Stu Ward

We leave for Sydney in just over 7 weeks.
The house is up for rent, but no interested parties as yet

Question for the experienced.

How close to your leaving date did you get a tenant to rent your house out ?

I know we have some time left yet, but the closer we get the more twitchy i am about getting a tenant in before we go

Thanks

Stu

nickywes

Hi Stu

I will be interested in this one too, as don't think house is going to sell and we will rent out too. We are leaving on 23 October and will take house off market in July to put up for rent.

I have been worried about this also.

username 34

ours rented within a week of going in the paper and on our agents list.

but these people then fell through as we were signing they wouldnt committ (why do people PISS around!!!)

we were worried how long it would take to find somebody else but we did within the week (there were 7 people flighting for it) and they've been in our house since we left over 4 years ago.

I would think it should be fairly good time to rent out your house as buying a house for many is not an option.

Have you done your house up nicely? The one thing that got our renters in and made us more attractive than the rest was that we totally repainted, installed new carpets (expensive underlay but cheap carpet ontop so we just replace every 3 years), and tarted it up.

In all it cost 2k but the rental agents said ours was the nicest on their books in that range and we'd never have a problem renting with it looking nice like we made it.

Stu Ward

Our house is nicely decorated and we have just installed a new bathroom suite to make it more attractive.

In a very nice area, but at the top of its price bracket, and we really dont have much to negotiate either as we need to cover as much of the mortgage as possible.

Stu

nickywes

We too had the whole house redecorated and re-carpeted for selling so will look nice to renters but it is an expensive house to rent. Not sure how many people will rent one this size and cost We have had 3 agents round and had 3 different monthly rental quotes and are going to go with the lowest one just to get tenants.

Fly Away

We let a 2 bed flat in 1 week. For asking price rent. Took another week to get references etc.

We have another 2 bed flat in a different location up for the last 3 weeks and have turned down one unsuitable tenant. (A group of single men in a 2 bed flat - I think not!)

Both are immmaculate and modern.

Not much help with houses but goes to show that you just can't anticipate what will happen.

Houses around here are renting quickly - I know because we are watching them as we will move into rented when this one sells. (Please God!) There is a ceiling price for a property in an area though. For example, here it seems to be £1000pcm for a 3 bed and £1250pcm for a 4 bed.

Stu Ward

Just give this a bump incase anyone else might be able to share their experiences

carolwilk34

We left for Perth 19 months ago and paid the mortgage ourselves for 6 months then got someone in for 12 months and now we are in the same position, tenant moved out 8 weeks ago, back to square one!!!! Totally demented.

nickywes

Have you not been able to get another tenant or don't you want one

Stu Ward

Wondering if there is anyone else ?

NKSK version 2

A word to the wise.....

We've had our house rented out for 9 years. In that time we've had just two months of time when it wasn't rented - and actually we've only had two tenants in all of that time. We've spent a total of 300 GBP on repairs.

Here is my number one tip:

Do not ask for any more money than you need to cover the mortgage. We've had our three bedroom detached (albeit very small) house in the East Midlands for rental at 550 pcm for 4 years now - haven't raised the rent at all in that time. After management fees we are left with 480. Our mortgage is about 370.

Also - raise the rental only if you are desperate. Better to have a good tenant with a lower rental price than an empty house and an unknown future. Also - I'm convinced that if you do this, the tenant will more happily take on minor repairs themselves.

quercus

I completely refurbished mine but had no takers when I first advertised it myself. My timing was off as several good conversions went on to the rental list at the same time, as they hadn't sold. As it was only about two weeks before we left I reduced it to below what the agents advised, and rented it out through an agent. As the elderly lady who took it payed six months rent in advance, the agent doesn't manage it. Now the tenant pays me direct. It looks like she will be staying for a year although she is looking for a place to buy.

The reason I totally did it up is to sell it when the market picks up.

I guess you need to research in your area for whats available and how fast they are renting.

carolwilk34

We can't sell or even rent, market is dead in our part of the country !!!!

flip

In Wolverhampton we had friends who tried for a while with local agents and no success. Then we were talking to an American friend who says all the Americans used a rental specific company in the area called Millenium who we'd never heard of.

Our friends used them and the place rented really quickly, we used them later (only days before I flew out as we'd kept on hoping for a sale) and they had a tenant for us within three weeks. Six months later our tenants bought the place from us.

The relief was overwhelming.

So the only thing I can suggest is that you might look for a specialist in rentals/property management if the agent you've used so far has just been an ordinary estate agent. Millenium are under the category of "letting agents" in yell.co.uk so that may be a place to start.

Good luck

Stu Ward

Millenium ?
Are they the ones based in Manchester on Yell ?


Stu