Renting a house.

bigben

bigben

Master Poster
tom_gr7 said:
well, we could rent a cheapy 2 bed in a rough area for 400-450 easily. However, we'd rather pay a bit more for a nicer/quieter area, away from the scruffy kids/teenagers/drunks that live around here oh and we'd like somewhere relatively safe to park our cars. As for the 3 beds, well, one for us and a spare for when family stay over n what not. The third will be my Office/gaming room/man cave :)
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Ah the man cave, that makes much more sense.
Don't think I could stand commuting that far, I rather enjoy being able oversleep until 10 to 8 and still being on time to work at 8.
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Tell you what, this house renting malarkey is immensely stressful. Every single property that we express our interest in and book a viewing, becomes unavailable a few days later. We've lost out on about 5 or 6 houses now, pretty stressful. We've got a viewing booked for a small relatively new build 2 bed house on Saturday. The missus called up to make sure its still available, turns out someone else is viewing it on Friday, so chances are we will lose out on this one too.

Anyone else had this much trouble finding a place to rent before?
 
steaky360

steaky360

Moderator
Moderator
tom_gr7 said:
Anyone else had this much trouble finding a place to rent before?
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Yep, masses of bother last time I was looking for a rental place and also similar problems when looking to buy. I basically had to take time out of work to do viewings on the day I found them (or as early as I could book them) otherwise I'd miss out.

I appreciate its not always possible but it might be worth asking someone for help? Not sure if your parents will have the time/capability but they could do a video walkthrough of places potentially at times which you wouldn't be able to make a viewing and allow you to get a better idea. It would be scary to accept a property based on that but it just might help...
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
steaky360 said:
Yep, masses of bother last time I was looking for a rental place and also similar problems when looking to buy. I basically had to take time out of work to do viewings on the day I found them (or as early as I could book them) otherwise I'd miss out.

I appreciate its not always possible but it might be worth asking someone for help? Not sure if your parents will have the time/capability but they could do a video walkthrough of places potentially at times which you wouldn't be able to make a viewing and allow you to get a better idea. It would be scary to accept a property based on that but it just might help...
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thanks for the reply steaky, but erm my parents live about 130mile away hahah. The missus parents are always at work, so couldn't rely on them. Thanks for the suggestion though.

From what i've found, it seems there is a massive shortage of rental properties that are in good condition. Those that are in good nick, are snapped up pretty quickly. Pretty stressful.
 
DeadEyeDuk

DeadEyeDuk

Superhero Level Poster
Ok there's my new business idea. Rental/Buying property viewer for hire :) Pay someone to go to the properties of your choice, they take a video tour and give expert advice, then immediately send the lot to you via email, and maybe a simplified version for phones etc, and then you can make a decision while at work/nowhere near the place (if you were moving somewhere further afield for example). Dragon's Den here I come!
 
nathanjrb

nathanjrb

Prolific Poster
Sorry, I'm a bit late to the discussion!

I've been renting since I was 18 and got turfed into student halls!

I'm now 25 and I live in a 2 bed flat paying £675. This contains a full bathroom and en-suite. Both bedrooms are the same size (none of that box room nonsense) and both contain enough space for a double bed, large desk, wardrobe and tv unit!

The living room is pretty big and has 2 large leather sofas (you can fit 6 people on the biggest!) and I also have a balcony wide enough to walk on that overlooks the river and the city.

So my main advice? Shop around. Set your budget to what you can afford and what you're willing to live with. No point paying loads if you're planning to save - but at the same time you don't want to live in a cave!!! I'll say it now - it's really hard to save whilst renting. Have you thought about rent-to-buy schemes? That's a win win situation for people in your situation. I saw loads of flats for the same price as the one I'm in now that were far inferior!

As for changing the locks... I've never had a problem with it. If you go through a proper estate agents who manage the property - they have to give you 24hrs notice before they can enter the property - and even then you can ask them to come at another date convenient. The good agencies even leave a calling card to let you know they've been.

If someone did break into the flat - the first person they'd look for is people who previously had keys :p otherwise it would be the standard forced entry. The only potential incident I've had was last year when I had my bag and phone stolen. I couldn't find it anywhere and the last time I saw it was just before a flat viewing for the next potential tenant. I didn't have much evidence so couldn't really say anything - but I will be more vigilant with flat viewings in future and make sure I'm in at the time. It wouldn't surprise me if there were thieves who just went on house viewings to nick stuff.

You'll know you've find the right place because you get a "This is the one!" feeling inside :)
 
nathanjrb

nathanjrb

Prolific Poster
Oh and also if you live in a flat - get friendly with your neighbours and also check to see if the entry system to the building is secure.
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
thanks for the reply nathanjrb.

wow, i thought 675 was a little expensive. As well as the council tax too, would add up a little bit.

