UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have a small 1 bed maisonette and its been empty since July 22nd. Last tenants had it for a year and paid £775.

I tried to LET myself as I always did for a month with no Luck then tried a agent for a month and now i'm on agent number 2. Today he says drop the price to £750 and hopefully it should shift.

There were some bits in there that where tired and needing doing so iv'e done all that all a couple weeks ago. But the feed back he is getting is it's too small or too expensive for what it is.

I'm thinking giving the agent until the 16th and if its not gone then try again at a silly price like £715 for a year and then see how the market goes in 12 months time. I could afford to drop that much if I had to.

Before I never had a issue renting this flat but its just dragging now and I want it gone. Flat is in Hertfordshire and can't really find any real info on the current market. In general is it bad?

Your link was broken so I just went to the estate agent's site and looked for 1 bed rentals between £700 and £800. If you do the same, it might give you an insight into why yours isn't moving: all the other properties in that range look superficially much pleasanter and, because they've got furniture in the photographs, it's easier to work out which room is which and how big they are. By comparison, yours probably looks pokier and shabbier than it actually is so, as long as there are alternatives available, people will look elsewhere.

If you can't afford a drop of £60 per month (having had it on the market since July) then you have bigger problems. You can afford it, so get it reduced and get it moved. Aren't you paying for its upkeep and Council Tax too while it's sat there? Surely you've done the basic sums and figured out how much it's costing you each month to keep it empty... I bet it's more than £60.

Be cut-throat. Get them in on a 6 month fixed term and raise the rent by £15 after that, then £15, then £15... never too much for them to consider leaving, but getting you back on track.

Ill give it a week then at £750 and if it don't go then Ill drop it to £715.  I have asked the agent today to take new pictures as the bathroom and kitchen have been re-painted.

If i'm I am honest I have left it empty for so long because the 2 flats and the shop make a lot of money in rent and last year I was shocked how much I did make when the tax bill turned up so I thought I could do with loosing a bit on it this time round.  The studio flat below the guy pays £650 which I think is not worth it but people pay it.  The flat in question when I first LET it out privately 5 years ago I was getting £690 and everytime I was looking for a new tenant I thought 'why not up the price and see if people pay it' and they always did.  Used to take a max of 2 weeks to rent and even when I was showing people round I would say to them ill be get bits sorted out in the next couple weeks like the paint etc but each time the new tenant would say don't worry mate ill take it as it is and here's the money.  In all that time iv'e probably only had a big issue once with tenants.  All 3 properties have managed to pay for my holiday's each year and both cars we have etc so yes iv'e stuck to my guns on the price for so long because I always got what I wanted.  But my luck has run out now and the council tax I got a 3 month break because it was empty which runs out on the 23rd so ill have to let it go cheap and see how the market goes over the next few months     

" I was shocked how much I did make when the tax bill turned up so I thought I could do with loosing a bit on it this time round. "

HOLY MOLY... now I've seen everything....!!!!!!!!

Me and the wife don't have kids and both of us have good jobs.  I run a bathroom/kitchen showroom so if I ever need anything for any of our properties then I either get it for nothing or get it cheap and its always high quality gear not your B&Q rubbish so stuff never usually breaks unless its been abused plus being in the game I have people that I can rely on to do any work if I can't do it.  All have very small mortgages and very low maintenance.  Only time it cost me was last year as I never knew about registering the deposits so I got unstuck so that was 2k I wasted but in 10 years I've never had a tenant knock me for money or wreck a place.  I admit I have been dead lucky so far and it helps only living next door but I think iv'e done alright out of them.  The flat in question needs a bit of money spending on it but everytime someone wanted the place I always told them give me a few days to sort out all the bits and bobs in the place but they always say don't worry about it so I never did.  But if you where getting £750-775 without fail for years wouldn't you sit and wait out the storm until you got it?  But I guess due to brexit I need to be realistic and drop the price.

Have a look at the link now.  They've updated the pictures of the kitchen and shower room.  Does it look a bit better?

But if you where getting £750-775 without fail for years wouldn't you sit and wait out the storm until you got it?

No I would not.
This is a business and cashflow is king.

