Gumtree Responses

[Richlist]

Why is it that virtually all the responses I receive to my Gumtree 'property to rent advert' results in the most bizarre messages ?

* People phone asking the most stupid questions like.....how much is the rent ? (its clearly shown in the ad)......they clearly haven't bothered to read the ad.

* They want to know if they have to pay a deposit ! ......are there really landlords that don't take a deposit ?

* Lots of applicants who can't string a sentance togther in English ......do they seriously think I'm going to let to someone I can't understand ?

* Contact from agents that want to take the business.......do they think i don't know that agents exist ?

[Carryon Regardless]

That's pretty much my view of Gumtree.

No hope applicants,

200 miles away and don't know it for some reason,

an email from someone 'thinking' they may relocate in 3 or 4 months,

and junk mail.

It would be free if there wasn't so much wasted time because of it, mind I seem to get a lot of that by other methods.

After an A viewing, then my meeting (as I require that also) last week on the day of signing "we can't raise the up front monies". By coincidence the day before Shelter had rung to ask If I would accept their bond for a couple (had to be the same couple). A bond by corrupt Shelter is just a false promise in my view.

Oh, what really annoyed is that they insisted that a new carpet should be fitted, it was. That'll teach me.

[Mortitia]

Gumtree seems to work well in London for letting where maybe the average intelligence quotient is higher - along with incomes.

Here in the south I just get wall to wall no hope so called agents working from their front rooms or desperate benefit tenants who can't read in my ad NO HB or DSS.

On the up side I found a decorator on Gumtree who started work within the hour - not a bad job either and one of my tenants sold her mountain bike to someone local in 30 minutes!

Don't bother with it for tenant finding.

Mortitia

[Melboy]

The reason why many prospective tenants use Gumtree is to avoid having to pay LA's tenants fees for a property and sometimes the rental property is cheaper with a private landlord.

The vast majority of Gumtree applicants are DSS or HB I have found.

BTW have any of you ever thought about the Military Housing Charities? Generally speaking the applicants are of a high standard. I think our Trenners is involved in this scheme?

[dazbradbury]

Hi Guys!

We've set about to try and combat some of the problems you've seen with listing on gumtree, without having to pay traditional letting agent fees. We really think we have a chance to improve the situation for landlords and tenants alike, and revolutionise the industry!

For only £20, we list your property on Rightmove, provide a digital contract, access to referencing, and deposit handling. We only charge tenants £20 per reference, and there are no other charges! You can use as much or as little of our service as you please, although, we'd be interested as to why you don't want to use our features as they're all included for free! We're focusing on technology to create a letting agent the web can be proud of - no hidden fees, no dodgy practices.

We've been up and running for just over a month, and so far, have been received very well. I've only just come across this forum though!

We're called OpenRent, and you can see what we do here: www.openrent.co.uk.

Would love to hear what you guys think, and am happy to answer any questions you guys have.

Kind Regards,

Darius.

[Richlist]

Do you provide all of the other sevices lettings agents proviide ?

[dazbradbury]

Do you provide all of the other sevices lettings agents proviide ?

In terms of a tenant find service, we get the landlords to do the viewings themselves. This is the main difference between ourselves and an agent - otherwise we provide a full tenant find service. The only things we miss are:

* We currently don't provide "To Let" boards (although we're working on a cost effective solution).

* We don't provide check-in/check-out reports (although we will find an agency to do that for you, or help you do it yourself).

Following a tenant find, which letting agents charge 10-15% of annual rent to do, we either expect our landlords to manage the property themselves (and we help them do it), or landlords can pass the property to a property management firm who will charge a % every month.

Hope that clears up a few things, and we have more information on the site on our landlords page, and in our FAQ.

Kind Regards, Darius.

[Richlist]

I advertise for, amongst other things, working tenants only & no benefits claimants.

* Today I get an email from a woman who thinks :- ......... being on maternity leave, looking after a baby & intending to return to work in a few months and having a partner in full time employment means that they are working tenants. ............I think I'm gonna give up.........there is no hope for me.

* A few days ago I had a person looking at my property who claims LHA benefits.........the advert clearly states no benefits claimants. When challenged the applicant said that they didn't consider that receiving housing help from the LHA classified them as a benefits claimant.

Thats it ......I giive up........will the last landlord to leave please turn out the lights !!!!!!!

[dazbradbury]

I advertise for, amongst other things, working tenants only & no benefits claimants.

* Today I get an email from a woman who thinks :- ......... being on maternity leave, looking after a baby & intending to return to work in a few months and having a partner in full time employment means that they are working tenants. ............I think I'm gonna give up.........there is no hope for me.

* A few days ago I had a person looking at my property who claims LHA benefits.........the advert clearly states no benefits claimants. When challenged the applicant said that they didn't consider that receiving housing help from the LHA classified them as a benefits claimant.

Thats it ......I giive up........will the last landlord to leave please turn out the lights !!!!!!!

Can I advise you give advertising on Rightmove a go? I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on the difference in tenant quality - regardless of if you use OpenRent or not!

We've found the tenant quality to mostly high, and the number of leads extremely encouraging.

