Moving into rented while I find something to buy - haven't rented for years, tell me what to look out for

[PostBellumBugsy]

Seems that the house I was hoping to buy is a non-starter. All too complicated to explain.

So, I'm going to move into rented while I wait for a suitable house to come up. I'm 20 years rusty about renting, so please can you tell me what I should look out for.

DCs & I will be moving into a shoebox, to minimise the expenditure but I don't want to move into a shithole either.

[specialsubject]

same as you do when buying - if it has draughty single glazing, leaky gutters and hasn't been maintained in years, don't expect the landlord to do anything about it and you will have little comeback if it costs a fortune to heat!

basics: if there are any gas appliances, you need to see a current gas safety certificate before you sign a contract. no certificate - walk.

your deposit must be legally placed in one of the protection schemes, which provide arbitration at the end in case of any disputes.

letting agents are not regulated so be careful - an ARLA or similar member gives you some reassurance.

[thesaurusgirl]

Please, please do not do this.

Selling in order to rent and wait for the "right" home was the biggest financial mistake of my life. Ex-P and I owned a place together, sold it in order to buy somewhere bigger. We were gazumped on the place we were buying, but had a full offer so decided to sell anyway. Then we split. A six month breather on the rentals market turned into a decade-long nightmare of rentals whilst prices rose faster than at any other time in history, and interest rates plunged. I have only just made it back onto the housing ladder and I could weep for what I could have bought had I just stayed put and banked the equity.

The only person selling to rent who benefits is the estate agent, who gets to collect his fee sooner. If they do lettings, they'll get your tenancy sign-in fees too.

Honestly, please don't do it.

You must buy and sell at the same time in the same market. You will have no advantage as a cash/no-sale-needed buyer; agents will give preference to those who are also selling because it often means two sets of commission.

There is no advantage to being a cash buyer either. Vendors take the highest offer and if that means waiting six months, they'll wait.

[thesaurusgirl]

I haven't even begun to tell you of the nightmare that is renting.

Please don't do it. That's all .

[PostBellumBugsy]

Oh god thesaurusgirl, I may just top myself now.

I know it is not ideal - but I'm stuck really. I have good buyers who've coughed up full asking price for my place. I'm not going to start messing with them, particularly as they will be having a baby very shortly after the completion date.

I'm still hoping I may be able to negotiate the sale on the house I want. It has turned from being "fully refurbished from top to bottom" to "many jobs not done properly and quite a lot still outstanding". I've put in a revised offer but expect to be told to stuff it. Hence my thoughts turning to rented.

[rumbelina]

Just marking place for information.

[rumbelina]

Erm thesaurus that isn't true. My own parents took a lower offer for a quicker sale. Friends recently had two offers rejected on the basis that they were in a chain and the sellers wanted a chain free quick sale.

It's not quite as doom and gloom as you are making out and not everyone has your experience.

[thesaurusgirl]

I really hate to say it, Bugsy, but I wish, wish, wish someone had given me the same advice in 2004.

Buy and sell in the same market. You just don't know how things are going to change. Bankers and financiers have got it spectacularly wrong, what hope is there for us poor amateurs?

At least by staying put you have security of tenure and expenses you can anticipate. Renting really, really sucks and it costs a bomb. You may find a shoebox costs more in rents, fees and multiple moving costs than your monthly mortgage payment for somewhere much bigger.

You must feel terrible for your buyers but you have to think of yourself.

[thesaurusgirl]

Rumbelina - my 'black swan' moment was splitting up with my partner. That doesn't happen to everyone.

But redundancies happen, so do rental fees (£600+ per move).

The biggest fly in the ointment is that the maths may not make sense - rents cost more than mortgage payments for the same property.

[thesaurusgirl]

Price rises happen. Interest rates change. Mortgage offer criteria changes.

The market is so unpredictable and the supply of property in some areas is the lowest it's been in a decade. What happens if you just can't find the right house to buy for another year or 18 months?

[specialsubject]

it is 2013, not 2004. Depends where you are. Selling, renting and then buying worked perfectly for us as we were buying in an area where sales are slow. Hence all those who had something to sell were less credible buyers than we were.

if you are somewhere where everyone is gazumping each other, this may not apply.

