Moving to new area - how do rentals work?

[Framboisier]

DH and I are in the very early stages of planning a relocation from Surrey to Greater Manchester.

My current job finishes end of April, and I'm looking for a new job to start as soon as possible (although can afford a couple of months not working if needed)

DH will probably stay in his current job, and just do more travel (at least to start with)

It's been 10yrs + since we last rented accommodation, and I am getting a bit tied up in knots working out the logistics. If I don't have a job before April, I am prepared to move anyway and step up the search when I am actually there...but how do we rent somewhere
without having a job?! What kind of checks and info do letting agents need before they will sign you up? And we definitely need an address as I also have school applications to deal with!

Anyone who has been through this recently...grateful for any tips, words of wisdom or points I may be missing.

TIA

[wowfudge]

Are you selling a house or flat of your own?

If not, can you save up six months' rent for the kind of place you want to rent? This will mean that an agent or landlord will be more inclined to rent to you with only one of you earning if they are worried about you being able to afford the rent on one wage.

You can have an AST in one name, but any other adults should be named on the agreement.

Also bear in mind you will need to pay fees for reference checking and arranging the AST - all of which often bear little relation with the actual costs of these things to the agents.

If you have sold a property then renting can be a good way of deciding whether an area is for you by trying before you buy, but do remember you'll have two lots of moving costs and the rent you pay for a minimum of six months could be mortgage repayments instead - if you need a mortgage in order to buy.

[mandy214]

We did this a few years ago. Are you selling? Once you know your completion date then its worth approaching agents in your preferred new location. The thing to watch for is that rentals go quite quickly, so unless you’re prepared to pay rent and a mortgage, or 2 lots of rent, you need to wait until closer to the time. It is unlikely that you’re get the new rental to coincide with the date of completion (if you’re selling) or last day of previous tenancy (if you’re renting) – so you might have a slight overlap (where you’ll have double costs) or might have to stay with relatives / friends for a few nights. The downside of that is that you’ll have to put your furniture somewhere so it might be more cost effective to have 2 properties for a couple of weeks.

As others have said, most agencies will run a credit check (which you pay for) and assess your suitability as tenants. Provided you can meet the criteria on one salary, it shouldn’t be a problem. The checks usually take a couple of weeks, you’ll go into the agency after that to sign the agreements etc. You’ll usually have to pay a deposit and a month’s rent upfront (so quite a large initial outlay) and then you’ll probably get walked around the property whilst you and the agent agree the inventory (any damage / furniture / condition of white goods etc). If you want to PM me, I am in that area.

[Sunnyshores]

As a landlord i actually dont prefer 6 months rent up front - this has been discussed on other threads too and doesnt seem popular. IME once 6 months is up the tenants havent been able to pay, it just screams unstable situation/temporary... Much better to be a good, honest, reliable run of the mill tenant. Get all your paperwork to prove identity, bank statements etc in order and go and visit Agents being polite and well dressed. A much better prospect for landlords!

[Framboisier]

Thanks for your replies.
We do own a house, but I was thinking it would be easier to rent in the new location, and let our place out, at least for a short period. We simply don't have time to go house hunting for something to buy, and we need to be sure of the area before I want to commit to buying in the new place.

I think renting is just not as easy as I remember! Money is not really an issue, we could afford 6 mths up front...but I can also see that's not really a guarantee of anything after 6 mths, so doesn't necessarily help us. It seems that me getting a job is the starting point...and I have made a bit of progress on that today, so maybe it will all be fine.

Mandy - I think I recognise you from a couple of those mammoth moving to Manchester threads...I may well take you up on your offer to PM and discuss in a bit more detail!

Thanks again

[mandy214]

Just one point if you are moving to Trafford. Not sure what the regulations are for other parts but just check the school admissions rules before you commit. We had to have at least a 12 month tenancy and have evidence to show disposal of our previous home to have our address here classed as our permanent address for catchment purposes.

[specialsubject]

becoming landlords as well will triple the hassle. Sell the place you have now. If you don't have time to house hunt you don't have time to be landlords.

you can always pay a second six months in advance, and so on.

[Framboisier]

Thanks for the tip Mandy...I'll definitely double check, but I would hope they don't actually want to try and force us to sell a house 400 miles away to prove we are living in the catchment area

Special: if we let, it would be through an agent, so I would hope that there is little for us to do. Buying a house is very time consuming, especially when we're currently so far away, it's not like we can nip out for a couple of viewings every weekend...

[specialsubject]

" if we let, it would be through an agent, so I would hope that there is little for us to do."

I'm afraid it really does not work like that. You will need to do all the pre-let preparation and you will retain end responsibility for everything. Even with an agent it will be YOUR business that you will be running. Also you need to work hard to find a trustworthy agent because they are not regulated.

[wowfudge]

Don't underestimate what letting a house out entails OP. Do you have a mortgage? If so you will need consent to let from your mortgage provider which may well mean you have to agree to a different mortgage interest rate or change your mortgage to a consent to let product and this will take time and just add to the aggro. If you are currently benefitting from a low mortgage interest rate you can bet your life the new rate will be higher or interest only and the mortgage provider will want the monthly rent to cover your mortgage payment plus your costs - e.g. if the mortgage repayment is 1000, agent's fee 100 per month, insurance 50 the rent will have to be more than 1150 per month. They will put various conditions on any letting of the property too. In our case, the agents proved to be useless when something did go wrong and we nearly lost the tenant. In the end we took over managing it ourselves and the tenant stayed put for a few years.

Sell your house and if you can't find somewhere to buy in your chosen area then rent and keep looking. We moved to a new area a few years ago and spent a couple of weekends familiarising ourselves with the area, trawling Rightmove to see what our money could get us. Once we settled on the specific area, we very carefully whittled the possibilities down to a handful of houses which we then viewed on the same day. From those we had a preferred one and a fall back, which helped with negotiating.

We are considering a move much further away now and will do the same again.

[mandy214]

Framboisier - you'd be surprised

[Sunnyshores]

yep, no such thing as being a hands off landlord. Using an agent can even cause you more work than doing it yourself. Get it wrong and its going to cost you thousands.