Flat Rental Advice

DiCe! said:
I'm gonna guess Woking or Guildford :D
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Hah, if we're playing the guessing game, my vote goes for Guildford at that price, maybe Weybridge where there's less choice and just as high price.

Good luck in your search, most things I looked out for have been echoed in this thread.
 
burns said:
Where's all this you can't haggle stuff coming from? My flat was advertised at £600, I said I had budgeted £600 but would need to rent a lockup as well as there was not enough storage space so offered £540. They took it without even trying to meet me half way. Saved me and my flatmate a grand so far.

Certainly make an offer, the worst they can do is refuse.
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Well no, the worst they can do is give it to someone else, meaning the OP has to start again.

Certainly prod the edges and see if you can get it lower but if it's a good property in a good area then there will be interest. Suggesting to the agent that you think he should accept less in those circumstances either takes great big balls or a desire to live somewhere else.
 
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RandomTom said:
Hah, if we're playing the guessing game, my vote goes for Guildford at that price, maybe Weybridge where there's less choice and just as high price.

Good luck in your search, most things I looked out for have been echoed in this thread.
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I work in Weybridge, but there's nothing available in Weybridge that I like (new/modern build) and within my budget (£700). The place I'm looking at now is about 7 miles away from Weybridge.

I don't know who to view the property with now... I guess scrap agent #1 because their agent fee is £250. A bit pointless me going to view the same property 3 times with 3 different agents :/
 
[FnG]magnolia;18271991 said:
Well no, the worst they can do is give it to someone else, meaning the OP has to start again.
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I suppose that's true. If you are that set on the property then you need to accept you may not get the best price possible. If you're not in an urgent need to move out then you can afford to wait around an try for the best prices, all down to personal situation I guess.
 
Forde said:
NOISE! Ask about sound-proofing (they must comply with the sound proofing laws regard ing the passage of sound). Ask about noisy neighbours and parties. That can be the easiest way to hate your new home.
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You can ask about it but there's a very slim chance the agent will tell you "oh yes the neighbours are right *****, music till 6am in the morning".
 
I hate studios.

If it is a purpose built studio then that is not as bad as the conversions. Some of the conversions realy take the ****. Like when they take what used to be a four bedroom house and convert one of the bedrooms in to a flat. By sticking a shower in the corner and some kitchen cabinets on the wall. Then you can fry some eggs while you are in bed.
 
Can't believe people are saying ask about traffic noise / cr@ppy neighbours... yeah I'm sure you're going to get an honest answer off the agency. You can ask about the price, no harm in that, but it was only on the news the other day that demand is higher than supply, so they'd be daft to drop the price.

Quite often agencies don't offer anything compared to each other (services / help levels the same). Just ask about what needs to happen at end of contract (can you clean it yourself? Lots of agencies ask for professionally cleaned on exit at your cost), does it become a rolling contract, do you have to pay for renewal etc.
 
Got any pics of the studio? Only one's I ever managed to view were a complete joke, but for a single man a good studio flat can be great.

Here's a few tips from me:
Make sure you have the money you need, at £700 you could be paying out around £1500 at the least depending how the letting agency/landlord do their monthly rent, and that's not counting any of the bills, I assume you're going furnished, which should make things a whole lot cheaper.

If you're interested in a place go around at night and spend a little time looking around, you can see if there are any noise issues at that point and also see if there are any unsavoury elements around...

When in the flat make sure you get a good look at everything, don't just glance at the rooms, or room in case of studio :p check where plug sockets are, mobile reception, also get the postcode and check what broadband is available.

That's all I can think of atm.
 
I haggled my clapham studio down from 850 to 700, and when I say haggle I mean just said I can move in tomorrow and put deposit/1st month down today.

Just make sure it has enough storage space for all your junk, Ikea do some nice storage options for the 'cosier' abode.
 
Skyfall said:
Got any pics of the studio? Only one's I ever managed to view were a complete joke, but for a single man a good studio flat can be great.

Here's a few tips from me:
Make sure you have the money you need, at £700 you could be paying out around £1500 at the least depending how the letting agency/landlord do their monthly rent, and that's not counting any of the bills, I assume you're going furnished, which should make things a whole lot cheaper.
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It won't be furnished, but I think i'd prefer buying my own furniture anyway.

roooom.jpg

rooom.jpg

kitchenyu.jpg

bathroome.jpg


Is it worth £700pcm? :p
 
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Always try to haggle, there's always a percentage of the rent pcm that they are willing to negotiate on if you go about it the right way.

I got my new place down from £450 to £400 a month (whilst in a viewing with half a dozen other people) just by playing up on certain points that put me in a better stead than others.
 
MisChief said:
It won't be furnished, but I think i'd prefer buying my own furniture anyway.
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I would too by the looks of it, and in general it's good too, I'm moving next month and it's felt great buying all that new furniture :D

I don't know the area so not sure whether it's worth it but it looks nice, definitely better than any studio flat I've ever viewed.

Andr3w said:
Thats quite nice, whats the bedroom like.....or do you sleep in the living room :eek:?
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It's a studio flat so I assume that sofabed is "the" bed.
 
Skyfall said:
I would too by the looks of it, and in general it's good too, I'm moving next month and it's felt great buying all that new furniture :D

I don't know the area so not sure whether it's worth it but it looks nice, definitely better than any studio flat I've ever viewed.

It's a studio flat so I assume that sofabed is "the" bed.
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:(
 
Janesy B said:
£700 a month exl. bills to sleep in your living room. lol.
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Guildford / Weybridge area of Surrey (and generally Surrey itself) is stupidly expensive for anything.

That seems like a decent place for £700 to be honest, I've seen some right dogs of places at £600 in the area, which are as someone earlier said, a room with a shower stuck in it, some kitchen units and a bed.

Personally though, at that sort of money I'd look to find someone to share with and spend more along the lines of £1k or so on a 2bed flat...so £500 each. I don't like living with people, but until you've got the money to live alone, sharing is often the easiest/best way to move out from parents.

Andr3w said:
:eek::eek::eek:
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That is how studios work, often you just get the one room + bathroom...like this. That place if you look at the pics, is one room + bathroom.
 
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