Before starting to look work out the where, what, how much and when of renting.
Do you need to be near work? Do you want to be next to the town centre? Do you need to be in specific school catchment area? These type of question will help you draw up an idea of WHERE you need to look.
Do you need a house or a flat? Is a garden essential or a bonus? Is parking required? How many bathrooms do you need? Do you need it to be furnished or unfurnished?
We work on a 2.5 income to rental ratio. So for an income of £30,000 you will be able to afford a rental of £1000 PCM not including bills. If you fall slightly short you may be able to pay the difference of the year up front to qualify for the property. Contact one of our staff to discuss it further.
Most landlords will be looking for tenants to move on within 2 to 8 weeks. If you cannot move within in 8 weeks then you may be looking at properties a bit early.
Once you’ve answered all the above questions and then you are ready to start looking. Use our online search facility to search by area. We would also recommend registering your details online and then one of our staff will call you to discuss your requirements further and recommend potential properties. Or you can call or walk in and talk to one our letting staff to make it a bit more personal.
Once registered you will received SMS and email alerts when something matching your requirements comes available.
Once you shortlisted the properties you like then contact us to make appointment to view the properties. We can either meet you at the properties or start from the office.
Even thou we are open late we would recommend viewing during daylight hours. We can also do viewings on Saturdays if this makes it easier for you.
Once you have decided on the property you like then we get your requirements and let the landlord know the good news that a tenant is found.
We then start taking references and at this point administration fees are charged. Once your references come back fine then you pay your advance rent and deposit.
Before you move in, you will need to pay a security deposit along with your first months rent. Your security deposit (also called damage deposit) is there to indemnify the landlord against loss of rent or to pay for any damage if you were found to be responsible for causing it. In general, the amount required is equivalent to 4 weeks rent. By law this must be protected in a Government approved deposit scheme within 30 days from the start of the tenancy The Landlord or his Agent is required by law to give you “Prescribed Information” with details of the relevant scheme.
We will draft up the tenancy agreement and email a copy over for you to sign. This is a legal binding document so we highly recommended to read this before you sign. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us in the office.
The most important things to look out for are:
Before moving in you will have paid your balance of and the inventory clerk will have called you to arrange a time to meet at the property to move in.
The clerk will record the conditions and contacts of the property and go through this with you before you confirm by signing the inventory report. We will email you later a copy and the keys will be handed over to.
You just need to move your stuff in while we transfer the utilities into your name.