I'd also love to experiment with other sites out there, such as Zoopla, to see what the return is like - hopefully we'll grow large enough to publish a detailed report!

[Richlist]

Can I advise you give advertising on Rightmove a go? I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on the difference in tenant quality - regardless of if you use OpenRent or not!

My vacant properties are already advertised on Rightmove as well as being in lots of other advertising media........many of them free of charge.

Nor surprisingly, I've had good & bad results from all of them.

One thing is certain.......I won't be paying you to advertise anything for me.

Good luck.

[Grampa]

A few years ago we used to use a company like Open Rent to advertise properties on Rightmove so we didnt have to open an account directly with Rightmove as the cost isnt cheap.

The problem we found was tenants seemed to think the property was going to be managed by the company with the Rightmove account and were put off because it was hundreds of miles away from the rented property.

Now that was from the tenants we spoke to, how many didnt even calling the number.

If you click on any letting agents RM page it states their address on the right hand side.

[dazbradbury]

Can I advise you give advertising on Rightmove a go? I would be really interested to hear your thoughts on the difference in tenant quality - regardless of if you use OpenRent or not!

Nor surprisingly, I've had good & bad results from all of them.

No problem - I was just interested in your experience. It's always good to see what avenues work for people, and what doesn't - especially if you consider all the different avenues very similar.

Would be interested to know where your properties are - as we find response types quite geographically dependant - but no problem if you don't want to share that information.

[dazbradbury]

A few years ago we used to use a company like Open Rent to advertise properties on Rightmove so we didnt have to open an account directly with Rightmove as the cost isnt cheap.

The problem we found was tenants seemed to think the property was going to be managed by the company with the Rightmove account and were put off because it was hundreds of miles away from the rented property.

Now that was from the tenants we spoke to, how many didnt even calling the number.

If you click on any letting agents RM page it states their address on the right hand side.

Good point, and I appreciate the feedback. We do make sure all our properties state that there are no agent fees, and explain that the viewings/management will be handled by the landlord. We feel this attracts more tenants than it puts off - but I take your point and will see how we can address it.

I do think the idea of an online agent is becoming more commonplace though.

[Geezah]

Don't despair Richlist, theres always hope!

I've used Upad with good results to supplement my agents advertising, then I just pass any enquiries to them. You might argue why am I doing their job for them but being an LA and managing property is more than just tenant find plus I don't want to be a letting agent, I'm quite happy being a mortgage broker.

Don't see the issue with the woman being on maternity leave, she is employed and will return to her job once maternity leave is complete, so from what you advertised for, she meets the criteria.

[Richlist]

Don't see the issue with the woman being on maternity leave, she is employed and will return to her job once maternity leave is complete, so from what you advertised for, she meets the criteria.

I totally dissagree. In no way does she meet my criteria.

What is there not to understand.......someone looking after a child is not employed (although I suspect they often work far harder than when in paid employment).......they are at home (usually) looking after the needs of that child. Maybe I should indicate that I don't accept people working from home.....would that help ?

I understand that she may continue to be paid by her employer whilst on maternity leave and may have every intention of returning to work BUT, a very large proportion of mothers on maternity leave never actually return to work.

The bottom line is that I have always avoided letting property to anyone with resident children or people who don't go out to work (full time).

[Grampa]

From someone who has used Rightmove and Zoopla for advertising rental properties Zoopla is by far the better and gets more enquires. For sales Rightmove seems better.

[dazbradbury]

From someone who has used Rightmove and Zoopla for advertising rental properties Zoopla is by far the better and gets more enquires. For sales Rightmove seems better.

Thanks Grampa - duly noted. Can I ask where (geographically) you have been advertising properties?

[Ohsodit]

...What is there not to understand.......someone looking after achild is not employed (although I suspect they often work far harder thanwhen in paid employment).......they are at home (usually) looking after theneeds of that child. Maybe I should indicate that I don't accept people workingfrom home.....would that help ?

I understand that she may continue to be paid by her employer whilst onmaternity leave and may have every intention of returning to work BUT, avery large proportion of mothers on maternity leave never actually return towork....

So if you get a couple in that both work and earn enough not be in receipt ofHB one presumes that situation is ok with you. I wonder if when she thenbecomes pregnant; do you immediately evict them then and there at the moment ofconception or do you wait for her to be in hospital giving birth and change thelocks?

I also wonder how your defence would stand up in court asyour reasoning could be seen as sexual discrimination should any of yourrefused would-be mum tenants read your posts.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;">

One final pondering is that the couple with the mum on maternityleave has a partner working full time yet this was still not good enough foryou – what difference does it make if one or both are working full time if the householdincome means they are above the HB threshold for your rental charges? From whatI understand you would be happy to let to a couple if they earn enough betweenthem to just about cover the rent but would not be happy if one earned millionsso the other didn’t have to.

[Richlist]

So if you get a couple in that both work and earn enough not be in receipt ofHB one presumes that situation is ok with you.

Providing that they work full time and meet ALL of my other criteria then yes that is acceptable.

