Tips on renting

[prufrock]

So the bitch that had promised back in December to sell us her property has taken it off the market - but suprise suprise, it's now back on the same agents website at an asking price of £10k more. If I ever met her again I will take great pleasure in gouging out her eyeballs with my fingernails.

Rant over. Now I need to find somewhere to rent. I'm viewing 3 properties on Monday, but the last time I rented anything it was grotty bedsit where I would pretend I wasn't in when the landlord came round to collect the rent. I'm figuring I won't get away with that on a 4 bed family house.
Any top tips so I don't look like a complete novice in front of the agents?
All three places come with carpets,curtains and appliances (what does appliances mean). I'll obviously still need contents insurance for our possesions, but who pays for things like broken down cookers? What is this inventory thing? Am I allowed to hang pictures and stuff? What do I do if they don't have broadband access? Are rents negotiable? Are there any other questions I should be asking? HELP - I hate not knowing how to do something

Appliances usually means that there will be a cooker, washing maching, fridge freezer e.t.c.
If the rent is negotiable it will usually say so, and lots of people can be funny about you hanging pictures or decorating e.t.c too.

If i ever rented again, i would ......

Check that they didn't mind if we decorated e.t.c

Get an inventory (which is a list of whats included in the property)

Make sure i asked about what happens to the deposit when we leave. (you are supposed to get it back, but usually an excuse will be made about decor or something)

HTH
I will have a think and see if there is anything else.

What area are you moving to Prufrock ??

prufrock, that is a bummer. i hope you won't keep running into her when you move.

the landlord should pay for repairs to things that break down.

the inventory is a list of stuff that's in the flat when you move in - they will check it when you move out.

i would check if you are allowed to hang pictures or decorate.

i don't think it would hurt to ask or attempt to negotiate about anything really, e.g. broadband, rent etc. in terms of the rent it would obviously help if you knew what the rental market was like in the area - then you could tell if something seemed overpriced.

good luck, i hope you find somewhere nice.

meant to say i agree with nutcracker's points.

In addition to what's been said here, I would ask who is responsible for paying the council tax and water rates.

Make sure the appliances provided actually work.

Ask how old the electric wiring is (it should be rewired about once every 10 years? - Someone confirm please?)

Ask to see the gas safety certificate. The gas fittings and appliances should be inspected once a year.

Find out whether your landlord is the property manager or the agent. It's usually better if the agent manages, they will stay within the law. With landlords managing you can end up with disputes because they don't always understand their responsibilities. If they live abroad it causes all kinds of problems.

Read the small print and you will find out all kinds of useful information such as whether or not pets are allowed. Some landlords stipulate no smoking in their property. There may be tasks you are obliged to undertake, eg keeping the garden as it is when you find it.

Sorry you've been landed in it

We rent out our house "furnished". That includes appliances which in our case means kitchen white goods (washing machine, cooker, freezer, fridge/freezer, dishwasher and tumble dryer) but it would not necessarily always be as comprehensive. We also left beds, sofas and basic furniture, garden tools including mower and various other bits and pieces which we have listed on an Inventory. The Letting Agent might arrange for a specific firm to do an Inventory or you might go through an existing one with the agent when you take the keys. All fees are payable by the Landlord not Tenant.

Any break downs, repairs or replacements are payable by us as Landlord unless they have obviously been abused. We have British Gas Service cover to cover boiler and heating. There should be an annual Gas Safety Inspection with certificate and a current Electrical Safety Certificate - ask when they were last carried out. Fabrics and Upholstery etc included in the letting have to conform to a British Standard unless pre 1950. Look for things like Instruction Manuals and recent maintenance work as these show the level of Landlord's interest in the property.

You would need contents insurance but Landlord has to take out Buildings cover and for any contents they have left. You would be liable for Council Tax and Utility Bills unless otherwise stated. The Lease would stipulate what you can and can't do within the property (ours for example can't install Sky) and your rights/responsibilties. Normally you could still ask for permission to redecorate or install Broadband if it is unclear. General wear and tear is excepted from deposit deductions.

Finally you could try to make an offer on the rent but it depends on current demand whether that would be acceptable. It would be fixed for at least the first 6 months of an Assured Tenancy . You'll need to provide a deposit and month's rent up front too.

hth

Thank you everyone.
We are moving to East Herts nutty. We've decided not to haggle on the rent - these are literally the only 3 places big enough in the right area so I don't want to risk losing something good for the sake of a few hundred pounds.
I will have to have broadband and sky though (couldn't live without Mumsnet and CBeebies), and be allowed to install blackout blinds, but I don't think those are unreasonable requests when we are shelling out over £1,500 a month.
Do I need to have a solicitor review the tenancy agreement, or as a reasonably intelligent, detail orientated person is it something I should be capable of doing myself?

Think most leases are pretty standard. It is most likely to be an Assured Shorthold Tenancy which is for minimum of 6 months. Just read through the clauses really carefully and query anything you are unsure of. Provided it is through an agent it will have probably been drafted by a solicitor.

You might want to find out who the landlord is and whether an agent is involved. Dealing direct with the landlord could be more difficult and time consuming whereas a Managing Agent can act on behalf of the landlord, in organising repairs for example, within certain parameters. However just because there is an agent marketing the property doesn't necessarily mean that they are managing the property. They could simply be a means of collecting the rent for a landlord.

