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Any tips on being successful in getting a house to rent?

After some advice here guys, recently been told we have to move out as the landlord is selling, been to 3 open views and been unsuccessful in them all.

To be honest, this is all new to us, we've been renting nearly 20 years, our longest tenancy was 10 years, back then there was no competition, you phoned up the estate agent, went to view the house and you got it, things have changed big time.

Our last viewing, for example, was at 5pm, we turned up at 4.50 thinking we'd be early, there was already 6 other couples waiting to view, god knows hows many turned up in that hour, speaking to the estate agent at a previous viewing he said he had 25 couples down to visit.

There is also hardly anything to rent, you get roughly 1 property added per week within a 20 mile radius that makes it practical for work and schools, so you've less properties and more people wanting to rent them. How the hell do we win at this? We're looking long term rentals, have glowing references due to never being as much as late on a months rent, in fact we always pay a day or 2 early to keep the landlords sweet, any tips much appreciated.
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  • sevenhills
    sevenhills Posts: 5,838
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    n1guy wrote: »
    There is also hardly anything to rent, you get roughly 1 property added per week within a 20 mile radius that makes it practical for work and schools, so you've less properties and more people wanting to rent them. How the hell do we win at this? We're looking long term rentals, have glowing references due to never being as much as late on a months rent, in fact we always pay a day or 2 early to keep the landlords sweet, any tips much appreciated.

    Perhaps you need to look harder? Are houses being advertised where you are not looking, facebook ect?
  • Bvv
    Bvv Posts: 34
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    Is there a chance of renting a property directly through a landlord rather than through an agency? I know many people don't like looking for places on Gumtree (and do watch out for scams), but that's how I've found my last few places to rent in a competitive market. In my experience landlords seem to base their choice as much on facts as on how a potential tenant comes across when meeting them. So if you come across as nice/trustworthy/easy going people, that can count for a lot.

    Alternatively, it sounds like you might have to offer more money than what places are advertised for in order to beat the competition?
  • fishpond
    fishpond Posts: 1,022
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    n1guy wrote: »
    After some advice here guys, recently been told we have to move out as the landlord is selling, been to 3 open views and been unsuccessful in them all.

    To be honest, this is all new to us, we've been renting nearly 20 years, our longest tenancy was 10 years, back then there was no competition, you phoned up the estate agent, went to view the house and you got it, things have changed big time.

    Our last viewing, for example, was at 5pm, we turned up at 4.50 thinking we'd be early, there was already 6 other couples waiting to view, god knows hows many turned up in that hour, speaking to the estate agent at a previous viewing he said he had 25 couples down to visit.

    There is also hardly anything to rent, you get roughly 1 property added per week within a 20 mile radius that makes it practical for work and schools, so you've less properties and more people wanting to rent them. How the hell do we win at this? We're looking long term rentals, have glowing references due to never being as much as late on a months rent, in fact we always pay a day or 2 early to keep the landlords sweet, any tips much appreciated.
    Whereabouts in the country are you based?
    I am a LandLord,(under review) so there!:p
  • n1guy
    n1guy Posts: 669
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    fishpond wrote: »
    Whereabouts in the country are you based?

    Northern Ireland
  • n1guy
    n1guy Posts: 669
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    sevenhills wrote: »
    Perhaps you need to look harder? Are houses being advertised where you are not looking, facebook ect?

    I've already been checking Facebook and Gumtree. I thought they would be more popular to be honest but it's pretty much dead. Adverts for people looking somewhere to rent. I put one on myself never got any replies.
  • lynz68
    lynz68 Posts: 323 Forumite
    It's usually not that hard I just checked https://www.propertynews.com and there are 940 properties to rent in Belfast alone. Now obviously I have no idea where you are looking to rent or the type of property you are looking for. Be a bit more open minded about the type of property and the location be prepared to compromise.
  • n1guy
    n1guy Posts: 669
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    lynz68 wrote: »
    It's usually not that hard I just checked https://www.propertynews.com and there are 940 properties to rent in Belfast alone. Now obviously I have no idea where you are looking to rent or the type of property you are looking for. Be a bit more open minded about the type of property and the location be prepared to compromise.

    Propertypal.com is what I'm using it searches all the local estate agents.

    No there are houses not many but yes there are houses, the issue is more being successful in getting said house, it's the competition that's the issue, what are these folk doing that I'm not, what have they got that I don't? We do get the princely sum of £18.50 pw in housing benefit, could that be the issue?
  • csgohan4
    csgohan4 Posts: 10,587
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    n1guy wrote: »
    Propertypal.com is what I'm using it searches all the local estate agents.

    No there are houses not many but yes there are houses, the issue is more being successful in getting said house, it's the competition that's the issue, what are these folk doing that I'm not, what have they got that I don't? We do get the princely sum of £18.50 pw in housing benefit, could that be the issue?

    Some LL don't let to people with Housing benefit for insurance and mortgage reasons as they do not allow
    "It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"

    G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP
  • n1guy
    n1guy Posts: 669
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    csgohan4 wrote: »
    Some LL don't let to people with Housing benefit for insurance and mortgage reasons as they do not allow

    Hmm interesting. Perhaps I should remove that and forget about HB, For all we get its not really worth it.
  • csgohan4
    csgohan4 Posts: 10,587
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    n1guy wrote: »
    Hmm interesting. Perhaps I should remove that and forget about HB, For all we get its not really worth it.



    Also personal preference may play a part as well, so you maybe negatively discriminated against. If there are 20 people and your the only on HB, you will be at the back of the queue
    "It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"

    G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP
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