Why Is it Impossible To Find Property To Rent ?

[Ready2Move 10]

We have been looking for a property to rent for the last few months , trying to find private landlords who rent direct to tennants, but its like looking for the winning lottery ticket ........... Impossible. We have found dozens of houses that fit the criteria we have , IE, in the areas we would like to move to, houses withing our budget, but EVERYONE of them is though estate or letting agents.

 

We have no problems with the bond ,rent or references ,but we refuse to go through estate/letting agents who want to rip you off at every turn with fees for everything they do . We want to rent direct from a landlord . Is anyone else having the same problems ? Or is it just me who refuses to be ripped off by agents and refuses to go for property that is advertised through them ?

 

I have noticed lots of propertys we are interested in have been advertised for months ,and are still up for rent ,but are through agents . These properties could be let and occupied and earning money if the landlords would deal direct with prospective tennants ,but they must they must be happy to have them stood empty for months on end because they refuse to deal direct with tennants . Surely there must be landlords out there who dont use letting agents and who will rent directly with people like us ,who are pulling our hair out with seeing property after property we like being dealt with through agents ,who we wouldnt never touch.

[FACEBOOK 10]

Why such a hater of letting agents?

 

They have to charge for certain things just like a private landlord would.

 

Why do you feel they are ripping you off?

[mc55 10]

we're converting our house to a rental property and will be using an agent - why ? well for us it will be about convenience and their expertise.

 

The onus of checking tenants backgrounds falls to the agent and so does chasing late rent or non-payments etc. Also I don't want a tenant calling me at 1am to tell me that there is leaky tap. Extreme examples maybe, but all have happened to my MIL who rents direct to tenants (indeed, one of them turned her house into a drugs farm and caused £30k of damage)

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

We have been looking for a property to rent for the last few months

Why not just look for owner-occupied properties that have been offered for sale for several weeks but remain unsold?

Maybe the owners would prefer to let-out to you.

[HDious 10]

It's not impossible but it isnt easy either, just over 2 years ago SCC put my son in a school 3 miles away from home as we wern't in the catchment area for the one 5 mins walk away:loopy: anyway, I finished work early and funilly enough managed to park outside an empty house that had a 'To Let' sign in the window which had the landlords direct number and as we were planning on moving to be nearer the school but not desperate, decided to phone the number, a viewing and a quick calculation of budget and we took it, the landlord gave us a 6 month contract to start with but insisted as long as the rent is paid and there's no complaints from neighbours then we could stay as long as we wanted.

One thing I noticed in your post (OP) is you say proerties have been to let for months, our landlord also has the house next door which he advertised privatley for around 2 months but nobody took it, he then went through a letting agent so it looks like you need to be on the ball.

 

Out of interest, which area are you wanting?

[Ready2Move 10]

Ive been renting directly from private landlords for over 20 years ,and ive NEVER once been asked for fees , apart from the usual months rent up front and the bond. I can always supply references too. the point i made about properties being up for rent for months ,was properties advertised by letting agaents and estate agents that were in the area i want to move to ,and i would have gone and rented one of these houses if the landlord would have dealt directly with me. But they remain empty and on the market ,where as they could have been earning rent from me for the past couple of months. To me thats a crazy situation. And all because the owners wont deal directly with a prospective tennent.

 

Im still searching ,as my landlord is selling my present rental property ,so we have to move . But im having no luck finding a house in the areas we want with a landlord willing to deal directly with me without going through an agent.

[Localboy 10]

letting agents chage fees as they have offices to pay for and it part of their business. They charge the tenant a fee as it cuts down on the fees they charge the lanlords for finding a tennat. dont hate the agents!

[doom bringer 10]

lots of upsides to letting from a agent ..getting things fixed ect .. down side is they will find out if your a bad tennant or didnt pay bills in the past????

[JoJoSheffUK 10]

HI, what type of house are you after, as I am having the same problem from the other side, I have yet to find a web site that will let me rent out my home with out going throw an agent as I have in the past. I have a very nice home in Sheffield, 2 bedroom (3 as the loft has been converted) in Sheffield S8. When I lived there I had 3 vans parked outside, so good for parking.

[Ms Macbeth 76]

Ive been renting directly from private landlords for over 20 years ,and ive NEVER once been asked for fees , apart from the usual months rent up front and the bond. I can always supply references too. the point i made about properties being up for rent for months ,was properties advertised by letting agaents and estate agents that were in the area i want to move to ,and i would have gone and rented one of these houses if the landlord would have dealt directly with me. But they remain empty and on the market ,where as they could have been earning rent from me for the past couple of months. To me thats a crazy situation. And all because the owners wont deal directly with a prospective tennent.

 

Im still searching ,as my landlord is selling my present rental property ,so we have to move . But im having no luck finding a house in the areas we want with a landlord willing to deal directly with me without going through an agent.

 

Has nothing ever come up here that would suit you? People advertise properties to let directly:

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=90

[Ready2Move 10]

Ive been checking on the property for rent on here daily ,along with many other places and internet sites. The only houses ive come across where the landlord will deal directly with a prospective tennant arnt any good for what we want . IE, wrong area, house not suitable, not in our price bracket. Ive located another 3 properties today which would be perfect for our needs and fit all our criteria , but sadly all 3 are through a third party agent, which we are not prepared to deal with. Our search is very frustrating to say the least ,as the clock is ticking ,and time is running out for us to find a property.

 

If anyone has any other suggestions on websites/places to look/contact where landlords deal directly with tennants ,then i would really welcome them. We have rented privately for 20 years through dealing directly with landlords and never been asked for any fees what so ever apart from the usual months rent up front and the bond.

[bowood 10]

Hi

You could try looking in newagents/post office windows for signs from private landlords in the areas you are looking to move to?