You have lost 3 x £715 =  £2145 (if it rented straight away) already while holding out for £60 x 12 =  £720 (if the tenancy lasts that long).
Does that make sense?

I understand what your saying and your right but the shop I rent out makes money.  And the studio flat I get slightly above what its worth IMO each month.  Plus our wages

Looks like i'm making too much money then

I could afford to leave it empty until the end of the year but that would mean no holiday.  I'm sure ill make back the lost money doing some overtime at work

Quote from: raiden on October 03, 2017, 02:43:46 PMBut I guess due to brexit I need to be realistic and drop the price.

Is that tongue-in-cheek?

You realise this comment doesn't make sense - "I was shocked how much I did make when the tax bill turned up so I thought I could do with loosing a bit on it this time round."?

You are never taxed more than 100% of what you make... so the more you make the, er, more you make. You don't make a miraculous saving, somehow, by making a notional or tangible loss on one property.

I admit that I can't figure you out.

People are spending less and staying put where they live because of the uncertainty brexit is causing?  No such thing as job security now and people are even more frugal than ever in the UK.  Plus the house sales market is slowing down in London as well as the LETTING market and its having a knock on effect in the sounding areas.  There's more property on the market to choose from so tenants now have more choice.

But whatever I lost a bit of money doesn't effect you guys.  Don't know why everyone here is so defensive or opinionated on this forum.  But if I get no rent for 3 months then I made a loss for 3 months so hence my profit margin went down at the end of the financial year.  Look these flats are not a main source of income for me.  I just want them to tick over over until I retire and i'm not out to be a millionaire.  As long as it pays for my sports car and holiday each year I am happy     

It's a forum - you need to chill, or get out. Landlords have a thick skin - if you don't you need to get out. Don't worry, we won't miss you, or anything - we really don't miss anyone. We tried to help you because you seemed sad... now you seem angry. There's people you can see for that. Also, your maffs ain't good n' stuff... and you think Brexit is the cause of your woe.

It isn't... it's the void you've experienced. Anathema for a Landlord... but, whatever, it's not your main income - as long as you're running your sports car and you can go on holiday you're happy.

What an insouciant numptie you've just come across as... yet, you were here with your problem, looking for advice.

That's nice dear

The new pictures are certainly a step in the right direction, especially in the absence of a detailed description or floor plan. The kitchen shots look less cramped and the shower room looks much more attractive. You have to remember that, whereas a prospective buyer might look at shabby decor and see an opportunity to put their own stamp on a place, for a prospective tenant, how a place looks on day one is probably the best it's going to look for the whole of the tenancy. When you include a photo of a shabby bathroom in the particulars, they will assume that you've done so because you think it looks OK as it is, and they will judge you as a landlord accordingly. It doesn't matter whether it's an old photo and you're actually the sort of landlord who always maintains his properties promptly and with no expense spared. It's too late: the chances are they've already scrolled down to the next property. At best you'll have created a bad first impression.

If you want £750-775 per month then you need to make the place look like it's worth it. Alternatively, as Hippogriff says, cut your losses and try to rent it quick for £715, although that can present problems of its own: tenants who can only afford the cheapest place on the market often turn out not to be able to afford it in the longer term!

The market can change for all manner of reasons,many of them hard to predict.I have been in a position where planned improvement has been put on hold because tenants were happy to pay the price and take as seen.Then that changed,and I have reduced rent considerably at times if still void after 3/4 weeks.After that I had work done quickly when the places were vacated,and the rent went up again.In your position I would rather go down to £650 than have the place bleeding money.

Certainly tenants on the whole do expect a higher standard than when I first went into BTL 20 years ago.I think this is because there is obviously more to chose from,and they  also want to make a home for the longterm.

The OP has a friendly Council that gives a certain amount of time when no Council Tax is due... oh, for that dream. It would make me very relaxed about things too. Not all Councils are the same.

My area used to give 1 months holiday for council tax for unfurnished.Unfortunately they insisted that the pull-down beds,which weigh a ton,counted as moveable furniture,so I never benefitted.They have this year removed even that dubious bit of help,in order to reduce vacant properties.Even so,I only have a small mortgage on 2 of my five places,but would still not be happy to see no rental income,even if I had no costs.