let a roof leak so much that the expense to repair it increases beyond their ability to pay. Fix a leaking roof as soon as it's been notified and it might only cost £100 or so changing a single broken ridge tile. Let it leak for years and it will cost thousands to fix. It's not the tenants problem they'll just hand in notice and move elsewhere....it's going to cost the landlord money if they don't promptly attend to repairs and maintenance issues. You don't need to look too carefully to see repairs and maintenance issues. The more potential tenants that turn down the property the more likely it is that the landlord will do something to fix it and start bringing money in again.

aliby21

glasgowdan wrote: »

We've just sold and gone into rented too. The main thing that bothers me is that we'll have 6 grand less to spend on a house after the 6 months, but it is good to know we'll not be in a chain.

Best of luck finding something.

thanks Glasgowdan, hope you find somewhere soon too. worrying not just about having less to spend, but house prices having increased. oh well, going to just have to go with the flow and hope something comes up!

ancientofdays

We are currently in a rented house, having sold and are looking to buy when we find the right house. Bear in on that you might, as another poster has suggested, be there a bit longer than you expected. And I'd echo the advice about cleaning/decoration before you move in. We were promised a professional clean and carpet cleaning. Neither happened, the letting agents actually came round to the house on the day we picked up the keys, were attempting to clean without proper equipment and a non-functional hoover. The carpet cleaning failed to materialise, decoration was a slap of not quite matching paint here and there. I cleaned the place fully, hired a carpet cleaning machine and it is now more hygienic.

But it does take the pressure off as you house hunt, just get an letting agency promises in writing.

bouicca21

Also check the inventory carefully, take your own photos on arrival and departure so you have evidence with which to challenge an unjustified charge for damage.

aliby21

thanks all. I've been to look at a couple of places today, and took on board the comments about making sure it is suitable if I am there longer than I anticipate, and making sure I could live in it as it is. I've also booked a couple of removal firms to come and give quotes for removal/ removal and storage, to give me a better idea of how big a place to look for. Such useful tips from this forum, I am feeling much better prepared for this now