London landlords - how long to let your property?

[LittlePickleHead]

Starting to panic a little despite the relaxed attitude of our agents.

We are renting out our (to my opinion) very nice 2 bed garden flat in SE London in order to rent out a larger house (partly schools, partly we just can't fit all our stuff in any more with a 3yo DD)

We had a few agents round who all said it would rent easily, and gave the same price for rental. We chose the same agents we were renting our house from to make it easier (they also had good feedback from people we know).

We had a few bits we need to do (e.g. replastering and painting the hall way, mending a broken drawer in the kitchen though it's not obvious unless you try to open it, a few other cosmetic bits). We were about to go away for two weeks holiday and were encouraged to get it on the market beforehand so they could show people round. I deferred to their wisdom and just asked them to tell the viewers that the work will be done.

We have had a lot of viewings so I don't think that the ad is the problem, but still no offer. We are into our third week on the market now and have another two viewings today. All the work should be completed by the end of the weekend which I again have asked the agents to make clear.

I am now wondering if we should be lowering the price? We are definitely priced right for the market, but a lot of properties seemed to list in the same week as us (annoyingly as it was pretty quiet before) so I think it may just be competition.

What would you do? We REALLY need to rent our property out once we have moved into the new place so any advice will be really appreciated!

Eh?

Ask your estate agent for specific feedback as to why you haven't had any offers.

I'm also of the opinion that with letting it is best to get the work done first. Tenants are easily hooked by a nice clean fresh looking property. I let out a flat in a very popular area of London, and found that post a refurb it went same day. Pre-refurb it did let eventually, but it took a few weeks.

I agree. I think many tenants have had bad experiences with landlords who promise to do work and it never happens. Once you've got it done you should see an improvement.

A third vote for making the house look as clean and tidy and well kept as possible. If I am buying, I don't care about that stuff as I can fix it. If I am renting, I see it as a signal of how much care the landlord puts into the property and it puts me off renting from them if it isn't great.

We rent a property in London and apply this approach. Touch wood but ours have never been on the market for longer than three hours.

Thanks for all the replies. I agree about the work and initially wanted to hold off h til it was done (especially as its not available until september). I'm really pissed off with the agent as they convinced me it wouldn't be an issue. I really feel they have ballsed it up for us as we didn't get the advantage on the initial flurry of viewings. They have now slowed to a trickle so the only way I can see to sort it is to lower the price so it registers on the search alerts again.

Not sure how to deal with the agents. Id like to go with someone else, but we will be renting our new place through them and so we'll still need to deal with them. Would there be any benefit at all to listing with two agents?

Renters often don't tend to start looking all that far in advance in my experience. Also market seems generally a bit flat at the moment - lots of distractions in London atm...You might be better taking it off for a couple weeks, getting everything done and then presenting it as a freshly decoratef property after the Olympics etc has died down. (Also I think evidence of dcs can put some renters off - esp. young professional sharers who are presumably yr target market? So if dd's room is very pink or whatever it would be worth boxing up soft toys etc.) I think having it with more than one agent is a bad move- makes it look hard to shift. Everyone looks online these days anyway.i wouldn't lower the price unless you feel it was wrongly priced in the first place - doesn't sound like it.

What cut will your agent take? Take the place off the market, do the work, then rent directly through gumtree or work contacts, lowering the price so you'll get similar (or even a little more for it) and the tenant will get a decent deal is my advice. Contracts, credit checks all very simple and you might even get a friend of a friend if it is just a little cheaper.

I do this myself. I dislike agents, and would much rather my tenants got a fair deal (which they do and hence have no desire to move). Agents fleece tenants for the contract, to register, anything they can - it would totally piss me off in their place.

Anyway, just a thought!

I agree with ogre...it's not a great time to be looking for tenants, particularly for families likely to have DC's on school holidays etc. Also, when is property to be available? As ogre said, most don't start looking too far in advance of wanting to move.