Rental has in the past been much cheaper than the mortgage on the same property. With interest rates now so low, this may not apply. Mortgage rates are rising as banks take advantage of an asleep-at-the-wheel government, so this may also change.

all the advice here is right but you have to decide which of it applies to you!

[thesaurusgirl]

2013 is a lot more frightening a market than 2004.

[Jan49]

I've never bought and sold at the same time and TBH I'm amazed anyone manages it. I've sold and rented each time. When you've sold and you're a cash buyer, you can make offers and emphasise that you are ready to move, no chain. When I'm selling, I prefer a buyer in the same position and last year accepted an offer of £10K less on my house as the buyer was cash (two other potential buyers had property to sell), though it didn't go through.

I'm renting now. My advice is to use a letting agency, one that manages the property and has a local office and staff rather than one that merely finds the tenant for the landlord. You're more likely to have success in getting repairs done if there's a local office where you can go and make a fuss, rather than one individual who doesn't feel like spending money on their property this month.

[WhoNickedMyName]

I have to agree with those that have said buy and sell in the same market.

We are about to move into rented, but only for 4 months whilst our new place is built.

There is talk that house prices are rising, I've certainly seen that 'sold' boards are going up in our area very quickly, and on properties that I personally think are overpriced.

If we didn't have a purchase on the go then I'd delay selling.

[MinesAPintOfTea]

Get a 6 month contract and aim to be out by the end of it. You would have to be hideously hideously unlucky to suffer financially from that, even if you end up settling in terms of what property you buy.

We moved into current house weeks before our tenancy was up: could afford both payments for a couple of months and it meant we didn't need to stress about completion date/could do some work before the actual move date.

In terms of your rental property: no damage to kitchen/bathroom, gas central heating (serviced with certificate: you may only get this when you actually move in but its an offence for a LL to not get one), basically clean and tidy. If you can speak to the current tenants then get a feel for how well managed it is.

[WhoNickedMyName]

Forgot to add - My main tip for renting would be to make sure/get proof that your Landlord has lodged your deposit with the government tenancy deposit protection scheme.

[PostBellumBugsy]

Thank you. Good practical tips here. Feel slightly less disheArtened.

[Jan49]

Buy and sell in the same market? Surely the best thing would be to buy when prices are down and sell when they're up?

[tribpot]

Don't rent direct from the owners, i.e. if they're just moving out of the property themselves. One poor experience of my own (they got very precious about how I kept the garden) and one truly dreadful experience of a friend, who is going through an attempt to illegally evict him at the moment. If poss don't rent where the owner manages the property themselves - not always easy to tell (in my friend's case, the owner pulled a switcheroo and decided to manage it herself at the last minute).

Do speak to current tenants if you can.

[Mandy21]

I don't necessarily agree - obviously the longer you rent, you're more exposed to fluctuations but if you're only doing it in the short term, its not as much of an issue. In fact, it can work in your favour. We sold and rented for 2 years. Our sale went through quickly because we weren't in a chain, and we were able to move quicker when a house we wanted came onto the market because we were again not in a chain. It was also brilliant to have an overlap between the rental property and getting the keys for the new house (2 weeks) which meant we could get new carpets in before we moved in, we could move ourselves because it all didn't have to be done in an afternoon (much cheaper than using movers) etc. In terms of the property, make sure your deposit goes into the deposit scheme, you can end the contract after 6 months and that you have a contact number for the person to phone for repairs / emergencies that is 24/7 (a lesson learned when we had no heating or hot water for a weekend because the estate agent that managed the property was closed for the weekend and we obliged by the tenancy agreement to go through the estate agent!)

[PostBellumBugsy]

Thank you Mandy - that has really cheered me up. I really do see it as a temporary measure.

[scurryfunge]

We have just sold and moved in to rented and it seems to be working out fine so far. We didn't buy immediately because DH's job is due to relocate in the next year or so. We intended to rent a shoe box nearer to our places of work but found great difficulty in finding somewhere suitable because we had dog and a cat. In the end we have rented a farmhouse (for the same rent) but will have to put up with a monster commute. Good luck- its not all bad.

[PostBellumBugsy]

Oh thank you Toomuch & scurry - so good to hear some good news stories too. Starting to breathe more easily.

[Spindelina]

We decided to sell/rent/buy, and actually ended up putting in an offer for the buy bit a few days before we completed on the sale bit. Worked brilliantly for us.