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Finding Tenants Without A Letting Agent- An Update – A Smelly Cat & A Slight Change Of Plan (Part 3)

20 Jul 2008

the art of finding tenants

Right, time for an update on my project of finding tenants (without the assistance of extortionate Letting Agents). For those that dived into this blog post without having read my previous, related entries, you may feel free to get a swift little recap:

Finding Tenants Without A Letting Agent- A Live Experiment (Part 1)
Finding Tenants Without A Letting Agent- An Update (Part 2)

I’ve had about 5 viewings so far, and everyone that looked at the property seemed to like it. Well, all besides one couple- the property was too small for them. Last time I wrote about this project I said that I was hoping I would have tenants secured. However, the master plan has slightly changed since then.

My current tenant wants to have the property for an extra month, which I graciously granted. As when before they were due to move out on the 22nd of August, it’s now 22nd of September. That actually worked out ideal for me because I wanted to go on holiday in early August, but was worried I couldn’t in case I was struggling to find tenants. I wouldn’t go on holiday while I had a buy-to-let property that was vacant. That’s probably the biggest financial mistake a landlord could make- owning an empty buy-to-let property.

So now I’ve got an extra month and I can go on a well deserved holiday. I’m also pretty much back in the same position I was at the start of the project. I always say that a landlord should start looking for tenants 2 months before due, and that’s precisely the rule I stick by. Due to the one month extension, I still have 2 months left before my property becomes vacant, hence why I’m back to the start. No gain, no loss, and still plenty of time to find tenants.

I’ve already spoken to all the people that looked at the property and informed them that the property isn’t available until late September now, as they were viewing the property under the impression it was available from August 22nd. All of them said they would get back to me as September was quite far away. But it’s no big deal. Yes, confidence is high right now- I was willing to give my current tenants an extra month, knowing that I could scare away new potential tenants by changing the conditions. Is that a good business decision? I’m not sure. On one hand, none of the viewers committed 100%- they all seem interested and said they would get back to me. So I’ll never know. Maybe I should have asked?

Gumtree has proved to be the best method of advertising

So far I still definitely think Gumtree is the way forward if you’re looking for tenants/landlords in the London (or surrounding) area. However, someone asked me a good question the other day- isn’t there a dedicated renting portal website somewhere for the UK, since Gumtree covers an extremely broad area of advertising (e.g. pets, cars, jobs .etc)? The answer is, I actually don’t know. I mean, if anyone wants to buy a house, they go to Rightmove. Rightmove is like the Autotrader of the classified car industry. But I’ve yet to hear of a popular renting portal. Anyone know of any? Regardless, Gumtree has proved to be the best outlet for enquiries so far.

Smelly cat, smell cat, what are they feeding you?

Last week I had booked a viewing that I couldn’t make due to work commitments, so I got a friend of mine to take the viewing instead. She was with me at one of the previous viewings, so she knew where the property was and what to say to the viewer (even though it’s not rocket science, “hey, that’s the kitchen *points to the kitchen*).

After the viewing she called me and said, “hmm..the viewing didn’t go too well.” I was like, “what do you mean?” She said,

Last time we went to the house, the property was nice and clean. But this time it smelt of cat.

I knew they had a cat, but it never smelt before. So maybe they never cleaned out the kitty litter that day. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, even though I should be slightly concerned. A bad odor is like cancer to viewers. I’m going to call my tenant tomorrow and make sure that doesn’t happen again because that could cost me in a big way. Don’t worry, I’ll be tactful. But anyways, I thought it was rather amusing. A smelly cat. hahah. Right, anyways..

So what’s the important lesson to be learned from this? If you’re taking viewings as a Landlord it’s always a good idea to inspect the property 30mins before the viewer is due to arrive. That way you can address most issues. But hey, make sure you remain tactful with your current tenants. My tenants are generally extremely good, so I don’t have any major concerns.

What now? Well, I’ve modified my adverts by updating the date, so it’s time to wait for the inquiries again. Oh…and I should look into booking that holiday. Yeehaw!