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Original poster

I have never rented a house before and need some help please!

24 replies

Fimbo · 06/06/2007 11:09

Long saga but basically house purchase has fallen through. The sale of our house is still going ahead and I need to find a rented property asap.

Rented places here seem to go as soon as they are on the market. I am going to see one this afternoon, I am almost certain that unless there is something drastically wrong with it, we will want it. Do I just pay the deposit and stuff there and then, or do I have to fight it out with other people as I know this property will be popular. Arggh!

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Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 11:23

Please someone must rent on here and been through the same thing............

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purpleturtle · 06/06/2007 11:27

We had to pay an admin fee - £170 I think, and complete an application form, giving referees to be followed up. I think the house was taken off the list as soon as we registered an interest.

You'll arrange to go in and sign the tenancy agreement and pay the deposit then.

purpleturtle · 06/06/2007 11:30

There's no advantage to them in spinning things out - having a competition, as it were - because the rental price is fixed. It's not like buying in that respect.

It might have helped us that the landlady was here when we looked round, and as a family we were her ideal tenants (not students!), so it suited all of us. Don't know if that would make any difference really, though. A rental income is a rental income, after all.

Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 11:31

Thats helpful Pt thanks. So basically whoever sees it first "wins" so to speak?

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Mumpbump · 06/06/2007 11:31

Depends, but you can offer to pay a "holding" deposit which is a smaller deposit which you lose if you back out. I would speak to some letting agents in your area and ask them how it works.

Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 11:32

I am hoping I am the first to view it.

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rabbitrabbit · 06/06/2007 11:33

We had a similar thing happen to us Fimbo; sorry to hear you're going through the same thing!

Best thing you can do, if the houses are so sought after, is to get the deposit and rent ready to be transferred and, after you've viewed the property and want it, tell the agent you're going into the office to sign the agreement and pay the reservation fee. Usually you'll pay a reservation/booking fee whilst they run reference and credit checks then you'll need to pay, again usually, a 6wks deposit and month rent in advance. Hth

rabbitrabbit · 06/06/2007 11:34

It's also worth speaking to the agents before the viewing to confirm the quickest way of securing any of their properties when you're interested.

InternationalMouseOfMystery · 06/06/2007 11:35

depends on what the landlord wants to do

similar to selling, if lost of people are interested he might ask the agent to get them bidding up

but it's unlikely. we're renting atm and just let the agent know as soon as we'd seen it that we wanted it and had funds for deposit immediately

noddyholder · 06/06/2007 11:36

I shall watch with interest as we need to rent too and I haven't a clue!

Cascara · 06/06/2007 12:49

Around here you usually view houses in groups then the first to get to the office with the cash wins. It can be quite demoralising if you don't have a car!

Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 13:20

Oh god Cascara you are joking!. Perhaps what I need to do is get dh to go to the rental office, whilst I do the viewing.

Thanks to everyone else.

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Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 13:21

Noddy I will let you know how I get on later.

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mrsflowerpot · 06/06/2007 13:25

oh no Fimbo, I'm sorry the purchase fell through.

We're in rented atm. When we went looking, I went out to see 4 properties in one day and knew I had to choose one of them as we were very pushed for time. In the end I decided on this one just about on the spot, and rang the agent within the hour - she took their fee (non refundable and about £150 I think) over the phone which secured it while they checked out our references etc, which takes a week or so at which point you fork over the deposit and first month.

It's first come first served - you have to be prepared to decide on the spot if time is tight or there's not much on the market.

Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 13:31

Thank you MrsFlowerpot. I was kind of hoping that is the way it works. Fingers crossed for me at 2.30

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lionheart · 06/06/2007 13:38

Cascara, I can remember jumping into a taxi to get back to the rental office while the next couple (who had a car) were looking around the property. It's insane.

Fimbo, make sure the inventory is super accurate.

noddyholder · 06/06/2007 13:40

I am a bit worried as I don't work and haven't for years as I have a heart condition I am registered disabled due to this.dp does though and we are v credit worthy Will this be a problem?

Cascara · 06/06/2007 13:43

I wish I was joking! Good luck anyway!

Also around here houses are often gone by the time you've seen the ad/house list from agents. I actually feel guilty because we then ended up being those people who steal the houses first. DH had gone to see the smallest house in the world and passed it up and because the guy showing the house was a fan of the company DH works for he took him to our lovely house which was going to be advertised the following month so we applied there and then and he held onto it till the time and we signed for it the day it came onto the market.

Okay, that was a long sentence but I can't be bothered editing!

Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 13:57

I am going off in a minute, as I have walk to get there.

What references do they look for? Obviously my bank but what else?

Noddy I wouldn't worry as long as you can afford the rent and your dh works it should be ok.

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nearlythere · 06/06/2007 14:02

employer- could be useful, blah blah reliable, blah blah hard working, blah blah job security and suchlike!

rabbitrabbit · 06/06/2007 14:05

Hi, usually they use an external company that run a full credit check. They don't always check banks but they do ask for employer, personal reference and the usual current and previous address details for the credit check. Some of the smaller agents will do their own which then consist of bank, personal and current landlord (if applicable.) Hth

Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 16:40

Well i'm back. I was the only viewer (apart from ds!). They have no more viewings lined up (yet) until Friday. So dh is going to their office (numpty showing me round forgot to bring an application form) to pick them up. Will fill them in and then go back into town tonight and hand post them through their letterbox with the admin fee and then hopefully it will be ours.

The place is tiny but it's detached which is great as ds is sooooo noisy. It's dd's birthday on the 18th and she wants a trampoline which we had said she could have, as the house we were buying had a garden almost 1/3 of an acre! Hopefully in the rented place we can just about squeeze an 8ft one in!!

Noddy-don't worry I told the guy from the lettings place I didn't work and he said it was ok as long as one of us was in full-time employment, although we would both be reference checked.

Phew sorry for the essay!

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Original poster
Fimbo · 06/06/2007 17:31

I think dh is in shock at the admin fees - £220!!!

£125 for him and £95 for me.

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purpleturtle · 06/06/2007 21:28

Glad it looks like it's working out, Fimbo.

How much was your dh planning to spend on legal fees, etc to buy? £220 doesn't look like quite so much by comparison. (But I know what you mean!)

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