[jnoempire]

im tired of lookInG for flats and find the listings populated with agency listINGS. If i wanted to find flats from agencys i know where to look.

I THOUGT the while point of gum tree was to find bargains, but you have agencys with their skyhigh fees, for this, and that whats the point of coming here.


im very upset, I want PRIVATE LANDORDS. Let agencies GET their own section..or somthing...!!!!

so people like me can avoid them.


irate

[Pennant The Tenant]

[Pennant The Tenant]

[jnoempire]

u know not everyone can really afford the crazy fees some of these agencies charge. Ive seen loads of nice flats via agencies

for e.g saw a nice 2 bed flat with agency 750pcm

they want 6weeks rent 1month dep
and incl fees moving in was almost £2100

i tell you as hard as i work and pay my taxes even with my IT degree. i don't have that money to just give away all in one go like that

[malc]

the agency postings all say AGY after them - so just ignore those ones, no?

[jnoempire]

i know.. but some days all the ads are from agencies. Like they have some gumtree automation software or somthing ( hope im not giving gumtree any ideas)

[Bluey]

Many private Landlords operate on pretty similar terms to Letting Agents and want a full deposit and first month's rent paid in advance, plus any of their admin fees incurred tend to be the responsibility of the tenants.

Landlords don't hand over keys to tenants before the first month's rent is paid. Landlords often request at least a month, sometimes up 6 weeks deposit that has to be paid in full before the start of the Tenancy.

If the LL uses an independent company to undertake the tenancy verification (credit checks/references), then the tenants pay for this and I think this costs around £30 per person for a standard report.

So you may find it difficult to find a LL that will settle for anything much less than getting a month's rent from you and a month's deposit. So if you find a nice flat for £750 pcm with a LL, you may have to stump up £1500 in advance as a minimum, £1875 if the initial rent or deposit is for 6 weeks and £1935 if its 6 weeks deposit and they want to bill the tenants for credit checks.

In a worse case scenario, a private LL will only save you around 10% of the initial moving in costs that you quoted from the Letting Agency but in a best case scenario, it will be a saving of around a third.

If you can't get the money together, then why not get an overdraft from your bank rather than restrict your accommodation search to just private landlords who are pretty likely to charge similar market rent and want a big chunk of cash out of you just like a Letting Agent?

I am not familiar with the additional admin fees you get billed for by the Letting Agents so feel free to enlighten me on the extra charges you encounter from them which you don't expect from a private LL.

[Pennant The Tenant]

[jnoempire]

I know what your sayn.. the the reason ebay and even gumtree is so sucessful, cause people like bargins, We like getting A1 standard as you say for bargain price.. its rare yes. but nothing wrong with that

But thats the point of ebay as well as gumtree. You will hardly get a bargin from an agency. 10% may not be nothing for you but it is for some people.

I see people line up in a queue around the street for 10%

[Pennant The Tenant]

[jnoempire]

cant please them all i guess.. but still gumtree should separte agency listing...

[d(d)]

[novice landlord]

Hopefully the guy will get the place he wants with a private Landlord with less expense than an agency.

As a private (but not so novice now) Landlord, I don't like to use the Gumtree or Loot to advertise and prefer other accommodation sites on the internet.

They should be ideal places for a private tenant to find a private landlord but it was a waste of time and expense for me. Perhaps my experience is why some Landlords are reluctant to use them. I know some agencies are loathe to advertise in the Loot because the people looking for properties are regarded as 'bargain hunters'.

90% of my calls were from agencies that wanted my property on their books despite the adverts stating that I wasn't interested in hearing from them.

The other 9% were from unsuitable private tenants who I filtered out because they did not fit the basic criteria given in the advert. Or once I made it clear they had to provide previous landlord and employee references and pay a full deposit, they were no longer interested.

Then of the final 1% who fitted the criteria and then viewed and were interested, the first lot then decided they couldn't afford it after all and pulled out three weeks after I'd taken it off the market for them. The second lot were interested 'but still had other places to view' and couldn't make up their minds so we mutually decided to call it a day. The last lot were keen but decided they couldn't commit to a 6 month tenancy after all and withdrew.

It's all sorted now, am much wiser now, water under the bridge, learning experience, etc, etc. But here's why private landlords might not like advertising on the gumtree. Wish Mr Empire lots of luck - I reckon private landlords will work out cheaper.

[Pennant The Tenant]

[novice landlord]

I agree that it should be easier to screen out commercial estate agents adverts on the Gumtree as they are a pain in the a**e for both tenants and landlords. Leeches.

Landlords are bit cheaper - they don't charge fees for the tenancy agreement (photocopy piece of paper download from internet in 5 mins)

I think with enough searching, tenants can find a bargain and get somewhere nice under the market rate.

Maybe some Landlords settle for small deposit. My guide book say not to do this (as tenants often quit without paying the last months rent and leave it dirty, damaged, things stolen). Plenty of messages from tenants on this site saying 'just move out and stuff the landlord or live there and not pay, change the locks, sublet to mates', etc.

Some Landlords will cheat by saying that the property is vacant when they have other tenants who want it. But like me, perhaps they came across many who viewed when they were not in the position to move, couldn't afford it, didn't want to stay the minimum time.

Agree with him on many points.

Gumtree should change so that private landlords can screen out timewasters. I've asked them to amend the 'Wanted' ads with the minimum rent that tenants want to pay to stop the joke of those who want huge house in central London but have M25 council house money.

I want him to know why private landlords might not be so keen on using the Gumtree.

Wish him big luck again.