Bugz copycat

[tris-]

Like bugz I am going to be moving towns on my own, but i dont want to nick his threads!
How long do i need (minimum time) to get a place sorted, change my car registration/license, register with the council, move doctors etc? whats the score with setting utilities? i plan to get a mail redirection initially and then change addresses later on.

Im going to be starting a job and the guy said how does a month sound, but ive not done this before so i wasnt sure. although, he does know im currently working and live 200 miles away so no doubt will be flexible. on monday im booking appointments to view a selection of places for the following tuesday.

 

[gunner440]

If you know what you are doing you can do it in a month / just under subject to the property's availability.

 

[Bugz]

I'm moving end of next week!

I'm moving about 200miles too and the finding a place side took me about 2-3 weeks, not helped by the fact I had the issues shown in my threads.

Wouldn't registering with doctors & council etc. best be done as soon as u move there as opposed to before (or atleast when u get your tenancy agreement signed)? Elsewise, if one place fell through, you'll have to re-do all the forms for your new address.

/shrug - I've left it all at the moment - have quotes saved for home insurance etc. but not going to 'buy' them until a couple of days before/on the day I move.

 

[tris-]

good point there. im not sure how it works and how long it takes.

what took the most time bugz, with finding a place? i think you just went on the one day and looked at a load, right? as thats what im going to do. how many places did you manage to fit in a full day?

also how do you feel about moving on your own? i know youre going to uni so youl get to meet loads of people, but im going to work. not quite as lacking in the inhibition department!. im not sure how to go about making a decent social network, any tips anyone? my interest is in martial arts and there is an academy down there so that will be my first stop.

 

[gunner440]

how many places did you manage to fit in a full day?

That will really depend on how far apart the places are along with whether they (agents) are able to secure the properties for viewing. I'd go for 2-3 on an average day assuming you call in advance and give them a clear set of requirements.

 

[tris-]

all the properities are within 15 minutes walking of each other, even quicker to drive. i was hoping for 4-5 to be honest, as i wont be going back again till i move!

 

[Aoami]

just find a cardboard box on ipswich high street, thats where everyone else lives

 

[tris-]

just find my mam on the highstreet, shes the one with the fanny wider than the nile

thanks for the tip.

 

[Bugz]

good point there. im not sure how it works and how long it takes.

what took the most time bugz, with finding a place? i think you just went on the one day and looked at a load, right? as thats what im going to do. how many places did you manage to fit in a full day?

also how do you feel about moving on your own? i know youre going to uni so youl get to meet loads of people, but im going to work. not quite as lacking in the inhibition department!. im not sure how to go about making a decent social network, any tips anyone? my interest is in martial arts and there is an academy down there so that will be my first stop.

I went down with my dad for the day and we looked at 4 apartments, canceling one after realising the area was a complete shithole (my fault for not researching thoroughly). As they were only small studio flats, they generally took 10 mins to view each? and thats including the questions my dad was fireing off left right and centre.

I don't know what its like with your area and what sort of place your going for, but all the studio flats and one bedroom flats in my area are all the same in every manner; the only differentiating things I saw were furnishings. Literally, I think after viewing 3-4, you'd have a general idea what to expect from all of them and then it just comes down to the small things, which are easily rectified when ur in!

The most time consuming part was the referencing - as I had to provide so many bloudy details it was unreal. I used my dad as a guarantor in the end so no doubt that speeded it up but I e-mailed the forms back friday and it wasn't done till the following friday (but that was bank holiday weekend).

To be honest, I intended to just join a fuck load of societies so I meet lots of different people (both in uni and out of uni). I'd rather know people well and do a multitude of things with them than just go out on benders every night and not remember much. Thai kickboxing was the martial art I was going to look into!

 

[tris-]

im going for 1 bedroom flats. there is pics on the internet and ive got 10 potentials which i will narrow down to 4-5. they all look pretty nice and each have different perks over the other. its just a case of checking the size and that the walls are falling down etc.

 

[gunner440]

Make sure you're in a position to take the property off the market when you go down there also. It's not the best time of the year to be looking for properties, anywhere.

 

[tris-]

what do you mean, as in being able to put down a deposit?

 

[gunner440]

what do you mean, as in being able to put down a deposit?

Not so much the deposit, just the 100 quid (might be different depending on the agency) or so fee they charge to change the status of the property from available to unavailable pretty much.

 

[tris-]

i can pay what ever they need really.

one query i have though:
i go down, pay all applicable fees. what if i cant move in for a month? will they 'save' the propery and not charge me any rent untill x day?

 

[gunner440]

i can pay what ever they need really.

one query i have though:
i go down, pay all applicable fees. what if i cant move in for a month? will they 'save' the propery and not charge me any rent untill x day?

