Please share your relocation nightmares with me and stop me feeling that it's personal!

[gaelicsheep]

Not sure if this is the right place for this as it's relocation for work. Hundreds of miles, taking DH and two children (obviously). Why is it so hard? I just want to rent a house for six months to a year while we sell this one. Why do landlords keep changing the f*ing goal posts? You have see it yourself (a proxy who doesn't live hundreds of miles away doesn't count), they want someone in for 2 or 3 years (despite advertising a shorthold tenancy), it's only a few weeks away and yet "too early". What do they want? Blood?!

Please tell me I'm not alone in this nightmare!

We had a similar sort of thing. We were selling our house then moving into rented whilst we found somewhere else to buy. Also moved 160 miles.

Dh did the last lot of viewings as I was stuck in work but the rental was going in my name. No one would let us commit to a rental until we had exchanged on the house. That meant we could only view empty properties as we then had move quickly.

Also as the rental was in my name, but DH had done the viewings that wasn't acceptable either. So we managed to get the paperwork for a place he found but they wouldn't let us sign up until they had physically met me(this was the agents). So I did a 320 mile round trip for a 10 min meeting.

We did manage to get a shorthold tenancy in the end fortunately.

This is interesting to me as we are moving back to the UK this summer and are currently living abroad so have no idea how we will rent something, have spoken to a few agents and we have offered to pay 6 months - 1 year of rent in advance and that seems acceptable - so far. But it's an absolute nightmare in terms if viewing we will just rent the first thing that is ok enough and probably pay a few extra months rent until we move in the summer. But it's certainly no easy thing.
And there are all these restrictions on rentals - for example we saw a 6 bed house - no dss, no smokers, no sharers, no students, no children, no pets - so who's going to rent it with 6 beds a professional couple with no children aren't looking for 6 beds or am I crazy.

Really? We just had to pay 1.5 months rent as deposit, and it's on a 6-month tenancy. Oh and get credit-checked and stuff. Dh's sister went and looked at the house for us and MIL picked up the key - I had only spoken to the agents on the phone. We organised it a couple of weeks before we needed to move, left the house we owned empty, upped-sticks and moved. It was a bit hairy arriving at 10pm and standing outside the house, which only has a name not a number, and thinking "well, this looks like it might be the one, I wonder if the key fits?" .

They did have two sets of people wanting to rent it, and gave it to us cos the others had cats (they thought our children would be better than the cats - they haven't met my children!).

Not sure when you did it Bertha, or where, but it's certainly changed since I was last in this position 5 years ago. Then I remember having a place described to me over the phone by an agent, sending off a form and bobs your uncle. I guess now so many people are renting because they can't buy and agents/landlords seem wary of those who are renting as a stop gap. Plus in a rural area you have the added problem of not being a local. Funny about cats and children - I've had somewhere that would take the cats but not the children!

I'm sorry to hear you've had such hassle. We've recently relocated about 180 miles (with 2 dogs and one toddler) and it was far easier. We did spend a weekend in the new area and viewed a few rental properties, chose one (on a 6 month tenancy then onto a rolling monthly tenancy) and it was fine from there. The advert for our rental house said strictly no pets but when I discussed it with the landlord they were fine about it (dogs restricted to utility room when no-one at home etc). I did have to come up in person to sign the tenancy agreement but managed to get the rental agent to meet us at the house on 27th December (Bank hol) to sign papers and hand over keys (so I didn't have to make a special trip just to sign). So don't despair! Where are you moving to?

Oh and it's a very rural area!

Can't really say but it is several hundred miles away. I have done the viewing trip, having tried and failed with someone viewing on our behalf, and we're now - finally - at application stage. I still get the feeling it could go belly up at any stage though. It costs a fortune getting down there so I really can't do it again before my job starts (plus I'm into unpaid leave which doesn't help).

Oh poor you, that's rotten. I remember when I was trying to arrange everything (including painting/decorating/cleaning/decluttering our other house so it could go on the market) and looking after a small toddler and I did think my head might explode. Tears shed on more than one occasion! I hope you can get it sorted. Are you starting a new job? I did too (the reason for the relocation) and it was a lot to take on, but got rapidly better once we got up here (and once I got broadband connection!). Are you going through a rental agent? And what about a relocation company, is your new employer using one? If so, make them do the hard work for you!

No we really can't afford a relocation company, and from this experience I wonder whether any landlord would rent to someone using one. I mean I had Google Earth, Streetview, someone viewing and sending loads of photos and descriptions and it wasn't enough. They can take their pick at the moment, that's the problem - far more people after the larger houses (ie 3 bedrooms plus) than there are houses available. It's a small company I'm starting work for so little financial assistance, but they were totally brilliant in sending someone to look at places for me. I feel so guilty for totally wasting their time but I think they know it's not me being fussy!

Not about re-location.. but we completed on our old house - before we completed on the new one last summer. There was a 3 week gap, where we were potentially homeless. Could have gone on holiday, but my husband couldn't take time off work, and I had 3 kids (one a newborn). So we looked all over locally for a very short term let. OMG.... What a bloody nightmare! If they would 'touch us with a bargepole'.. they wanted a £1000 deposit and then £400 a week for a crappy 3 bedroom house (hovel) next to a chinese! It was only thanks to a lovely couple who owned a student house that helped us out and it was very reasonable.

I know this isn't about re-location, but just to say it isn't personal... just some landlords are arses!

Gaelic, it was in August last year.

Moving house is grim whatever way you do it though. We've finally sold our house and are now trying to summon up the energy to buy one here. I might end up in this rented one a lot longer than planned!

Thanks Vickles, I have to agree! Bertha - you're right, moving is generally a dreadful thing to do. I suppose I haven't been thinking of this as a "proper" move, being to a temporary rented place, but this time around it seems to be harder than buying a house!