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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To offer more for a rental house in the hopes of securing it?

44 replies

user1477282676 · 04/12/2016 23:42

Long story short...we live in a village (Australia) which is highly desirable. Rental properties are like hen's teeth.

Our landlady has just told us she wants to sell....nightmare. Our DC are settled here and we don't want to leave the area.

So...a house has come up this week for rent...I just spoke to the letting agent and she says the current tenants are in the process of moving out and won't be fully out till the 23rd....so no viewings till then....she said she would email me an application form and I will be the first she tells when its free to view. (I would move in without viewing frankly)

We thought about offering a bit more rent than is asked for as a way of trying to get in first...would this be a good idea or a bad idea?

The amount wouldn't be more than we can afford...the rent is actually very affordable for the property...I've told the agent that our landlady is very nice and has said that we can take our time to look for a new house but this one will be hard to beat so we want it.

OP posts:

GorgeousPie · 05/12/2016 02:40

We are in Victoria. When we applied for our last rental (and good rentals were a bit hard to find) I got my application ready to go with a cover letter and offered to pay a couple of months rent in advance if that would secure us the house we wanted. It has now be re-let and the new tenants have a dog - they have paid extra bond. Good luck.

Original poster

user1477282676 · 05/12/2016 02:42

Thank you Pie. I've spoken to both the agent and my own landlady....the agent is letting me know the moment it's up to view and my landlady is getting my letter to me today or tomorrow...so the agent will have our application back before the week's out and with that, our offer of more money.

The bond is quite high so I can't really up that as well as paying extra rent but hoping our promise of more rent than the asking price will do the job!

OP posts:

JC23 · 05/12/2016 02:52

Where we are in Sydney most people I know have done this, it seems to be the norm. We did to secure our current place. It sucks.

martinisandcake · 05/12/2016 02:59

If you are in NSW they won't let it to you without a viewing.
I'm in Sydney and it's common practice to offer more

Original poster

user1477282676 · 05/12/2016 03:44

We/re in S.A. which I guess is rather different to Sydney or Melbourne...S.A. tends to be a bit behind the times and more than a little "relaxed" about officialdom...saying that though, it's still a letting agency and they still have boxes to tick.

I feel a bit more confident now I've just received my Landlady's letter of recommendation and it's such a nice letter. So I'm hoping that will go a long way towards our getting the house.

OP posts:

MissVictoria · 05/12/2016 04:18

I Think you're being underhanded and sneaky. Everyone who wants to apply to rent should have the same chance. If the landlord decides to put up the advertised rent to weedle out a few applicants is one thing, but trying to bribe the landlord to pick you over another tennant because you can offer a bit extra (even if it is to try to boost your chances as the dog might be a negative) is nasty. The "first come first served" attitude you have isn't very nice either. Just because you contacted the letting agent first shouldn't mean you get priority, neither should offering to take it without viewing, because other applicants may want to make sure it suits them. They shouldn't lose out because you're tying to fast track and steal it out from under everyone by saying "I'll take it if you give it to me now without waiting for the current tennant to move out to view". We get it, you really want to stay in the area and rentals around there are scarce, but that doesn't make you any more deserving of renting than one of the other people who want to apply.

Original poster

user1477282676 · 05/12/2016 04:28

Well MissVictoria let me tell you something...

Life's tough...sometimes, you have to use your elbows a little. I'm not going to risk my family being without a home in the area in which we've settled just to be polite....it will get us nowhere. If the agent doesn't want to take our "bribe" then they don't have to. If they're happy to offer it to the owners then so be it. We feel the house is worth more than they are asking...so we're offering what we think a fair price is.

I don't think we have a first come first served attitude either. The agent told me "you'll be the first to know" and that was her choice of words.

We can pay more...we will offer it. Just as those who have millions in the bank can afford better education and more opportunities for their families.

OP posts:

HicDraconis · 05/12/2016 04:59

Supply and demand. When the supply is low but the demand is high, the prices go up. That means that people who may want whatever it is (in this case housing in this location) may not be able to afford it and have to go elsewhere. It's basic economics.

In this case OP, if you are really keen to stay in the area, I don't see any issue with offering more per week as long as you can afford it. It's not a bribe, it's offering more per week in rent than the property is advertised at in the hopes of securing the tenancy. In the same way, if a house is advertised for sale and two people make an offer on the same day one of which is higher, the seller is going to accept the higher offer.

It would only be underhand and sneaky if the landlord of the other place had already agreed to rent it to someone else and then changes their mind based on the OP's higher rental offer. Then I'd raise my eyebrows a bit. Anyone is entitled to offer whatever they want in terms of rent, higher or lower than advertised, and the landlord is free to accept whoever and whatever they choose to.

Go for it, OP. I've been in rented and had the landlord offer to extend the lease for another year, only to tell me a week later that the house was sold and he wanted us out as soon as possible. The landlord was an estate agent, found us an alternative home which was about to come on to the market in the same sort of area and we offered to pay the amount of rent we were paying previously (which was $20 per week higher than the property was going to be advertised for). We got it the day it was advertised for rent and stayed there very happily for 2 years before moving into our own home.

Sybys · 05/12/2016 05:07

I'm in Vancouver. The property market is insane. Most places listed go within a day, and group viewings are the norm. It's often necessary to outbid. It's shit but that's reality, depending on where you are.

buggerForTheBottle · 05/12/2016 05:18

I would if I really wanted the property. We bought our current house with an offer over the asking price. That was in England where it's rarely 'offers over £xxx'.

When in a similar situation to you, we were able to offer 6 months rent up front. We had the cash and it was better for us than paying over their asking amount pcm.

You're doing nothing sneaky, underhand or whatever else has been suggested. Good luck.

Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies · 05/12/2016 05:23

My concern would be that by offering an enhanced rent, you might be setting up a bidding war.

Sandalwearingdoglady · 05/12/2016 06:48

When we viewed our house we put together a pack detailing why they should pick us. We knew that 5 other families were going to view it too and wanted to put ourselves in the strongest position possible. I did try to just put a deposit on it without viewing but wasn't allowed. (UK)

We got the house. Didn't stop them giving us notice to quit 8 months later so they could sell up but you can't have everything eh?

allowlsthinkalot · 05/12/2016 08:47

We are in the UK and no agency would let us take a property without viewing. This was tricky moving from one end of the country to the other.

DailyMailCrap · 05/12/2016 08:53

When I thought I was going to move to Sydney & it seemed the landlords were picking tenants based on employment/income references, but when they found out I was a single female I was shoved to the front of the queue everytime.

frostyfingers · 05/12/2016 09:16

Are you in a position to pay in advance - it helped us when we said we could pay 6 months up front or maybe extra an extra deposit for the dog if that's not already a requirement?

SolomanDaisy · 05/12/2016 10:29

MissVictoria, your objection is to capitalism. A perfectly reasonable thing to object against, but likely to be unsuccessful if your objection takes the form of shooting yourself in the foot rather than, say, voting for socialism. In the meantime OP is acting perfectly normally, negotiating rental prices is normal in some areas of the UK too.

thecatneuterer · 05/12/2016 10:36

Well as a LL myself I say do it. Where there is strong competition then I would take a lot of factors into account but, all other things being more or less equal, if someone offered more money then I would choose them!

Original poster

user1477282676 · 29/12/2016 10:19

Just like to update to say we got it! Found out today. I'm so happy we chose to offer the extra.

OP posts:

dowhatnow · 29/12/2016 10:26

Pleased for you. When do you move in?

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