high maintenance tenants?

[loosenknot]

I'm a new landlord. I've had a few offers at full price on my (new) 3-bed flat, but they've all fallen through (bad luck). I've got an offer from a couple with three kids under six (wear and tear...). They put in well under the asking price, and have now come up with something approaching reasonable (all previous offers were at full price). It would be worth it to have someone move in fast, so I could compromise on price. However, they also want a shorter tenancy agreement, and they have already asked for a few changes (totalling around 2000 pounds) despite the property being advertised as is and being in excellent condition (I've said no to this, which they've accepted). I'm a bit nervous about this: Anyone got tips on spotting high maintenance tenants? Or is this all to be expected? Are they more bother than it's worth?

We use Open rent rather than an agent.

If they don't ask, they'll never know.
What they're asking for is what would make it perfect for them, that's all.
It's perfectly reasonable to ask.
But you're also perfectly reasonable to just say no.
I wouldn't say that asking would make them high maintenance

Perfectly ok to negotiate on rent. You make an offer when buying, why not when renting? DS and GF renting in SW London got £100 off per month and no increase for two years. LL gets professional couple that look after place, cleaner etc. And they get security of tenure. They did have the advantage of family home in London, so weren't getting (too) desperate. No rent or bills here, just cook me the odd meal or give me a nice bunch of flowers!

Rental or not, adding a carpet in the hallway sounds a dreadful idea with three young children and presumably pushchairs and scooters going in & out.
Adding a doorway is a structural change and not a small modification to a newly done up flat which they might only live in for a year or two.
You are the owner here - assert yourself and say no. They might be problem tenants or they might just be CFs. Unless you're desperate for a tenant, I'd wait.

I am a landlord, I have reduced the rent at the offer stage but only because we were desperate to rent it out. I was a sahm with 2 babies and living on one salary. We needed to property rented asap as we were paying to mortgages and it was crippling us financially. The tenants were nightmares ( fights in the street, parties) but I don't think those things were related, that was due to the rental market.

I let to families, in fact I love family tenants. They usually stay longer as they settle in an area.

However I am a good landlord, I completely clean, repair and redecorate between tenancies. I fix things quickly and deal with the tenants myself. I go on gut feeling and have refused to let to people in the past.

I wouldn't do £2000 of work before someone agreed to move in however. Trust your gut - they sound hard work to me. I may compromise on a rug for the uncarpeted bit and maybe putting a door on that area makes sense but I would only do because I thought it was a good idea.

Of course it's normal to haggle on the rent! although a lot will naturally depend on local supply and demand.

Many rental properties are priced optimistically, to put it kindly, hence you see so many reduced on the likes of Rightmove. At least that's the case around here (outer SW London). I say this as a LL myself.

I always do what tenants ask within reason, and as a result we have a good relationship and they've stayed a long time.

However, if the property is fine as it is, I wouldn't want to be spending £2k right at the start.

Having said that, if adding the door would generally make the property more attractive/practical for most tenants, I think I'd do it. Though maybe not for this lot, if you really are getting wary vibes already.

Missing the point but how on earth would a carpet for a hallway and a new internal door cost £2000?! You could get a carpet runner from poundstretcher for £20-30 and a door from Wickes for about £40 and get someone to hang it.

And what about making the hole for the door? Door frame? Filling other door? Plastering? Redecorating? £2k sounds about right.

But yeah run a mile from this lot.

Why wouldn’t you rent a family home to a family ?
Shocking

How many months rent are you going to need to pay for the extras they asked for?
If they leave early you will have to relet, and you lost the £2000 spent on improvements.
So you can afford it empty for that long with no outlay, and still be in front as no outlay.

@Heatherjayne1972 why don't you? I'm not a charity and my business renting property is to make a profit. My profit would be affected considerably by a 3 week void period to redecorate throughout. That costs me two months and 3 weeks rent. Nearly one quarter of my annual income for that property. That's why.

OP, I think you would be better off in the long-term not renting to those people but waiting for more suitable tenants.

My poor friend has had a year of hell from her very high maintenance tenants. I won't go into details as there are so many people on Mumsnet who are anti-landlord on principle.

If you get 'that' feeling now, you will bitterly regret taking them on very shortly down the line. I'm speaking as an ex-landlord with 30 years experience.

Alternatively, you could telephone their previous landlord and ask how many times they had 'maintenance issues' or how often they were in contact, how the place was left, etc etc.

Ex landlord here. If they are asking for non essential big changes already I’d be nervous.

Trust your instincts OP, if this lot are high maintenance, they won't stop at the door and the carpet, they will find more "issues" very quickly once they have moved in and demand you to do up your flat to their specs. Bitter experience...
My only tip would be to meet your potential tenants before you hand over the keys, I went through an agent and didn't see my very own CF's until after they'd moved in and within five minutes I just knew they were going to be a PITA. Sure enough, within a couple of months the boiler was "sub par" because it did its job and switched itself off when it overheated, the whole flat "needed" rewiring because the light bulbs kept popping (the dimmer switch needs a particular type of bulb but they couldn't be asked to buy them), the bathroom tap "needed" replacing because it dripped and changing the washer was too much effort (I specifically installed taps where changing the washer needs no tools or superhuman strength), my trusted plumber was rude and unhelpful because he didn't rush out to change said washer on a Friday evening, the washing machine "needed" replacing because they failed to wipe the seal so it got mouldy and left dark specs on the washing, the bathroom window got covered in mould because they never opened it after a shower (it's cold!) and failed to use the dehumidifier I promptly bought (it's expensive to run!). Cherry on the cake was when they installed a shower behind my back (must have a power shower!) against the advice of my trusted plumber, that shower later leaked so I had a hefty bill to have it removed and a very angry downstairs neighbour.
Section 21 was promptly served the same day the plumber came out to remove the accursed shower.
Before they left they asked for reimbursement for various items of furniture they had bought for the flat (I let it unfurnished) as they wouldn't fit in the new place so I was expected to buy second hand stuff I have no use for at full price. I was pretty much called a "slum landlord" when I declined the kind offer.
Run a mile OP, worth waiting a bit longer if you can.
Best of luck whatever you decide.

Run for the hills, too many red flags.

Be careful OP it's illegal to refuse to rent to people because they have children and stating "no children" when advertising a property is also illegal.
The carpet is a reasonable request and damage can be deducted from their deposit. It could potentially cost more to replace a damaged wooden floor than replace a carpet.
Wouldn't agree to the door request though.
You could refuse their offer as being too low if you like.

Looks as if the no children is OK in the Uk but not in many other countries.