Asking for better offers to rent a London flat on OpenRent?

[TurmericFan]

I've listed a flat in zone 2 and had 30 replies in just over a day. It's on at £150 below what an estate agent would ask but the condition reflects this. Still before I have the first viewing I'm thinking maybe I've underpriced it.

Have any of you as landlords tried asking potential tenants to put in a better offer?

Would that be terrible?

Zone 1/2 London rental is hot at the moment. I think because people are enjoying living in inner city areas again.

We rent out a flat in Marylebone. Listed it for £1950 for a one bed, got lots of interest. Including some willing to pay £2050 a month, which seems to be what some similar ones are going for.

In the end we let it to a couple for £1950, as we met them and got ’ good vibes ‘ from them. They were very keen for the flat and fitted them well. So far so good, flat is very well looked after and the tenants are very responsive. We are happy with our choice.

Potential tenants who could pay more were rich parents renting for their child who we couldn’t meet as they were on holiday in Dubai …

London is probably the only place in the UK where would be renters are bidding against each other.

More money doesn’t always equate to better tenants.

It's more important to get reliable and honest tenants who always pay in time and always tell you when something has gong wrong. Mine didn't do either and I have ended up having to sell the flat.

Make sure your flat meets all the legal requirements otherwise you won't be able to throw your tenants out if you need to.

Thank you both for your replies. That's encouraging to hear.

Although this flat hasn't had serious money on it, and the kitchen and bathroom could do with replacing, the location within the neighbourhood is the best.

I've noticed that the expensively- renovated rentals with the estate agents are usually in much worse locations, being far from the park closer to the main road. So perhaps this flat's micro-location may make it equally appealing to renters despite the rough edges.

And although it's not in prime zone 2 (Clapham, Brixton, Balham, Hackney), it's a second-tier neighbourhood that many like.

Yesterday I heard from an international student offering to pay 6 or 12 months upfront. I replied instantly saying look, I've has scores of replies including from professionals with large salaries, but if you'll do that it's yours, please come for a viewing any time (they were in London).

Four hours later, feeling peeved that he still hadn't opened my reply, I had great pleasure auto-rejecting him!

For now I think I will slightly increase the price on the OpenRent listing and see how that affects responses. As I haven't scheduled any viewings yet I don't feel bad about doing so....

Don’t feel bad about increasing the price! Market price is being driven up in London. I’ve heard there are people queueing to view properties. If you can take 6-12mths upfront, do it!

I think the way it is working in London at the moment seems to be there are viewings then prospective tenants put in their offer (rent amount/contract length/any requirements eg furnished/unfurnished, landlord fixes X, installs a dishwasher etc) with basic financial details (and whether they have a guarantor or can pay rent up front if they don't earn enough, usually 2/3 times the annual rent is required). Actually, it's always been that way but previously there was usually only one offer, it was the tenant negotitating the price down rather than offering more...

As PPs have said, the highest offer may not always be the best.

If you do decide to take someone who is paying some or all of the rent up front, you need to get legal advice because the length of the rental period can affect the length of the notice period/what happens when the AST expires and becomes a periodic tenancy.