Renting a property (negotiate rent?)

moose

We've just recently sold out house after only six days on the market but we haven't found a house we like yet. We've decided to move out into rented property when our sale goes through rather than trying to stall our buyers while we are looking. THis will obviously put us in a better position when we do find something as we'll just be like FTB's.

As we've not rented before, we were just wondering....Is the advertised monthly rental set in stone or do most people negotiate the rental price. the ones we are looking at are between £450 and £550 pcm. Should we be trying to shave something off these prices or is it not the done thing.

Thanks in advance

Maybe we should have poll for people renting? ......Did you pay the advertised rent. If not, by what percentage did you get it reduced?

Jacster_2

I'm not sure if it is the done thing, but when I rented a couple of years ago, I got £25 per month knocked off the advertised price. It obvioulsy added up over the year!

Always worth asking.....:D

moose

Thanks Jacster,

The one we're quite keen on is £550. May offer £500 with a view to meeting them half way. Like you say, it all adds up over the year.

Moose

Bossyboots

When I was helping my son look for property last year, there was a mixed reaction to the suggestion of negotiation of the rental. After several weeks of looking, we came to understand the balance of size, location, condition and rent. This led to outright rejection of a property which although marketed as a two bedroom flat it was clearly not. Part of the kitchen had a padded bench one end and that was supposed to be the lounge. I suggested to the estate agent that it was a one bedroom flat and subject to a number of repairs being done we could consider offering a rent more suitable to what the property actually was. She had clearly thought that because it was my son and his girlfriend looking over the property and that they are quite young, she could fob this property off on to them. She said the landlord was not open to negotiation. We were subsequently able to find out that not only had the flat been on the market unrented for nearly a year, it was still vacant six months later.

The landlord of the flat they eventually found was very accommodating although he had priced his flat at a sensible market rate over which there was no quibble. He was amenable to a couple of alterations to the tenancy agreement which IMO was poorly worded. He also allowed smoking in the flat subject to a fee from the deposit for cleaning when they left. In the event, the flat was left cleaner than when they moved in and he did not make the deduction.

Apart from the flat mentioned above, I found there was a definite scale to the rents and would therefore suggest you view a number properties, not just ones you might be interested in. This will give you an idea of what to expect. It may be of course that the area you are looking in has a surplus/deficit of available properties and that will also affect the negotiating power you have. The area we were looking in had a deficit, so much so that when my son's tenancy ended, one couple offered the full market rate on a 12 month tenancy without even seeing the flat.

loanranger_4

The price is just an asking price and is definitely negotiable. How much get will depend on an the number of factors (number of properties unlet in the area, how long has it been on the market) but I'd ask for about £50/month off. Also offer to sign a longer agreement e.g. 9 or 12 months to make it more attractive to the landlord.

My brother got a £50/m discount on a £900/m property and also offered a 9 month agreement.

Lemoncurd

We've asked for £50 - £100pcm off a number of times and I don't think it's ever been refused. We also contested a rent increase after being in one place a year and the landlord just withdrew it.

nrsql

Almost everything is negotiable.
Just depends on whether you are prepared to walk away.

If you make an offer and they are desperate then it may be accepted (unlikely unless you make it clear it's your only offer).
If they are looking for a quick let they may make a counter offer.
They may also say no just to see your position.

Then you'll have to decide - do you walk away and hope they come running after you or do you cave in.

This is a lot easier if you don't really need the property or are negotiating a few at the same time.

kamaran

As a landlord I can say that im always open to negotiations, especially of people are professional and look like they will take after my property.

When taking on people through DSS/housing benefit you generally are less flexible because people are going to be in the property for more hours a day, have less money to spend taking care of it and therefore leave the place quite run down.

dippy

The estate agent himself told us that the landlord would take a reduction of £10 a week on the asking price of £220 a week. However, we found somewhere else that was much bigger and the other (my current) landlord accepted a reduction of £50 per month on around £1k within half a day.