Negotiating rental prices (as tenant)

[Mendi]

Am hoping to move later this year and expect I will be renting for a while. Have never rented before so have no idea what is reasonable to look at. If my max. budget each month is £1600, should I be looking on Rightmove at properties up to £2,000 p.c.m and then hoping to negotiate downwards? Could I look at a property advertised for say £1,800 p.c.m. and hope to get it for £1,600 or is that completely unrealistic?

Please help, as I have no idea about the rental market at all. I need 4 bedrooms somewhere around Woking, on the Horsell/Pyrford side rather than the Brookwood/Pirbright side.

[lalalonglegs]

I think it very much depends on the market there. Where I am in London, good rental properties go above asking price at the moment but the rental market is more changeable than the sales market so things might have calmed down in a few months' time. Certainly, as a LL, I would be willing to consider offers on a property especially if someone were to sweeten the deal by paying several months in advance of similar. I think you could look at #1700-1800 pcm, #2000 might be pushing it but, I'll say it again, it depends on the market.

[Mandy21]

It depends - have a look at the type of properties you prefer, watch how quickly they're let. Depends entirely on individual circumstances - how sought after is the property? How long has it been on the market? What kind of tenant are you? What can you throw in?

When we rented, the property was on the market for £1200 but it was late November (from memory) when it came onto the market. That is obviously not great timing for most people (and there was a possibility that the property might have been empty for a couple of months), but we were looking to move over the Christmas holiday. Also, we were a family (better than sharers) and offered to sign up for 12 months rather than 6 months (more certainty for landlord, no additional fees for landlord in paying agent for another set of tenants in 6 months time). Offered £1000 per month. LL said no originally, left it on the table and kept looking. They came back to us within a couple of days to accept it.

[PureQuintessence]

It depends on the market, your landlords, how quickly you can move in, if they regard you a good bet as a tenant, your references, your line of work. Landlords take all these things into consideration. Our last landlords accepted £300 pcm below asking price on the basis of my husbands good solid job and "job title" and that we could move in quickly (so the property was not empty at all)

[specialsubject]

same as buying, it is perfectly ok to make an offer. If you are the only prospect and they like you, it could well work.

landlords like non-smokers with no pets, who can pay the rent easily.

[Mendi]

Thanks for all your helpful replies. We are a family (me and 2 pre-teen DCs) and I am a professional in full time employment so I would have thought quite a good prospect as a tenant. We have no pets and I don't smoke.

I have seen a couple of lovely-looking properties around the £1,800 mark that have been on Rightmove for over 75 days now. Is that quite long or normal?

The other thing is when to start looking. I would be wanting to move during August so I assume absolutely no point looking at anything before say late May? When is too early/how long does it take them to credit check you etc?

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

Depends on where you are looking. I'm in the SE and I have never heard of rentals go under asking price. They are always rented out very quickly.

[OneLittleToddleTerror]

When I was renting it is at most a month or two ahead.

[CajaDeLaMemoria]

Yes, properties around here go for the asking price pretty much - we got £25 off per month and it was like getting blood from a stone.

It takes around 4 days from returning the paperwork to be referenced, and then you can collect the keys if everything has gone well.

[Misty9]

We've had some success with negotiating rental prices: paid £775 on property advertised for £795 when we offered 6 months up front. We have a cat and a baby, mess central!

Wrt how far in advance to look. Definitely no more than 1-2 months - but be careful leaving it too late - we're moving next week and got charged a 'speedy referencing fee' because we need to move in sooner than 10days so that made ref fees in total £350 for two of us. Plus £60 check in fee. Cheeky bastards ime, letting agencies.

Oh, and 75 days on market is a very long time - unless the availability date is far in future which can be difficult for lots of renters. I'd set up an alert in couple of months and just keep an eye on things.

[BradM]

You can ask for prices on forums, but you should make research by yourself as well. Start with searching for properties on most popular rental websites. Look for vacancies that you would like to rent and pay attention on prices that landlords are charging for such rentals. Pay attention on vacancy rates and what times of year have the best pricing opportunities.
As for negotiation, if you want to save dough on your rent or other expenses, you have to ask for it. In order to negotiate a lower price you should show you landlord that your are a trustworthy tenant. So run credit report, prepare references from past landlords, know the market and then you will be ready to negotiate. I know that there is a service in the USA - rentberry.com that allows tenants to submit rental price online. Maybe, there is a similar service in UK.

[JoJoSM2]

If the property has been on the market for 75 days and it's actually been empty then you might be able to get it for less. Generally speaking, though, rental and sale asking prices aren't that different - some people will be chancing it, others will ask to little and some will offer a reasonable price to start off with. You'll need to have a look at some comparables and have a chat with the agents to see what's possible.

[Giselaw]

Ask agencies. Some inflate their prices to make it sound like a bargain. They'll tell landlord your property could achieve 1000 pm, so let's market it at 1200 pm, etc. And then when they show it to you, they'll tell you maybe the landlord would consider an offer of 1050 / 1100 and when you negotiate down to 1000, you feel like you've gotten a huge bargain. One advantage of leaving it late is if a property is empty and you can move in within 10 days (or sign contract within it), you can negotiate a better discount than someone who has a month notice left.

[meg54]

If you pick your area, have a look around for rental boards, and drop a note through the door (addressed to the owners) with your contact details. This could save you and the landlord the ageny fees.