Any estate agents out there who can advise?

[DelphiniumBlue]

DS ( good job, been renting away from home for best part of a decade) is now in a position to buy. He is looking in a city where he went to university, but he currently lives 5 hours journey away from it on public transport, and 2 hours away from us ( relevant because we can sometimes help with transportation if he comes to us first.) He now has a deadline in that his current LL is selling.
He can buy, or is prepared to rent in the new city while he gets stuck into the buying process, giving him time to find the right place.
However, having made a longlist of about 10 potential places to rent on Rightmove, only one agent offered an appointment to view at all ( on a day when he can't go ) and for all the other places was told that all available viewings had already been booked and they were not taking any more bookings to view.
This also happened a few years ago when he was previously looking to move and eventually he gave up and stayed where he was.
He is happy to be flexible about viewings but obviously does need notice as he will need to book time off work and then travel there. 24 hours would be the minimum, more like 48+, and he would ideally like to arrange several viewings over a few consecutive days.
His anxiety is palpable and we want to help as best we can but don't know how.
Can any estate agents out there suggest anything he can do or say that might get him on the list of serious potential renters/buyers so that he can actually get to view?

I think firstly he needs to decide if he wants to rent or buy (& I’d suggest renting in the new city first) but as an agent thinking I’m losing this buyer to a rental once inspire confidence. A few things that would make me stand up & listen and dedicate a morning to viewings:

1. first time buyer with mortgage agreed in principle
2. deposit of X ready and waiting
3. looking to make a decision ASAP / today

90% of agents are shit - he needs to find a decent one or be prepared to work at this. Ringing regularly asking what new instructions they have coming up, turning up for viewings, giving honest and sensible feedback if properties aren’t suitable and eventually, probably being prepared to compromise.

How will work work once he has moved up there? Will he commute, or wfh?

If suitable properties are coming up each week, I'd gamble and book a few nights in a hotel or Airbnb and try to get two or three viewings in during that visit. Possibly also join local Facebook groups, or look on Spareroom for a sublet/Guardian-type accommodation or similar in the short term. And he needs to make sure his search area is wide enough/realistic.

He'll wfh. But it's not wfh with just a laptop, he needs more equipment than that, so might not be able to work from a hotel, not sure about that.
It is a gamble booking a hotel or similar, I think it'd need to be for a few weeks rather than days, and that of course has cost implications, and ( see above) working while he's doing it.
We'll try FB and short term lettings - thanks for the suggestions.

Depends on the area but round my way (central ish London) it's very normal to see FB posts from people offering to pet-sit etc over the holidays in exchange for accommodation. And your son would be able to offer references from uni, work.

Thank you.
He'd much prefer to rent first, and that is the first hurdle .. getting to view a rented property when he isn't in the area.
But given how difficult renting seems to be, maybe he should start the ball rolling for buying, in terms of getting a mortgage agreed in principle. He's got about 20% deposit sitting in his account already.

Thats's great idea, thank you.

i think he’s going to need to take some time off work to look for rentals especially being so far away

Ive got two adult sons, one has been trying to rent, one trying to buy. The situation with viewings is familiar to both of them, it’s a slog. They call to try and get a slot as soon as they can but keep missing out. The times they’ve managed to get a viewing it’s either been cancelled just before as property is sold/let or it’s been a mass viewing to several parties at once which is tricky for lots of reasons.

its not easy for them at the moment!

Given his issues, I think I'd put stuff into storage and move into a lodger rental room in the new location.

He will be far more flexible on viewings and local to hassle agents more then. He doesn't want to give up the one time in his life, as a FTB, when this sort of thing should be easier to do!

My DS bought earlier this year. Similar story and age except he was still the required location. He found agents useless generally at the viewing stage even being in the town. The one he ended up buying he asked 3 times! Then when he finally did manage to arrange a viewing he had just put in an offer (which had been formally declined) on somewhere else and the agent said he was playing his client!

Anyway, he did view, liked it, offered and negotiated a price and never went back to the other house with the declined offer.

I think the market went a bit quiet in April and one agent called him to see if he was still looking but by then he was in his new place. That's the first proactively from an agent in a year!

Feelingstrange2, that's probably what he'll have to end up doing.
I'm just finding it hard to take on board how rubbish the local agents are,I guess it's a reflection of the market, but even so..
I used to work in conveyancing in London, and it's a completely different world!

Just a thought @DelphiniumBlue ;

It is possible to rent accommodation in university halls of residence which are vacated for a few months over the Summer and into early Autumn. Some even offer B&B.

I do know that is certainly done in university towns/cities which are popular with tourists eg. Bath, York, London, Oxford etc. plus Exeter, Leeds and Sheffield and many more as it’s a source of income for the universities which would otherwise be vacant for many weeks. Which town is your son going to? You can google ‘Summer rentals for the public in university halls of residence + UK’.

Btw: I understand your pain about estate agents in the UK, we returned to the UK after living overseas for many years and were cash buyers but they were still hopeless!

OTOH I found them to be very aggressive when we were selling our house in the USA….it’s super competitive there as the buyer and the seller will have a ‘realtor’ and the vendor usually has to pay a whacking 5% commission rate, which is split between both agents. Also I had to have a lock box on the front door for the buying agents to let themselves in with the viewers whilst I had to make myself scarce - sometimes with just 10 minutes notice! However, closing (completion) only takes 30 days. I wish it was similar here.

Could he work from an air BnB for a week and do viewings last minute? If he hassles agents the week before they might be more willing to tell him when things come up.

He can also book in appointments from spare room and all the online flat share arranging websites too.

Is he checking Rightmove daily for new properties coming on?
could he book one day off a week for the next few weeks and assume he’ll be viewing on that day?
I don’t think it’s fair to call the local agents rubbish. They’re doing their job - it’s not in their interest or necessary to do more viewings than needed in order to find a tenant. They act for the owner…not the tenants. It’s not the agents problem that your son is trying to rent in a city 5 hours away.

could he look for an air bnb for a few weeks? Might get one for marginal more than renting - would allow him to work and have a few weeks for viewings at very short notice

Thanks, he will be checking daily, and maybe booking AirbnB for one day a week might work.

Yes, that's what we're thinking. It's not cheap though, that'd be £500+, fine if it's just once but no guarantee it would be successful. It might have to be for 2 or 3 weeks. Maybe he can find a room somewhere. He does have some additional physical needs which add an extra layer of difficulty in terms of setting a up a suitable workspace, but it's not impossible.

Its part of my job to get viewings for rental properties and its HARD
There are 15 people plus for every Rental property and times and dates of viewings are very much in the hands of Agents and its not unusual for me to be asked to view with a few hours notice, if I book viewings further ahead they often cancel as the proprty has been let.
I have contacts and clients with great profiles but it is still difficult and time consuming to get viewings and more often than not I have to take them when offered.