Renting private house advice?

fuzzgun19

I am looking to rent a house privately for my family, and we are going to look at a house tomorrow.

I don't want to go through 'letting agents' as they charge all these 'non-refundable' fees.

The house we have seen was in a private ad in our local paper.

Having not rented private for many years, I wondered if anyone has any advice i.e. what to look for/ask when viewing, what to sign/not to sign etc.

My main concern is dodgy neighbours as we just want a quiet life, but I suppose there's not much I can do about that..

Any advice appreciated!

budget_counsellor_shaz

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I am looking to rent a house privately for my family, and we are going to look at a house tomorrow.

I don't want to go through 'letting agents' as they charge all these 'non-refundable' fees.

The house we have seen was in a private ad in our local paper.

Having not rented private for many years, I wondered if anyone has any advice i.e. what to look for/ask when viewing, what to sign/not to sign etc.

My main concern is dodgy neighbours as we just want a quiet life, but I suppose there's not much I can do about that..

Any advice appreciated!

1 Check out the area at different times of the day
2 Talk to the neighbours
3 Drive round the local area
4 Ask in a local shop about the area
5 Look for rubbish in the street
6 Empty beer cans
7 Decide how long you want to be tied into a contract or if you want to rent the property long term check this is a possibility
8 If you have children check out local schools
9 Check out car parking not just for you but also for freinds and family parking
10 Don't rush your decision

This is a start and I'm sure others will also give you more points.......


Shaz

MoneyMiser

I too am looking to rent privately. I have found a place for £525pcm which is reasonable for the property. When I enquired about its availability the LL told me I would have to pay £625 as my deposit.

Is she allowed to take a deposit for the property which is more than one months rent?

moneysavinmonkey

yes.

1.5 or even 2 x monthly rent are not uncommon

Sammy85_2

Hi there.

Its definately not uncommon to pay more than 1x monthly rent for deposit when entering into a private arrangement.

You have to remember that there's a greater risk to the landlord renting privately (unless he pays for background and financial checks on you, in which case he'll probably recoup these from you in fees, costing you more anyway!)
So 2 x your rent would not be unreasonable. If you were to default on a months rent and trash the place he'd be out of pocket if you'd only put down the months deposit.

We had a tenant who defaulted on the last months rent, then trashed the place and vanished. The months rent was lost and it cost way more than the deposit to fix the damage, minus lost rent while the house was empty, all in all costing us about £1000. (So you can see again why 2x monthly rent is a good idea for the LL)

If you're a good tenant then you'll get this back anyway at the end, so you're not losing any money in the end!

savagevixen

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I am looking to rent a house privately for my family, and we are going to look at a house tomorrow.

I don't want to go through 'letting agents' as they charge all these 'non-refundable' fees.

The house we have seen was in a private ad in our local paper.

Having not rented private for many years, I wondered if anyone has any advice i.e. what to look for/ask when viewing, what to sign/not to sign etc.

My main concern is dodgy neighbours as we just want a quiet life, but I suppose there's not much I can do about that..

Any advice appreciated!

The fees are for the agents to check you out and get references. These are good for the landlord and actually good for you. I have let both privately and through agents, several times.
These days I always opt for the Agents, as we have never ever had our deposit back off a private let. In our experience they have also been appalling at fixing things or supplying the necessary services. On the complete opposite, with agents, you know where you are. It is all formally approved and above board. If there is a problem, they sort it, and provided the let is left clean and 'as it was' you will get your money back.
We used to prefer 'private' lets, but all 4 that we have experienced have completely ripped us off. Basically they did not have the funds to return the money-so it was taken off for ridiculous things.
So be very careful, and ensure that the deposit is held by a third party. When you move in (either way) take digital dated pictures of every inch of the property, for your reference when you do leave. To prove the state.
We may have just been unlucky, but recently we viewed a house and the private landlord decided he wanted 1.5 times the rent as deposit, this worked out to be £1360, on top of the rent. It was too much to risk loosing, so we have gone through an agent, and happily paid the fees.

fuzzgun19

Thanks.

The reason I dont really want to pay 'non-refundable fees', are because what if i paid the fees for the estate agent to do credit checks etc, then I dont get the house?
Then I've lost £150 or whatever the fee is.

We are decent people who wouldn't dream of trashing a house or anything like that, but don't have a good credit history, due to being stupid and getting C cards a few years back.

savagevixen

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

Thanks.

The reason I dont really want to pay 'non-refundable fees', are because what if i paid the fees for the estate agent to do credit checks etc, then I dont get the house?
Then I've lost £150 or whatever the fee is.

We are decent people who wouldn't dream of trashing a house or anything like that, but don't have a good credit history, due to being stupid and getting C cards a few years back.

Well, we have appalling credit, and as long as you tell them, if you don't get the house they will refund the fees. The only time you lose the deposit is if you don't tell them something, that they later find out. We were upfront that the Credit Search would be appalling, and they were fine. (Moving in tommorrow!)

tsstss7

Hi there

I've been reading these renting threads for a while and wanted to point out to poster above as good as it might be having appropriate checks through LL agent some have a policy of charging again when you renew your tenancy (every six months or a year) which is also non refundable. I take the opinion that since this adds to your costs you should consider all charges as additional rent and take into account when budgeting for your property as you would when buying.

Also would be a good idea to look into council tax charges and water rates since you may be renting a house in a more expensive bracket than before (as often rent on a property of a certain value is cheaper than a mortgage so you may be renting a property worth more than yours was) and that can also be a substantial increase in charges.

Also check out for a water meter if you are a large family and/or are against them.

- I've rented privately and through an agent and obviously both have their downsides however a good LL is worth looking for! My present one is a trust and managed through an agency but they are v reasonable, I moved 4 years ago because my last LL stopped managing his properties and appointed an agency and they immediately put up the rent about 10 %! I saw that as the sign of things to come and started the moving process ... not ideal maybe but you do have to be prepared to vote with your feet when renting ..some LL's will take the !!!! and should be avoided.

Other things to look out for


1. can you decorate - if you are somewhere long term you will prob want to personalise your space. If not will they do it reguarly or will you be expected to live with carpy walls.

2. What the water pressure like ( you can't change this so needs to be good or will annoy you when the shower runs only a trickle when someone turns on a tap)

3. how is it heated - avoid storage heaters as they cost a fortune and the house is boiling hot at midnight and freezing cold during the evening.

4. If they have promised to fix / paint something before you move in hold them to it and possibly dont move in until they have.

5. Remember you are paying them large sums of money to live in their property and you are entitled to expect good service! Lots of LL's seem to think they are doing you a favour - they are not - they are selling you a service.

Good luck with the move. Hope it suits you - remember renting should be less stressful than owning - if the roof leaks it is someone elses problem!