I wonder if when she thenbecomes pregnant; do you immediately evict them then and there at the moment ofconception or do you wait for her to be in hospital giving birth and change thelocks?

Neither of those options apply. Pregnancy is normally a 9 month period which woukd allow plenty of time for me to issue a Section 21 notice. The law allows me to do this and NOT to give a reason for regaining possession of my property.

I also wonder how your defence would stand up in court asyour reasoning could be seen as sexual discrimination should any of yourrefused would-be mum tenants read your posts.

I don't need a defence because I'm the one who decides who rents any of my properties.

One final pondering is that the couple with the mum on maternityleave has a partner working full time yet this was still not good enough foryou – what difference does it make if one or both are working full time if the householdincome means they are above the HB threshold for your rental charges? From whatI understand you would be happy to let to a couple if they earn enough betweenthem to just about cover the rent but would not be happy if one earned millionsso the other didn't have to.

Basically, I don't want people renting my properties who are at home most of the day, with or wthout children. It increases wear & tear and means higher maintenance/ decoration costs.

I guess you've not experienced the displeasure of having a property returned to you with a childs felt pen & coloured crayon drawn over the walls ?

Just for your information ......if its discrimination you are particulaly concerned with......I also don't let my properties / discriminate against.........smokers, people with pets, non English speakers, anyone in receipt of benefits, any applicant not working full time, applications that would result in overcrowding, anyone who doesn't qualify for RGI, anyone under 25, anyone wanting a company let, people that want to pay 6 months rent in advance etc,etc

Alternatively, you could go and spend £200,000 of your own money on a property and let it to whoever you want.

If you think bullying a landlord into accepting someone they don't want or threatening court action will somehow change my mind, you are wrong.

[Ohsodit]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18588612

[Richlist]

I also seem to be getting a lot of applicants with CCJ's recently.......have loads of people been let off lightly by the courts ? Unfortunately they DON'T volunteer that informattion and subsequently fail to pass the RGI criteria........at a non refundable admin' cost of £160.......so they are usually very disappointed.......tough.

Note.......Although I don't discriminate against colour ( I've let to all different ones), race (I've let to at least one from every continent), religion (I couldn't care what they worship), sex (men or woman makes no difference to me), sexual orientation ( I have no restrictions....I've let to lesbians).......I do discriminate against age, children, criminal records, unemployed and overcrowding amonst others.

[matilda]

So if you get a couple in that both work and earn enough not be in receipt ofHB one presumes that situation is ok with you.

Providing that they work full time and meet ALL of my other criteria then yes that is acceptable.

I wonder if when she thenbecomes pregnant; do you immediately evict them then and there at the moment ofconception or do you wait for her to be in hospital giving birth and change thelocks?

Neither of those options apply. Pregnancy is normally a 9 month period which woukd allow plenty of time for me to issue a Section 21 notice. The law allows me to do this and NOT to give a reason for regaining possession of my property.

I also wonder how your defence would stand up in court asyour reasoning could be seen as sexual discrimination should any of yourrefused would-be mum tenants read your posts.

I don't need a defence because I'm the one who decides who rents any of my properties.

One final pondering is that the couple with the mum on maternityleave has a partner working full time yet this was still not good enough foryou – what difference does it make if one or both are working full time if the householdincome means they are above the HB threshold for your rental charges? From whatI understand you would be happy to let to a couple if they earn enough betweenthem to just about cover the rent but would not be happy if one earned millionsso the other didn't have to.

Basically, I don't want people renting my properties who are at home most of the day, with or wthout children. It increases wear & tear and means higher maintenance/ decoration costs.

I guess you've not experienced the displeasure of having a property returned to you with a childs felt pen & coloured crayon drawn over the walls ?

Just for your information ......if its discrimination you are particulaly concerned with......I also don't let my properties / discriminate against.........smokers, people with pets, non English speakers, anyone in receipt of benefits, any applicant not working full time, applications that would result in overcrowding, anyone who doesn't qualify for RGI, anyone under 25, anyone wanting a company let, people that want to pay 6 months rent in advance etc,etc

Alternatively, you could go and spend £200,000 of your own money on a property and let it to whoever you want.

If you think bullying a landlord into accepting someone they don't want or threatening court action will somehow change my mind, you are wrong.

[matilda]

people that want to pay 6 months rent in advance etc,etc

As a point of interest, why do you see a negative position with an offer to pay 6 months rent in advance?

[Richlist]

Yes I'm surprised nobody else picked up on that one earlier.

There are three main reasons why I won't entertain 6 months rent in advance. Its a ruse often used by people who have something to hide......

1. Usually its because they want to avoid the normal reference or rent guarantee process.....e.g. perhaps because they are recently self employed and can't produce suitable accounts to determine their level of income/ creditworthyness

2. Almost without failure every single canabis farm has been in a rented property where the landlord has been paid X months in advance.....presumably to avoid him visiting the property.

3. If the contract specifies rent as 6 monthly that then becomes the rent period and any subsequent notice is required to take that 6 month period into account. It can be fixed by changing the AST but I don't change law society worded AST's to suit tenants.

[Mortitia]

Well it was covered a couple of posts back. Repetition.

Mortitia