Went to view some rental properties today. I wasn't keen on any of them. One was really close to the station but seemed quite small for the money. The agents layed the sales tactics on thick. We decided to make an offer on one when "someone else was making another offer". The agent wanted to do it over the phone but we insisted on coming into the office so we could put our work situation down in writing so they couldn't blame us and withhold our holding deposit in the event that we might fail referencing. They just wanted to do it over the phone and put pressure on us to do it. We walked away from the deal.
Shame really but probably good in the long run that we didn't get stuck with a property we weren't 100% on. Just got to wait it out as circumstantially, neither of us need to find a place to rent. We would just like to. We've made offers on two different properties over the last 2-3 months. One was too late by a day and the other one got outbid. It's a slow process but I'm sure we will find something and get moved into somewhere soon.
@ralphdibny Good luck in finding a new home! I've just moved into a new rented property and feel so much better for it. It is quite a bit more in rent each month, but came in under my budget.
I did most of my looking online due to lockdown and only ended up looking at a handful of properties in person. The advantage of that was I dismissed a load of properties if the area looked scummy or something when looking on Street View. I found the ones I was interested in were gone really quickly, and the estate agents had stopped taking viewings.
I've had no debt, credit cards or loans for a few years, so passed all the credit checks. My manager gave me a glowing reccomendation for my personal reference too which helped with things.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@ralphdibny Good luck with the search. It seems rental properties are really heard to come by everywhere at the moment and as soon as there's a nice place at a decent price, it'll have tonnes of viewings almost immediately. It was the same when we were looking to buy thanks to the stamp duty holiday and with rightmove etc alerts, agents almost don't have to do their job anymore.
I'm sure you already have done but speaking to agents so they know what you're after really helps as they might let you know of properties before they go up online; when I lived in London rental properties had normally gone before they'd even made it online.
And at least you don't have any time pressure on you as it's so much worse when you just need anything.
@JohnnyShoulder cheers! Ah that's decent, sounds good. I'd ask roughly what area it was but I fear it would break the anonymity of the internet!!
We did initial day of viewing 1 beds and 2 beds and we came away from it realising that we needed the extra space. Saw a few on our second day of viewings. Yesterday was our third and it was supposed to be a flying visit to the area because we were both working most of the day and had early starts this morning. I wasn't hugely impressed so I think we are going to be more picky or maybe even just take a chance making offers on stuff that's £100 out of our price range. If they don't come down to our price then it just is what it is I guess!
Apart from the student loan (thankfully the pre 2012 version) I've never taken out loans, credit etc. I just always found the idea of living outside of my means quite daunting. My score is high as I checked it the other day. But I there's lots of orange faces (on the MSE credit checker) because I don't really have a credit history to speak of! Once we are settled, I may take out a few short term lines of credit that I know I'll be able to afford. Maybe a new TV or something. Just to boost the other aspects of the credit score.
@Thrillho cheers! Yeah it seems that way and the agents keep reminding me of it but it just sounds so annoying coming from them because it's just another sales tactic that makes us feel pressured. Honestly though, I've just lost all faith in 80% of the agents in the area.
One of them just kept mugging off the tenants in the properties we viewed. Saying how they don't look after the place etc etc. Fine, maybe they don't but the way she said it just made me think that even though I would look after a rental, that this agent would just treat me with the same level of contempt. We reluctantly made an offer on one of her properties in our first block of viewings.
One agent just doesn't seem to care at all, you get what you see. Maybe it's better that way but I get the impression it means that they'd be more prone to mistakes. Another agent has just given mixed impressions. I booked a viewing with them and when I rang up to confirm, the guy was like "Hmmm, let me see if I can fit you in". Lost all respect and on top of that he didn't even turn up and had actually put it in his diary for the following week. Luckily a much nicer and apologetic colleague of his actually turned up and showed us around the property.
The agent who we almost put an offer in with last night appears to have been very good. Calls every few days, constantly keeps in touch and sends properties. The way she handled us last night really showed her true colours though so I am just going to stop answering the phone to her and keep the agent at arm's length unless we actually see something on Rightmove that we like the look of. Just a lip service artist really.
I've told em what we want, but they just throw doodoo at the wall and hope it sticks though. Theyre winding me up a bit now!
