Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

OpenRent

14 replies

ilovewinterpansies · 22/05/2021 09:48

Does anyone have experience of using this as a landlord? Looks like they advertise on the major portals like Rightmove and Zoopla.

Looking to advertise my flat (zone 4 London) and wondering the best way to go about it without using estate agents (not just for cost reasons - prefer to have more control of the vetting process too).

Thanks!

OP posts:
idkwtdo · 22/05/2021 10:48

It's great. Really easy site to use and much cheaper than agents. You can do everything online eg ordering references and signing contract

londonsaint · 22/05/2021 11:05

Yep, I've used it. Would never use a high street agent again. Enquiries come straight to you - prospective tenants can either email or ring up and leave a voicemail that is send directly to you.

You can go for a basic package which puts the advert on all the major sites, or pay for extra services such as referencing, contracts, EPCs etc.

I did all viewings myself, which I personally prefer as you can have a good chat with the people that will potentially be renting your property.

Garlia · 22/05/2021 21:19

I love using OpenRent, found great tenants and it's very easy to navigate.

I use NLA for my tenant finance checks and references.

neverenoughchelseaboots · 22/05/2021 21:34

Yep, a few times. Brilliant service, very straightforward and good value.

And when I had a non-standard situation with partial tenancy change their help desk was fast and efficient to get it sorted.

HalzTangz · 22/05/2021 23:36

@ilovewinterpansies

Does anyone have experience of using this as a landlord? Looks like they advertise on the major portals like Rightmove and Zoopla.

Looking to advertise my flat (zone 4 London) and wondering the best way to go about it without using estate agents (not just for cost reasons - prefer to have more control of the vetting process too).

Thanks!

We rent an house in Warwickshire (no agents), we advertised the property on Facebook market place. Found tenants and did credit and job references within 2 weeks of advertising. Tennant's been in the house 4 years, never been a day late with rent, and keep property in good shape
NotBabiesForLong · 22/05/2021 23:46

Open rent works well for me.

Previously subscribed to rightmove directly, but fee increases year on year made it poor value at about £1000 per month.

I also have good success with www.zerodeposit.com rather than taking the standard deposit.

Both systems are really easy to use for tenant and landlord and require little admin.

ilovewinterpansies · 23/05/2021 17:52

Thanks everyone these are all great tips! The zero deposit site looks interesting too, thanks for the mention @NotBabiesForLong

If you have any other pearls of wisdom to share please do keep them coming!

OP posts:
Iamnotatravelagent · 24/05/2021 11:32

I am a big openrent fan. If you live in a naice area with naice estate agents i'm sure you'd have a different experience but round my way most agents simply do not care who lives in your property, the first couple / family vaguely fitting the brief who pass the credit check will get your house so they can get the lease signed and the commission banked.

Remember that an EA isn't responsible for the tenant paying the rent, or for the eviction. They'll chase for unpaid rent in a legally compliant way, leaving the correct paper trail, but if they still don't pay the matter will quickly be passed to the insurers (either theirs, if you took out their rent g'tee insurance, or your own).

An EA will not guide you through the court process and hold your hand they will direct you to the appointed case handler at the relevant solicitor's firm.

I genuinely sleep better at night knowing and having vetted my tenants personally. They have all of our contact details and there is nothing we haven't been able to resolve quickly and satisfactorily for them, even from overseas.

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!

Iamnotatravelagent · 24/05/2021 11:35

While i am a big fan of openrent, do note that their 'Rent Now' option entails them holding the deposit for you. (Your deposit + 10000s of other deposits is a lucractive little earner for them, even at today's interest rates!)

I used my own lease, and used my own deposit scheme. I don't like TDS as they make the LL go first and document the whole claim (and the LL gets no right of reply). I use mydeposits now, as if there's a dispute both parties submit their case simultaneously, which is much fairer.

auntsomeone · 25/05/2021 13:57

@Iamnotatravelagent - I just used OpenRent, and they actually used MyDeposits. They registered the deposit into my account, so didn't hold onto the deposit at all. Maybe they've changed? When did you last use their "Rent Now" option?

Iamnotatravelagent · 05/06/2021 06:36

Hi I'm sorry for the late reply. It was Jan/Feb. I must double check, I am sure they were using TDS. But even if I am mistaken about the provider, are you sure they let you hold the deposit? I was sure they held the deposit, which I wasn't comfortable with. Given they would not be involved in any check in or check out inspection process I didn't want them holding the deposit.

auntsomeone · 07/06/2021 17:20

@Iamnotatravelagent - Yep, I checked with them. The deposit is registered with MyDeposits.

www.openrent.co.uk/faq#whatdepositschemedoyouuse

HmmmmmmInteresting · 07/06/2021 21:17

Openrent is great. They even collect the rent for me every month for no charge.

GreekDogRescue · 10/02/2025 23:44

all these comments sound like they are written by a PR agency.
Im using Open Rent and am being deluged with Russians trying to sublet it!

New posts on this thread. Refresh page