UK Landlord Forum / Life

I've rented out my flat a couple of times on Gumtree over the past two years. On both occasions, I've been inundated with requests (maybe 10 per week), continuing to come in for up to two months after the placement of a single advert, and I've got very good tenants from this both times.

On this occasion, I've got practically nothing, and the few leads (about 4) sound genuine but haven't followed up when I ask if they'd like to look round. This is confusing, because the advert I've placed has been practically identical (same photos and description, etc) each time. The price has gone up by about £40 over the two years, which is in line with prices in the area.

I'm not sure what's going wrong. It's possible that the market has dropped, but this is a very popular part of Manchester City Centre, and when I look on other sites (such as Rightmove), there is very little to choose from – maybe 4 or 5 flats in the same price range as mine, many not as good. So, I should at least be getting viewings, assuming that people still want to live in Manchester. And it's not as if people are buying rather than renting either, since I've got the flat listed for sale at an equally competitive price (comparable to or lower than similar properties) and it's generating absolutely nothing.

Thus, I'm thinking the problem might be Gumtree. They seem to have changed a few things (eg. the search is considerably worse, and they've managed to make a mistake on all the central Manchester postcodes, placing them in Salford instead), and there seem to be less properties listed than on the previous occasions I looked. Maybe prospective tenants aren't using it any more?

Has anyone else experienced this, or been able to rent successfully on Gumtree this year?

I'm wondering if I should just pay the £50 to get the flat listed on Rightmove. I'm a bit reluctant to do this, though, because I barely make enough on the flat rental to cover my outgoings. But, it will be a lot worse if I can't find anyone before the current tenants move out, meaning I have to cover all of the costs myself.