The only agent that I think has been good was one that we didn't think much of on our initial viewings but was really honest and agreed with us on the state of properties on the second viewings. She didn't try twisting our comments around to try and make them sound better or try and create desperation from a statement we made describing our lack of desperation which is common with the other silver tongued agents. I am spotting all of the sales tactics from the other agents and one nearly worked on my partner. I had to explain how it was that one train of thought that had been twisted and made into an ear worm but it took some convincing.
But yeah, I did make the offer with the good agent a few weeks ago but unfortunately the landlord got a better offer!
Sorry for my rantings about the agents, thought it might be good to share my experience and thoughts.
I know it is just what it is though but I've got to try to stay neutral and only decide to rent something that we really want. Uninfluenced by any sales pitch from the agents.
@ralphdibny Yeah, we had some shocking agents when we were looking for our current place. It felt like they knew they didn't have to make an effort to sell the place seeing as demand was so high, so why bother? Most couldn't tell us about loft space and one couldn't even tell us what the building across the road was.
But one agent was great and we ended up seeing a handful of properties with him. The one we got eventually was through them thankfully.
@ralphdibny I think your 80% statistic about letting agents is bang on; that's been my experience, as well. At least you're in a good position at the moment, not against the clock or anything. Means you can take the time to find those remaining 20% of worthwhile folks and give them your business.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@Thrillho oh yeah we had a few of those too actually. Normally they worked for the try hard but all lip service agent. A lot of "properties sell themselves". If that's the case then wtf are you here for?! 😂 Our first guy that showed us around from that agent was decent, I appreciated his sales pitch because it wasn't sneaky. The second one just didn't care and told us the property's sold themselves. The third one was the sneaky tactics one who put the earworm in my partner's ear. Made me very angry. I might just ask them up shut up from now on and only answer questions that we ask. Probably won't go down too well though 😂
@RogerRoger oh really? That's interesting. It's hard though because landlords will just go with whoever so we could end up seeing the property we love but with an agent we hated, even worse if the agent manages the property as well. That was the case with the first property we made an offer on.
But yeah, will just keep going! I think instead of settling for something that's 1000pcm max budget that we can definitely afford and making offers on many properties, I think we might try our hand at offering 1K for 1100pcm property's that we like. If we make a few offers then we might get lucky and actually end up with a place that we feel is worth that!
Man, all this talk makes me realize how lucky I was with my living arrangements - even though it turns out I'll be moving to my own place a little later than initially expected.
@ralphdibny Yeah, I've always tried to sidestep agents wherever possible, and deal direct with landlords, because they tend to care a little more. I got very lucky with my current place (to the point where I almost hesitate to type this, as I'm always terrified of jinxing things!) and of course, some agents have been on the scale somewhere between "perfectly fine" and "lovely" but you're right, that salesperson mentality just makes for a forceful, unhelpful experience when you're trying to find somewhere to call home.
With those kinds of figures then yeah, I doubt you'd get laughed out of any conversation; that's the kinda difference I'd play with, or expect to play with if I were on the other side. Best of luck!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
I’m an agent (although I’m a property manager so I do less sales) but I have done lettings in the past and I’m very heavily involved in that side of things.
So be careful talking cr@p about us 😂
What I will say is that right now demand for rental properties in our area, West London, is very high and that’ll be the same across the capital. The point being that right now when we say there is a lot of interest, there genuinely is. We are getting a lot of enquiries and don’t have the stock. People who can make decisions quick will get the flat, and if you can’t there are people behind you.. it’s just how the market is at the moment.
Seems to be the same on Spareroom right now too, I got this email today.
“ Demand for rooms surges
There are currently more ads on SpareRoom from people looking for rooms than for rooms available. This is only the third time this has happened in the last six years.
With people finally able to move, and others re-entering the market after moving back in with their parents during lockdown, competition for rooms is fierce.”
@RogerRoger yeah hopefully, should be good! That sounds decent! I remember our final uni house was a private landlord and it was an infinitely better experience than our second year house. There was just a mutual respect that meant that both parties acted appropriately. Our second year landlord would just turn up unannounced without the required notice which really got our backs up.
@kyleforrester87 haha sorry mate! To be fair, I did give credit where credit was due to the agents and I do recognise the truth amongst the lies. I just don't like it being repeated to me when I'm trying to make a life changing decision in order to direct me somewhere that I'll regret. I'm super glad we walked away from last night's property after the agent started giving us all the mumbo jumbo. We were on the fence and the "pitch" just managed to push us off onto the other side!
