Rental: cheeky potential tenants

[erloe]

I have a rental which was my home before I met dh. It’s a one bedroom flat in a very very sought after development. I listed it for £3,200 a month and got no interest. I reduced to £3,000 and got one viewing. They offered £2,700 a month.

I got another message asking if the kitchen appliances had been updated since the pictures because the washing machine looked 20 years old. I have now had new pictures taken.

Have other people had tenants haggle on price? I rented it for £2,700 in 2019.

I am a landlord myself. We charge less than market rate as we do not think we are inherently entitled to as much as we can get away with. THe OP thinks she is entitled to even more than she can get away with.

I commented above already and said this is a ridiculous rent to charge.

I wanted to add that I lived in London for 30 years (left 2 years ago for Kent) so I know that £3000 for a 1 bed flat rental is just completely unreasonable...

If her mortgage is £3k then possibly she does need it.

Still a ridiculous amount to pay in rent

So she needs is so that her tenants can buy her a flat?

Why's it cheeky? Especially as it's not massively less than your advertised price.

We offered below when we bought. It's odd actually that this is seen as normal and acceptable but not when it's a rental.

Obviously a vendor or landlord don't have to accept a lower offer but what's wrong with someone offering one?

Many people can't afford private rents but need a home so I can understand why they'd offer a small amount under.

Ah! Thank you, yes, I did misunderstand it then :-)

One of my daughter's tenants went through 3 Miele washing machines in about 3 years! They also had 3 children during that time and the MIL came to stay too!

Renters are allowed to have children....

As long as they asked about the MIL staying longer term, there's no issue.

Dear god, is it a wing of Kensington Palace? It seems extortionate for a one bed. I can see why they might haggle. Just turn it down if you don't want to go lower, but I've a feeling your going to have to give a bit of leeway if you want it filled soon.

You don't know that because you don't know exactly where the flat is, do you? It could be Mayfair for all you know, or it could be a very expensive 1 bed near the Barbican (or multiple other areas in central London I expect)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/Barbican.html

I can imagine that not many people would be able to afford 3K a month, or even 2k a month. I certainly couldn't.

I guess it's supply and demand, OP. There is not much demand for that price range, so renters who can afford it can afford to be picky.

£3000 is the going rate, so you listed it for £3200, whilst expecting potential tenants to not haggle?

Says a lot about what kind of landlord you'd be.

Where the fuck is it, Kensington Gardens?

My god, the F band council tax on that flat is £1300 a year cheaper than my rural banded E.

shakes fist

I’m a landlord myself and have been for 25 years now. First of all, I’d never let a property furnished or with appliances as it becomes my responsibility and a hassle if anything goes wrong. The tenant will provide this - the only exception is the built in oven in one of my rentals.
Secondly, every 5-10 years if a property becomes vacant then I’ll repaint, re carpet and do any modernisation works to the property.
These tenants pay great money so I’d always make sure the properties are in good condition.

Op, you need to re-assess and lower what you’re asking for. If you’re going to make a loss by reducing, then you need to sell. Simple as.

@Sweden99 and why is it her responsibility to subsidise someone elses lifestyle?

If you don't want to pay someone elses mortgage then buy your own place.

If you can afford £2700 a month then you can afford to live further out in a less salubrious area for £1500 and save the rest towards a deposit on your own place.

No one is forcing anyone to rent in the centre of london. You have the best commuter links in the country there so living further away for less is possible..

Subsidise someelse's lifestyle? She is the one expecting a tenant to buy her a flat.
That people are not obliged to rent the flat is something the OP needs to learn, not me.

In that case ask yourself why noone wants your place, ancient appliances aside.

I'd expect the place to be pristine personally.

@Sweden99 equally no one is entitled to live in central london and no one is entitled to housing subsidised by an individual.

Can't afford it, don't rent it.
Don't want to pay someone else's mortgage then save up and buy your own.

You don't know why they are renting it out. Many single house landlords rent out their house when work takes them abroad or when they have to move in and care for a parent/relative (often giving up work to do so)

Jealousy is not a good look on any one.

I recently viewed a property which was listed at 2000 PCM, the EA’s told me that people were offering between 1600-1750. It seems normal for people to offer less as they’ll only want to pay what it seems worth

That's quite a high rental so tenants will have high expectations.

why is it her responsibility to subsidise someone elses lifestyle?

She wouldn’t be subsidising their lifestyle though. If she accepted a £2700 offer out of the goodness of her heart when she could easily get £3000, then yes, she’d be subsidising them. But there haven’t been any £3000 offers. There haven’t been ANY offers.

The OP is labouring under the misapprehension that she owns a flat worth £3000 a month in rent. She doesn’t. If she did, someone would have offered her that.

In any case if nobody wants to rent it at the price you want then your price is too high for what's on offer its quite simple.

It is painfully obvious and I struggle to believe a sane person would need it explaining.