IME prospective tenants would make a lower offer than the advertised rent if they liked it but felt price a bit too high, so I wouldnt rush to lower the rent just yet, get the work done first and see how it goes.

It may be that people aren't too keen on having to wait for the work to be done. We're in the exact same position as you, and dh is doing up our flat so once we start showing it, it'll be completely tenant ready. Our agents are chomping at the bit to show it, but we've said no, not yet, as we need to get as much as we can for it. Mainly because the house we're renting is so bloody expensive

Certainly in our area nicely done rental houses go in a flash. Not sure about flats though.

Dh is also thinking about not using the agents at all ( like you, they're the ones we are. Renting through). I'm nervous about doing that but if we can get decent insurance then we may go for it.

I think whatever you decide to do you'd better do it fast as I suspect there will be a glut of rentals appearing on the market post-games, with many eager to recoup losses and get tenants in asap:

Greed pays price as thousands of Olympics lets lie empty

Where abouts is it? And what are you asking? Maybe too high?

Agents always say it will rent quickly - it's part of their usual sales patter which you should ignore.
It has always taken us 2 months or so of a void period to find a decent tenant for our rental house and up to you if you drop the price or be willing to take an offer because tenants will NEVER offer you the asking.
Just be patient. Also the market is dead with the summer and the Olympics, so you have hit just the wrong time - will pick up again after the summer.

Where in SE London is it and what are you renting it for?

We are looking to move out for September and there are a few places on the market. The biggest issue is that I HATE the agents. They overcharge, they are scummy and most of the time, they lie. I don't care how nice the landlord may be at the back of it, the agents are the ones who will turn us away from renting.

I recently saw a place that may have been ok but the agent assured me that our deposit would sit with the landlord and that the government tenancy deposit scheme wasn't a legal requirement and that they had chosen not to use it based on "legal issues". I was like..."WTF dickhead - take this place and shove it"

Also, I would make sure that the house is neat and tidy. We've looked at places and the tenants have left dirty dishes and dirty clothes strewn all over the place. It makes the places look small and cluttered.

Also, contrary to what everyone has said - the Foxtons agent I spoke to said that property rentals pick up now and quieten down over Oct - Dec. Apparently, renters are more inclined to stay put and save over the festive season.

Random how many different things they will all say to get their money.

Hi all. We have finished the work so that's one thing! And we lowered the price slightly and have a new glut of viewings this week.

To those that asked, it's in forest hill and is priced at £1100, definitely a fair price looking at the rest of the market. It's available in about 5 weeks so I think this is about the right time now.

And believe me when I say it is immaculate. This is part of the stress as I'm anal about that anyway, so it's completely hoovered/polished/clutter free with every viewing. On the advise on here we have also packed away much of dd's excess toys/artwork and it really has made a different to how it looks.

Anyway wish us luck for this week...

Is that not a little high? Just that we pay a few hundred more but we are in Kensington so no commuter costs etc..

I personally as someone working central would want cheaper to make it worth my time and travel costs

forevergreek

Is yours a two bed with garden in Kensington?

We are in the Canary Wharf area and paying 1300 for a one bed flat. Moving out soon though but I would have thought then that 1100 for a two bed is quite reasonable?

I can only go by comparable properties which have let and are also still available, and they are generally £1100-£1200. I would imagine going much lower than market rate would be equally off putting as it would suggest as issue?

I think that's a fine price - especially if you've kept it in good condition.

The area is relative to the price.

It is very good condition, and IMO is the nicest on in that price range (majority of which don't have a garden).

Fancy moving to forest hill?

It's a bit too far South :(

I would have suggested it though if it had been a bit closer to where we are now. That way, neither of us would go through agents

Maybe I chat to DH and see?

It's a 2 bed flat ( no garden though), v good condition, £1400 pcm, Kensington

Wow ok. I am looking there next. We are in a tiny place but its on the river