My dad is a car salesman and used to be in property himself. I did ask him what tricks they'd use but he didn't really say. He just said that if it feels wrong then walk away. Best advice yet I think.
But yeah it's all good though. While it would be incredibly naive for me to say that I absolutely can't be sold anything, I do know that I'm a hard sell. (Just looked up hard sell and I think I'm using the term incorrectly 😅) I do all the research first and want to get everything in writing. For normal products, I've already made my mind up before I've gone into the shop. I don't think I'll change my ways for a product I could end up living in for some years!
But yeah, one agent so far has been incredibly decent. The others could probably sell a hand to a Muppet but they will have a tough time trying that sort of thing on me.
@ralphdibny The property I moved into the viewing was with one of the landlords, I was there for about an hour chatting her and the current tenant about the house, area and other stuff. Just added a personal touch. I must have made an impression, as they phoned me up a couple of days later to offer me the house.
All the other properties I viewed were with agents, and I was done in about 20 mins in each of them. They all felt pretty cold and clinical, with very little human aspect to it all. They might as well be androids for all I know!
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@JohnnyShoulder haha @kyleforrester87 may well be an android with his inhuman ability to cycle all the way to Scotland from Cornwall!!!
Jokes aside though, that sounds like a really positive experience. Especially as they actually rang you to offer the property. Sounds like a great fit all round.
We actually turned down a property because the reasons behind a previous offer falling through seemed dodgy to us. Definitely weary of getting off to a bad start!
@ralphdibny ignore the sales pitch - Location, no crazy neighbours, decent water pressure, windows in a good state, mattress in a good state - if it ticks those boxes just go for it 😂
It amazes me how often tenants move in and complain that the original sash windows are chilly in the winter.. would you buy a convertible and moan you can’t get your fishing tackle in the back?
When I was chatting to the then tenant, I made sure I asked about the area, how cold it gets, how much are the bills etc, so I got a good idea of waht to expect.
@kyleforrester87 yep that's more or less it! I've turned on countless showers lately 😂. Luckily I don't have to bring a blacklight as we are going unfurnished! Very weary of exterior unheated walls too and have seen lots of cleaned off mould in the properties that don't have radiators on exterior walls.
I am sure you are a perfectly scrupulous salesperson by the way and I apologise if any of my posts painted any generic group of people in a bad light. I did try to be specific so as to not tar every agent. Sometimes specificity comes off even worse though 😅. But yeah, kudos to you if you've ever had to deal with a prospective tenant like me who knows what they like and what to look for before saying yes like so many other people would do.
As long as the property does what it says on the tin and the tenants meet the expectations then hopefully there should be no problems! In theory (though I'm sure not in reality), there should be some value in a solid agreement like that instead of getting unhappy tenants into properties they don't want with unhappy landlords that don't want them and tenancies running short with a great amount of hassle for both sides as a result.
I don’t take it personally, you’re not the first to look down on us and won’t be the last 😂 All I would say try my job for a few months and see how you feel haha. And in the future, when you hopefully own a property (if that’s what you want, owning your place is never essential in my book) that you’re looking to sell, I can almost guarantee you’ll want your estate agent using all the “tricks in the book” (whatever they might be 😂) to get you the best possible price.
Anyway, my point was right now as a prospective tenant pickings are slim and you might need to act quick to secure something that is not perfect. In my view if it ticks “most boxes” go for it, it’s not a forever home.
@kyleforrester87 no worries and I don't look down on all of you! I definitely tried to keep an open mind going into this process even if I remained guarded and critical.
But yeah that's a fair point and I did think about that exact thing yesterday. I just don't know, to be honest. Obviously I want maximum money but I'd also want to do the right thing. I guess I can only hope (again naively) that whatever property I might end up selling in future would also be good value and both buyer and seller can get a good and fair deal. So yeah, mixed feelings on that one to be honest!
But yeah, we are going for a 9 out of ten approach. Things we need include a lot of space, either 2 bedrooms or 1 bedroom and a study, parking space, first floor or higher, exterior walls with radiators on, PVC double glazing, proximity to the station, good water pressure in the shower and a full size fridge freezer. Those things are of varying import so we might compromise on a couple less important aspects but may only compromise on one larger aspect.
I know it'll be slow but we will find somewhere! We've definitely seen goers for sure, just been too late. I think we've learned from that that we can make a quick decision if it ticks most of the big boxes but if it's a property that we have to take some time to think over then it's probably not one for us anyway!
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