We've just been to view a small 2bed end terrace. It's a relatively new build, comes with fitted kitchen, washer, cooker and fridge. So that's not too bad. The current owners looked a little young and have two pig bull type dogs, so we are going to need to give the place a really good clean. She's only moving out as she's had her hours reduced and needed somewhere cheaper, however, at 525pm+117 council tax it's really cheap. You can't exactly go much cheaper lol. It is a bit small, but there's only two of us, so it will be a bit cosy.

Anyway, we called the estate agents as we left and paid the deposit to secure it. YAY.
 
Rakk

Rakk

The Awesome
Moderator
tom_gr7 said:
Anyway, we called the estate agents as we left and paid the deposit to secure it. YAY.
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Woot, glad you found somewhere.

As someone who was renting for 10+ years, I never even thought about changing the locks (I'm obviously too trusting of people lol), did get an extra mortis lock added to the last place I was in and a wireless alarm a bit later (all paid for by the landlord) - I did get stuff stolen once in that place but that was by forced entry (screwdriver through the bathroom window frame and they were obviously locals or friends of locals - only took one thing - the tv, nothing else was touched/searched) and after that was when the alarm was installed.
 
nathanjrb

nathanjrb

Prolific Poster
Congratulations :)
I wouldn't have been worried about people getting in there before you. That's just how it is - the early bird gets the worm, but the early worm gets eaten ;)

Hope you like your new pad! Now to get the man cave sorted... don't let her say you can't!
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Gratz

Though hopefully you now don't have to have too many discussions about what kind of furniture needs buying to go with the built in toaster... or whatever.

Just wedge a stick under the handle to the man cave and start on that, it is the most important bit.
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Rakk said:
Woot, glad you found somewhere.

As someone who was renting for 10+ years, I never even thought about changing the locks (I'm obviously too trusting of people lol), did get an extra mortis lock added to the last place I was in and a wireless alarm a bit later (all paid for by the landlord) - I did get stuff stolen once in that place but that was by forced entry (screwdriver through the bathroom window frame and they were obviously locals or friends of locals - only took one thing - the tv, nothing else was touched/searched) and after that was when the alarm was installed.
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thanks rakk, I think we will definitely change the locks. I know the current tenants will have to hand in their keys. I know we shouldn't make judgements about people, however, the fact is people do make judgements. Anyway, I got the impression that she was a single tenant, but was allowing her fella and his two dogs stay there. Bit naughty really. I also noticed that they didn't really have many possessions, there was a smallish tv, a couch, a small dinner table, a double bed. They didn't really have anything at all, bless them. I'm not saying I think they might rob us when they are out (if they have extra copies of the keys), although, considering the amount of expensive products I have big tv/pc/laptops/tablets etc etc, I'd rather be a little proactive and change the locks, if the landlord wants a set that's fine by me. Prevention is better than cure and all that.

DeadEyeDuk said:
Hurray!
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lol huzzaarrr

nathanjrb said:
Congratulations :)
I wouldn't have been worried about people getting in there before you. That's just how it is - the early bird gets the worm, but the early worm gets eaten ;)

Hope you like your new pad! Now to get the man cave sorted... don't let her say you can't!
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haha well, the man cave, hmmm. Not sure where I'm going to put the PC just yet. I would like a man cave, but I'd also like the pc in the living area, so I can chill on that in a evening whilst the missus is watching the soaps.

mantadog said:
Gratz

Though hopefully you now don't have to have too many discussions about what kind of furniture needs buying to go with the built in toaster... or whatever.

Just wedge a stick under the handle to the man cave and start on that, it is the most important bit.
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hahah lol. Yeah, she's got a few plans for decorating n what not. But I want it to be homely n all that shiz.

Gonna have to sort out the internet when we move in. Looks like standard speeds will only give us 1-3mb. Great. Might have to take a punt and see what Bt infinity can offer - although, it looks a bit pricey.
 
W

Wozza63

Biblical Poster
Haha that's why its so cheap up there, bad internet. Don't think I could survive without decent internet these days. Even at uni I'm on 50MB/s (and 1ms ping :p)

Anyways enjoy your new house and stuff :) and remember, they may have been victims of theft in the past or maybe a fire? Or maybe she just has a huge stash of cash somewhere?
 
mantadog

mantadog

Superhero Level Poster
Wozza365 said:
Haha that's why its so cheap up there, bad internet. Don't think I could survive without decent internet these days. Even at uni I'm on 50MB/s (and 1ms ping :p)
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Yeah that explains it. I'm struggling away on a 18MB/s, would kill for a 50MB/s connection (fibre is coming soon apparently...) and could not survive on a 2MB/s connection.

Anyways enjoy your new house and stuff :) and remember, they may have been victims of theft in the past or maybe a fire? Or maybe she just has a huge stash of cash somewhere
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Best double check under the corners of the carpet!
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
lol just manged to get onto plus net, to see what speeds they can offer. Well, a whole 1MB! Thats not even worth the trouble. Fiber wise they offered 38MB, however, it's important to note that all fiber packages offer speeds of up to to38MB. Presumably that's where she plucked that figure from. Anyone know any sites to accurately predict what speeds you will actually get?
 
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