newbie tenant

[pinkduchess]

hello all

 

im about to become a first time tenant & im a bit (ok a lot) apprehensive after reading up on here & other sites regarding the problems which can arise. i've never rented so have never had to consider any of this before.

 

are there any must do's or dont's that i should be aware of before signing up?

 

would you reccommend going through an agent or private landlord.

 

i see myself as the 'perfect tenant' .....i want to move in somewhere i can treat as my own home & stay there long-term hassle free

 

is that possible or am i living in cloud cuckoo land?

 

any advice appreciated

[huggys boss]

The only advise I can give you.

 

Pay your rent on time, if you have a problem paying your rent on time, speak to your landlord.

 

Treat the property the way you would want somebody else to treat it if it belonged to you.

 

Regarding landlord v letting agent. Well where do I start? The property we are in at the moment was let to us via an agent. It cost us £200 in search fees and then an additional £100 for guarantor search fees, plus the deposit £550 plus a months rent in advance £475. We paid this happily, in the knowledge that if anything needed repairing then we could contact the agent and the work would be done. WRONG.

 

One month into our tenancy, we received a letter stating that the property was no longer being managed by the agency and that we should deal with the landlord direct!!!!!!!!

 

Our boiler packed in early June and was still broken when the yearly gas inspection was done in October (3 months late). The gas inspector found 3 leaks on the fire and one on the hob. He fixed the hob and condemned the fire. So, no boiler, no fire = no heat or hot water (not good when you have a disabled husband and 2 kids). Boiler was fixed 2 days later, fire still has the big orange sticker on it.

 

Sorry to waffle. The moral of the story?

 

I don't think it matters whether you use an agent or not. The landlord may just use the agent to get the tenant and then cease to deal with the agent.

[pinkduchess]

thanks HB

[Godders]

First off don’t worry too much. People come to forums like this when they have problems so it might look like renting is a minefield. I reckon I’ve rented around 10 different properties (different landlords/agents) over the last 15 years (I move around a lot!) and have had very few problems (none that couldn’t be resolved amicably and with a minimum of fuss anyway). There are bad landlords/agents around but if you behave correctly and act within the terms of your agreement then the law will always be on your side.

 

I’d always prefer a private landlord over agents, I’m sure there might be good agents out there but to be frank I’ve never met them if there are. My experience with agents is that they very much work for the landlord adding nothing by way of a service to tenants that a good landlord wouldn’t. And they charge you a fortune. Unfortunately I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find private landlords in recent years; my last two properties have been arranged via agents, I don’t have any time for them at all.

 

One thing that goes against you as a renter is that you have no power over how long you stay at a property beyond the period that you agree with your landlord. This is the single worst thing about renting from my perspective (yes, even worse than having to deal with agents!); you never know when the landlord might want to sell up. We rent somewhere we really like and would like nothing more than to be guaranteed 5 or 10 years of security, knowing we won’t be made to move.

 

This is just a fact of life for those of us who rent unfortunately.

[help me kick his butt]

Or you could be very lucky and get agents like my current one. They cant do enough for me, if there is a problem they sort it as quickly as possible.

Before my experience with agents has been much the same as Godders, so I consider myself very lucky now.

They cant all be bad x

[pinkduchess]

thank you both for your comments .....i suppose its the not knowing thats daunting.