Haggling over rent

steampowered

terrence45 wrote: »

P.S. I will be a student and a bad credit record. However I can pay 6 months in advance and have a UK property-owning guarantor.

Still reckon I can haggle?

You can try!

It ultimately comes down to how much you want this particular property over others, and what other offers the landlord receives.

It sounds like you are looking for a studio/1-bed in a student area of town, so what you are offering may well be competitive with other offers the landlord receives for the property.

Slinky

Time of year can have a bearing. We dropped ours by £50 a month to get somebody in as we didn't want it standing empty in the winter.

bradders80

P.S. Try Gumtree - some of the more 'budget' agencies post there, plus private landlords.

The flashy agents with big offices and stupidly-decorated Minis might turn their noses up at you, but there will be others. Think of all the people who arrive here with no job, no credit record etc. They get places.

If you're in a city like Southampton I'm sure there will be plenty of things available for all budgets. May not be luxury but will be a start

need_an_answer

terrence45 wrote: »

I'd love to live in a pod.... However I'm looking for a small studio/bedsit. Something self-contained as I need to concentrate and am of an age where sharing isn't ideal.

6 months to start with and then I plan to carry on living there (so not student accommodation so to speak - I could get that through the uni, but it's a little expensive and I don't want to live with lots of undergrads!).

I really would suggest you start the groundwork looking now.Mine went into a studio block last year for 3rd year studies after a shared house the previous year didn't work out well...The studios were few and far between and went quickly and cost around £90 per week excluding utilities.....whilst not in Southampton,many of the southern towns have very similar set ups.You find that once a student opts for this type of accommodation they tend to stay for the remaining term of their course..mine signed up for 4th year back in May

You need to be careful about approaching a traditional LL simply because they may want to rent the property for longer than 6 months -1 year...again it was a challenge we faced when looking simply because as soon as you say you are a student and may not be staying more than 8 months the eyes glaze over.

Contact some student letting agencies in the area and find out what is still available as I said we secured something similar to what you describe for £90 that was mid price but some were as high as £135 plus.

Whilst you don't particularly want to live with other students,make use of the university housing dept who again should be able to put you intouch with LL's who will be understanding of your needs.

A student LL is a breed unto themselves and you need to find that LL not necessarily any LL as the vast majority who rent better quality properties will want to do so to professional tenants.
As I said in my first post I personally wouldn't rent to students but there are plenty who will but you probably wont find them exclusively on rightmove,more chance through student letting agents

terrence45

steampowered wrote: »

You can try!

It ultimately comes down to how much you want this particular property over others, and what other offers the landlord receives.

It sounds like you are looking for a studio/1-bed in a student area of town, so what you are offering may well be competitive with other offers the landlord receives for the property.

Yes, just a small studio. Nothing special - I'm not fussy and don't need parking or anything. Just somewhere to live, and am prepared to pay up front!

terrence45

need_an_answer wrote: »

I really would suggest you start the groundwork looking now.Mine went into a studio block last year for 3rd year studies after a shared house the previous year didn't work out well...The studios were few and far between and went quickly and cost around £90 per week excluding utilities.....whilst not in Southampton,many of the southern towns have very similar set ups.You find that once a student opts for this type of accommodation they tend to stay for the remaining term of their course..mine signed up for 4th year back in May

You need to be careful about approaching a traditional LL simply because they may want to rent the property for longer than 6 months -1 year...again it was a challenge we faced when looking simply because as soon as you say you are a student and may not be staying more than 8 months the eyes glaze over.

Contact some student letting agencies in the area and find out what is still available as I said we secured something similar to what you describe for £90 that was mid price but some were as high as £135 plus.

Whilst you don't particularly want to live with other students,make use of the university housing dept who again should be able to put you intouch with LL's who will be understanding of your needs.

A student LL is a breed unto themselves and you need to find that LL not necessarily any LL as the vast majority who rent better quality properties will want to do so to professional tenants.
As I said in my first post I personally wouldn't rent to students but there are plenty who will but you probably wont find them exclusively on rightmove,more chance through student letting agents

I'm actually moving there to study but want to stay permanently after, so long-term is fine. I'd prefer somewhere non-studenty, but good idea to speak to student letting agencies and the uni itself just in case. Although for some reason they seem to charge quite a lot (due to foreign students coming with lots of money?!).

Arthritic_Toe

need_an_answer wrote: »

As a LL ive never haggled with a tenant over rental amounts.

Harsh as it may sound if you don't want to pay the advertised amount someone else will.

Sounds great! So you can advertise it for any price and someone will pay it.

need_an_answer

terrence45 wrote: »

I'm actually moving there to study but want to stay permanently after, so long-term is fine. I'd prefer somewhere non-studenty, but good idea to speak to student letting agencies and the uni itself just in case. Although for some reason they seem to charge quite a lot (due to foreign students coming with lots of money?!).

Like I said the issue you might face is the traditional LL wont want to take you on whilst you are a student irrespective of you saying its your plan to continue in Southampton after your studies.

Adrian isn't being pedantic in any way,hes simply putting the case that not all LL's will see you as their type of tenant.


Good luck with your search ...and your studies.

need_an_answer

Arthritic_Toe wrote: »

Sounds great! So you can advertise it for any price and someone will pay it.

no I advertise at a sensible price in line with the current market in the area.

Just because I wont rent my properties to students doesn't mean I'm immune to the need for student accommodation...perhaps I could ask that you read my other contributions to the rest of the thread before you cast further judgement.

Slithery

terrence45 wrote: »

Yes, just a small studio. Nothing special - I'm not fussy and don't need parking or anything. Just somewhere to live, and am prepared to pay up front!

Offering to pay up front is quite often a red flag for landlords as it's mostly used by people wanting to set up cannabis farms or brothels.