Has anyone used OpenRent to rent out their property

[AmericanPastoral]

We're thinking of using OpenRent to rent out our 2 bed flat in central London. Has anyone done used OpenRent and could I ask, if you have, do you have any tips as to how to maximise your chance of getting a tenant? Many thanks.

I did ages ago - it went really well. We had no problems finding tenants, probably because we proved at the cheap end of the range to give us more choice of tenants.

I have 3 tenants in my houses, and they all came through Openrent, and 2 previous tenants.

Obviously you will do all the viewings, so I always tell people to go with their gut feelings about potential tenants, no matter how much genuine paperwork, they wave in your face, triple check people.

Even though Openrent will do the paperwork for you online, I have always asked the frontrunners to see things in person, as in passports, bank statements, landlord references, work references etc etc.
You will also be surprised how many people 'forget' to upload their paperwork, but OR are good at chasing people for information, and also keep you up to date on what they are doing.
Have you let a property before?

Thanks very much for your responses and tips.

Binkybix - because you priced it at the cheap end did you find that you got the asking price?

trimtops - great to hear the good feedback on OpenRent. We haven't let a property before. We've taken the plunge and listed the flat so fingers crossed. Thanks again.

Copy/pasted from one of my prev posts to a diff OP from April:

Tips on using Open Rent:

Don't give your telephone number in the ad. Make the interested parties communicate in writing.

The applicants who wrote a blurb about themselves / their personal situation (who, what working as) and politely enquired when they might view went to the top of my list - we were inundated.

No one was allowed to view until they had acknowledged / confirmed they understood the credit check requirements and earnt enough to pass the check.

Everyone else (who just said 'when can I view') was asked to please write a little about themselves / their household and what they were looking for / why moving.

Anyone who said 'we'll take it' or 'call me 07xxxxxxxxx' didn't get a response.

This will sound counterintuitive but if you want max 2 people sharing don't write that in the advert. It encourages fibs (ie subletting). People are astonishingly honest about who will be living in the property if you don't make your red lines transparent!

I've used OpenRent recently and successfully found a good Tenant. One other thing I'd add to what has already been said is, depending on your schedule you may want to control when you hold viewings. Once your property is priced attractively you will most likely get loads of interest and it could be overwhelming if you do not plan before how and when you would do your viewings. I would definitely be doing block viewings next time round.

Anyone who said 'we'll take it' or 'call me 07xxxxxxxxx' didn't get a response.

Ahhh that takes me back... Thoroughly unsuitable potential lodger who opened with "I doctor. I need bathroom priority, you understand!?" and finished off with "I take it. When I move in?! Uhhhhhhh yeah well I have about 6 more people viewing the room today and then I will make a decision on who will move in. I will let everyone know if they have been successful or not. I'll call you, don't call me. BYEEEEEEE

to dgrant’s point about viewings, it is worth telling the promising candidates you’re doing viewings on A, B or C time slots. If you choose to accomodate other requested times that’s obviously up to you but remember you are not an Estate Agent so it is fair to expect you to do an evening / Sunday afternoon (non office hours).

Dexy dgrant and BlueSkies - thank you so much for taking the time to post these tips - so useful

I got absolutely slaughtered on this forum for saying this previously, but it's really important to me that my tenants can communicate clearly in English. If you have a letting agent who's going to be a middleman / translator that's fine but with open rent you need a tenant you can communicate clearly with so that's why I insisted on responses to the OR advert in writing. We then had a call and arranged a viewing x

Thanks dexy.