Can we negotiate on rent?

matthewking26

Hi,
We're viewing a house soon on the market at £550 a month.
In our current house we're paying £525

The letting agents have told us the landlord is desperate to get someone in the house as its been on the market for a while.

Assuming the viewing is good and the house is nice, would it be cheeky/shrewd/morally wrong to try and haggle on the price if they haven't had much interest,
perhaps saying something along the lines of:

"we'd love to move in but can't afford any more than our current payments of £525, could you go lower than £550?"

or

"we can't really afford it unless the rents lowered or water rates are thrown in"

or something along those lines.

Logically if they're desperate to get someone in they should be open to negotiation, shouldn't they?

Has anyone ever had any past experience as a renter or as a letter of price negotiations?
If so, anyone had any success?
Will they just turn round and tell us to pee off?

If it's a lovely house we would like to move in to it so don't want to blow our chances, just an extra £25 a month in rent could bite deep with our current debt level.

dolce_vita

Of course you should negotiate.

Tell them you're paying £500 where you are at the moment, but love this new one and could move in asap if the rent was reduced to £520.

Depending on the landlord's circumstances, they may bite your hand off.

best wishes

pinkshoes

Offer £520/month, or £500/month on the condition that you'll pay 6 months in advance! (providing you have some spare cash...).

matthewking26

Thanks for the suggestions. Will act on them. Curiously we've noticed the house is up for sale as well as up for let. If we get the let on a six month contract and in the meantime the house sells, would we be secure for the 6 months or could the new buyer boot us out?

dolce_vita

If the house is for sale or rent, it is more likely that the owners are desperate so you should be able to negotiate a good deal.

If the house is sold with you as tenants, the new owners would not be able to boot you out during your original contract period.

PJD

Echo above, - I have friends who have always negotiated.

happinessfactory

matthewking26 wrote: »

Hi,
The letting agents have told us the landlord is desperate to get someone in the house as its been on the market for a while.

Logically if they're desperate to get someone in they should be open to negotiation, shouldn't they?

You'd have thought so, wouldn't you?

But if the house has been on the market for a while, and is still neither let nor sold, your would-be landlord clearly doesn't have a very finely developed sense of logic.

Chances are, they think holding out for a tenant who'll pay the full whack is worth the void period.

Just as they'd rather pay mortgage interest for an empty house than reduce the price in order to sell it:rolleyes:

But to answer your question, of course you should negotiate. Although having been a landlady myself in the past, you should know I always used to build in room for "negotiation";)

poppy10_2

Deffo negotiate - you should be able to knock off at least £25, probably more.

daisy_doughnut_2

hiya

i was in the same situ a few yrs back an i droped to 500 an we ended up at 520
go for it you have nothing to loes the ea told me every one barters

i eventually moved an found a house at 475 non negotialble rent but its a very fair rent for the area

good luck

wafer_2

Yes, you should definitely negotiate ( if you don't ask you don't get :-), the worse they can say is no. We negotiated on our flat when we first moved in on got £60 off month, better than nothing. I have friends who rented flats out and they always tell me the agents have prospective tenants offering rents below the asking rent.

If the agent has mentioned it has been on the market for a long time and landlord is desperate, that to me says negotiate!! :-). I would probably go in at around £500 mark( maybe even £490 or less if you are really shrewd), because if your first offer is £525, the landlord may even wish to negotiate on that. If you go for around £500 and the landlord wants to negotiate by meeting you half way at £525 and you are happy with that, then the landlord would also be happy because it shows that you have made some effort.

I am not sure about the comment on offering to pay months of rent in advance though, I do not think I would do that.

Also, if you are in a position to moved in asap, let the agent know as this is a selling point for you. Just one last thought is that the agent is the experienced negotiater, so let them do what they do best and do not worry too much about justifying your offer.

Good luck and keep us updated with your negotiations, it would be interesting to see how you get on.

matthewking26

Thanks for all the advice.
It's academic now anyway. We had a phone call at 6.30 Friday evening from the letting agency telling us the house had been sold and therefore was no longer available to let.
We know to negotiate on rent in the future with other properties but a kick in the teeth when we were so close to being in such a lovely house!
And we'll keep an eye out in case the sale falls through or the new buyer decides to let it out.