Estate agents (letting)

they take a % of the monthly rent from the landlord based on the services they provide.
If the landlord just uses them to find a tenant and manages everything else then it's usually just a payment.
 
[FnG]magnolia;19620490 said:
Flat fees plus commission based with a typically dreadful base salary.

They're terrible, terrible people.
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Not all are bad!

But yeah if they are managing the property it's a percentage of the monthly rent plus a fee up front. Or if just finding a tenant then it's usually a months rent.
 
I was actually looking for a place this past two weeks. Glad to say I found one without the use of an agency even though I did sign up with a few and was showed a few places.

They're NOT interested in helping you find the right place nor do they listen much to your requirements. Example, I gave a budget of a £1000 a month for a one bed at a 6 month let. I'm moving back to my current house in the new year as renovations will be completed then, so I wasn't looking for anything fancy. Thousand bucks would've been enough.

First place I was showed the rent was £1500 a month. :rolleyes:

Second place (after having a go at the idiocy of the first showing) was £1100 and a year's let without a break clause. At this point I walked out of the place and told the kid that was showing me the place to **** off.

The owner of the agency rung me the next day to apologise and offered to personally show me a place that was £950 a month. I checked on their website and it was actually up there for £875 a month. Agency got told where to go.

Found another agency that specialises in cheaper rent places. (yes, dumps mostly) Got showed a few places at rent varying from 850 - 1000, places where I truly and literally would not keep my pet cockroach in.

They were only interest in shifting their 'fish places', you know, the type that's been sitting on the books for a while and was starting to reek.

In the end I got a stunning place in Hampstead for a 1000 bucks a month all inclusive through a friend of a friend. Agencies in the future? I'd rather cut my own testicles off.
 
You can negotiate rent, but you need to make it worthwhile to them and the people that ultimately own the place.
 
Morba said:
You can negotiate rent, but you need to make it worthwhile to them and the people that ultimately own the place.
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I've tried my luck twice and each time been unsuccessful. This goes against the common sales mentality of allowing the customer a small 'win'.

One of the places I am looking at now has been empty for a month. I have asked for a reduction of 25 quid from the rent; an absolutely trivial amount.
I get the impression they would rather leave the property unoccupied for another month than drop the rent by *any* amount.

Maybe I am being unreasonable? This isn't a commercial property, it's not like I am devaluing it by asking for 25 quid off a month. Ultimately, the owner of the property will suffer the loss of rent for every month it sits there idle. The agent remains unaffected because they probably get a one off for closing a sale and then a percentage of the rent when it goes live.

It just all seems a bit bizarre to me :)
 
That's shocking. It's one of the tactics we used to get a discount (of more than £25 a month) on our current place.
Another month empty is more than a years worth of discount, the agents are stupid tbh!
 
like any business its all about supply and demand

if they think they can get the price they can get for it, they will turn down any offers..

if the market is bad and its been empty a long time , then they will be more likely to drop the price

also remember its not the agent that has the final say, but the landlord
 
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