Good luck in your search on Monday

1500 a month blimey, and ther was me thinking 500 was a lot

so moving to herts eh. look out for the mad people.................

You'll be able to come to our Watford meet-ups then, Pru.

Can i just aske those of you that rent a propery, don't you worry that it's not your permamnat home.
What i mean is, you could be there for a year and then asked to leave. That is what is really putting me off renting privatly. Plus i want to be able to decorate and treat the house like my own, and i'm not sure i'd be comfortable doing that.

Agree about it being a renter's market, at least where we are. We knocked over 10% off the asking rent for our place.

Our current landlord seems very relaxed about us decorating, as long as it's done "tastefully". Maybe I've been lucky, but I've never had a landlord hold a deposit back. I've known people who painted walls & skirting boards, fixed fences or gutters, quite a bit, and they got their deposits back ok, too. I'm kind of a rootless person, anyway. Plus neither DH nor I really care about Decor. Putting up the kids' artwork with blue-tack is about it for me. Even the house we bought & lived in for years we took years to decorate much of it.

I wish that renting did put us in a good position for buying, KS! Even an Estate Agent told me that he's irritated with his sellers who won't move on ; the sellers in our area are holding out for price, assuming that the prices will go up after Easter, and don't see any value at all in whether we have a chain or not.

We act as unofficial agent for the upstairs flat here, the owners who are good friends of ours are currently living in Australia and her parents live locally.

So what we look out for or might argue the deposit for would be stuff like the following:

Not reporting problems when they occur eg with an earlier tenant the bath cracked, they told us immediately so we got the bath replaced - before there was any water damage. If they hadn't told us and there was damage to the flat upstairs (or even worse the flat downstairs - ours) we would have charged them for that.

With hanging pictures it is specified, to let us know and my dh will go and put in proper picture hooks. As we don't want nails and big holes in the walls.

Never been asked about broadband, but would probably want some sort of guarantee that they would be staying for at least a year as don't you have to keep it once installed for at least a year.

Decorating - we would probably want right of veto on any colour schemes. Not being very keen on black or florescent pink walls.

It also states in the contract, no smoking or pets.

Also as this is a 2-bedroom flat and we usually rent to 2 youngsters, we also limit overnight guests. Can't stay more than 15 days in any calendar month - as the owners calculate wear and tear on two people renting not four or five. Also saves on the arguments when one person's partner moves in. Would rent to 3 people just get that stated up front.

Yes nutcracker, it does irritate me but see my other thread about the hopelessness of buying . Prufrock, the other thing I'd add to the good advice here is make sure they're ok with broadband, Sky and children - lots of landlords wouldn't even consider us because we've got children. Pees me off no end as feel sure am more responsible than I was as a single, hard working, partying twentysomething but there you go. Generally you pay all bills and they're responsible for all appliances/fixtures and fittings/heating etc. They have to give you a gas safety cert when you move in - it's the law and they should do it automatically, doubt you'll need to ask. Check agents fees too - some charge tenants up to a months rent in fees, some only a week, some nothing at all since they charge the owner. Good luck, I hope you find somewhere and sorry to hear about the bitch who wouldn't sell. Wishing her all sorts of bad luck in her search for a buyer.

When landlords/agents show you through the house they are normally quite relaxed at saying 'wear and tear' and 'good' condition but when you go to move out it suddenly becomes 'deductable from you deposit'. If you have a video camera I would video the house carefully with a date stamp on it and keep it until you move out, then you are able to say that the condition hasn't really changed.
We have had sky and broadband installed in our flat but they are arranged by us under our names so any bills are our responsibility. We had to have the landlord supervise the sky installation to make sure that the dish went into a 'suitable' position and they were happy with the wiring outside.
We currently live in a flat in London but rent out our place in NZ and ask that things like hooks, pictures etc are done by us (or our property managers), therefore you take responsibility for making sure that the hooks match and are put in the right places. As for decor you'd hope that a house is pretty plain so that you can personalise without having to do decorating.

Prufrock,

How did you get on ?

All signed yesterday. We are now the tenants of a lovely 5 bed soulless house - only 3 streets away from the one we wanted to buy. We wouldn't have bought this one, but I figure it's a really good base for us to decide if we like the area and we can hopefully stay there for a year or even two and then buy my dream house which will be my big "project". It's mostly furnished so we don't even need to buy new stuff, I am going up there again on Wednesday to work out where our thing will fit in.
Spent two hours yesterday disputing the inventory with the inventory clerk - you were all right, it is amazing what they say is "undamaged". My job for today is to transfer all the utilities etc and then we move in on Friday.
Amazingly managed to find a wonderful nursery within 10 minutes walk which can take dd from next Monday for 2 days a week. It's not quite as good as the one she is at, but nothing could be. I just felt very comfortable when I went in there and the manager is a really lovely lady who obviously adores kids and treats all her charges as surrogate grandchildren. So dd will still get the social side of nursery, and I will get a break and time with the new baby.

Thank you all for all your advice

congratulations hope everything goes very smoothly. good luck!

Well done on finding somewhere you like. Hope the move goes smoothly.

Sounds like it's all coming together well, Prufrock, best of luck with the rest of the arrangements.