Our property has been up for rent for 6 weeks now. We have had 21 viewings. A few have had ccjs and we were advised against renting to people who have these, we don’t have a bath only a shower so that has put those with young families off and the rest haven’t got back to us. I’m wondering whether we need to reduce the rent although a similar property went for £25 a month more recently. Is this an average period of time to wait or should we reduce the price and try to get things moving a little?
I have had a similar amount of replys but thin them out by questions thru openrent. only you can decide if you should reduce rent… Is there no room for a bath that you could put in, inbetween tenants.?
There’s no room at all for a bath unfortunately. I have one more viewing on Saturday then I might consider reducing the rent and using the Openrent filter tool. Thanks
On one place I had 36 enquiries I asked questions thru open rent and whittled it down to 5 viewings. of which I selected one. dont think you have to give everyone a viewing without they first meet your criteria
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Yes I think that’s where I’ve gone wrong. Do you use the filter tool or just ask your own questions. I asked my daughter to have a look at the questions when I switched the filter on and she said they were a bit off putting.
I ask my own as I dont want DSS, pets or smokers. you would be surprised how many dont reply so i Reject them. I am governed by my head , not heart, we are a business after all. I ask would you be ok with a reference check. if no reply, there is your answer Can you move a wall to get a bath in? You can put a shower over a bath but not a bath over the shower!!
Yes that makes sense Colin3 thank you.
After 6 weeks and no success you should reduce the rent and at the same time be more selective with viewings.
After our 1st unsuccessful tenant reference check we gave it another week at the same price, got only timewasters so reduced by £50/month. Within 48 hours we had a successful result and our property is no longer empty and haemorrhaging money
It took my property 6 weeks to get the right tenant
If your property is in good decorative condition and in order you shouldn’t compromise on the price, unless you are able to accommodate a reduction?
With regards to ccj’s my current tenants (since october 2018) are a couple. One has a squeaky clean record whilst the other one failed referencing as she had a CCJ, she had declared it right from the start and the reason was due to an overpayment that she had received and which she had spent with no means to pay back as a lump sum. They had been transparent from the start and because of their honesty I accepted them, I also checked that income was regular and they did not have a guarantor either. I made the one with the clean record the lead tenant. I have not had a single missed payment by them and they have been good tenants.
I can only recommend that you apply discretion, ask them to find a guarantor and by every means state your case with the RENT GUARANTEE company you choose . Good luck!
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Interesting discussion. There is no right or wrong answer. Two thoughts from my perspective…
On bathroom size, don’t be constrained by the current dimensions since moving a wall might be possible. I’ve a 2 bed flat with a shower room barely able to house a 760 sq cubicle, small sink and wc. It put people off renting. A Good builder fixed it. Knocked down wall with adjacent bedroom, pinched 600mm, put up new stud wall, fitted p-shaped Bath with shower over and some nice hidden wc and sink units. Looks amazing and space lost from bedroom not obviously missed. 6 grand but a completely transformed flat. Try looking for bathroom refits on check a trade and get some professional thoughts.
On rent, I’ve always thought it is better to have a flat rented with a happy tenant than empty in the hope of a few extra quid rent. Another 50 quid rent is 600 per year, but if I have a month of vacancy I’ve already lost 650 quid plus I’m paying for council tax, utilities etc. I’ve always priced 25-50 pcm below market rate and have barely had any vacant periods in 10 years, plus tenants are happy they are not being ripped off. Happy tenants, happy me. It pays not to be greedy in my view.
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