I'm having real problems letting a property at the moment. Despite the place being advertised with two very good letting agents in different parts of town there has been no suitable takers. I have just had one couple with child that are desperate to rent. The letting agent maintaining that the couple are lovely (I've not met them so it's a difficult one to verify) I am concerned. Why? Well it turns out that the couple and child are currently living in a hotel. They have moved from down south with the husband starting work whilst the wife is currently on maternity leave. Now call me old fashioned but if I had a job offer you normally know several month in advance when you will be starting work and therefore will sort out a place to live in advance (especially if you have a child). I'm not comfortable. I don't understand the back story and that make me uneasy. I like to have organised well ordered tenants not ones that appear to lead chaotic lives. To me this spell trouble even if the tenants appear to be earning a decent wage.
Currently, I'm awaiting the reference and credit check but unless I get to the bottom of why they are staying in a hotel I'm not going to hand over the keys whatever the agents assurances are? After all it will be me that is left trying to deal with the fall out if things go wrong. What would you do? I'd be interested in how other landlords would approach this dilemma.
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5 comments:
while waiting on the checks why not meet them and get the answers to your concerns rather than relying on the agents
Is their employer paying for the hotel until they find accommodation? If so, that is pretty normal, certainly within my industry. Although bringing pregnant wife and child down to the hotel does seem a bit weird!
If you are having doubts don't take them on .I did under similar circumstances and they became the tenants from hell and cost me thousands to get them out.
Agreed - it's times like these you realise your property is a real asset that people are desperate for.
You want to help people out but at the end of the day you need stable tenants in there and sadly it's this type of tenant that usually end up giving you problems such as arrears.
Safe thing to do is say no or else take a risk and be kind.
Perhaps use a rent guarantee like Homelet or Rentguard?
The dilemma you have (and the reason tenants like these suffer) is all down to meddling big government - governments that refuse to allow consenting adults to contract sensibly with each other. Instead we have layers of protection that screws both tenants and landlords, and drives up rental costs.
In any normal world you would be able to take a chance, and kick them out (with reasonable constraints) if they fail to fulfill their part of the deal and leave you funding a mortgage without any rent.
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