Your should rent begin on the day you move in (or as stated on the contract depending on how you negotiate it).

The moving in date is also negotiable, if a property is available now and you want to move in a month from now, you'll have to negotiate. I once wanted to move in 2 months from the day I viewed so I offered to move the official contract start date a month earlier (so I paid a month's rent despite the flat being empty).

In all honesty, if you are heading for student type accomodation then deferring the moving in date isn't in your best interests.

 

[tris-]

im not heading for student accom. ive got my self a full time job with the council down there .

 

[tris-]

just thought of another question. i think most agreements are for 6 months, is it usual for the landlord to chuck you out after this? is there anything you can do to intice them to let you stay there?
i think you havwe to pay a month in advance most of the time. so am i looking at paying effectly 2 months rent just to get in the place?

 

[Cadelin]

i can pay what ever they need really.

one query i have though:
i go down, pay all applicable fees. what if i cant move in for a month? will they 'save' the propery and not charge me any rent untill x day?

If you are going through an Agent, there is an agent fee. The exact way it is priced varies but in total it will be £200 - £300. (Some will charge only £100 up front but then charge you extra for doing essential things) Which they claim is for them to do credit checks, draw up a contract, make sure the property passes whatever regulations are needed, etc. Putting down this agent fee is the first step to securing a new place to rent. Assuming everything else is in order (ie you aren't a convicted pedo, haven't gone bankrupt before etc) once the agent fees are paid the property is as good as yours but it will probably take about 2 weeks to get all the paper work sorted.

Viewing a property will take about 15 minutes at most. If they are close together you can see lots. When I went to look round, I was able to see 8 in one day. The photos/descriptions in ads can be mis-leading. There were a few places that looked really nice on the ad but were utter shit holes when I went to look at them. Also alot of estate agents will be able to take you to a few extra places that might not be listed online.

My move has gone as follows:
Went and saw 11 properties in 2 days on 20th and 21st August. Would have seen more but there are some last minute cancellations from the estate agents. On the second afternoon once I had made my mind up I gave the agents a cheque to cover their fee and the property was taken off the market.

They then give you hundreds of stupid forms to fill in which may take you a couple of days as you will have to contact the referees you are going to use to tell them to expect a call. Once you have filled in the forms, the credit/reference checking can take up to 5 working days possibly longer if they have any additional queries. Once that was done, I was sent a copy of the contract and I had to pay the first months rent + deposit up front. I did a bank transfer but they won't give me the keys until it has cleared which takes 5 working days. You should however get given enough information about the electricity + water + other utilities so that you can set up direct debits etc so that when you move in they are mostly ready. I will be able to move in on the 16th September and I should have broadband ready a few days later.

 

[tris-]

200-300 is a fair bit. some of these ads dont describe the fees, and some say its only £90 so youre probably right it varies a lot.

is the deposit usually the same amount as the rent?

 

[gunner440]

just thought of another question. i think most agreements are for 6 months, is it usual for the landlord to chuck you out after this? is there anything you can do to intice them to let you stay there?
i think you havwe to pay a month in advance most of the time. so am i looking at paying effectly 2 months rent just to get in the place?

The norm when I rented was a 12 month tenancy with a 6 month break clause (so after 6 months you can give a month's notice if you want to leave). As for deposit, I had to put down between 6 and 9 weeks rent along with pay for the month in advance.

 

[tris-]

thanks for all the information everyone, really helpful

 

[Bugz]

The LA I went with only charges 170 quid for the whole thing - referencing, holding fee etc.

I haven't received any news about utility bills yet though. The LA I'm with are so fuckin slow its unreal. I call them every other day and the lady is always on her fuckin lunch. She's either a skiver or one fat bitch!

 

[Bugz]

That said - after reading about some of the problems with LA's and landlords on various forums, it's come to my attention that renting is one of the most stressful and damn-right tedious things you can do!

One lass had to go through court etc. for near eleven months just to secure her deposit back because the landlady was charging her outrageous prices for stuff (one of which was 300 quid for a new radiator because she left a tiny irremovable mark on the side). Even then she got away with such a tiny amount it didn't really seem worth it.

 

[Cadelin]

200-300 is a fair bit. some of these ads dont describe the fees, and some say its only £90 so youre probably right it varies a lot.

is the deposit usually the same amount as the rent?

The agent fee I had to pay was £100 for the contract etc. But then there was £95 for a credit check and then an additional fee for some other "check". When adding up the charges it was always somewhere between £200 and £300.

The deposit is 6 weeks rent and should be covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

Edit: I have just remember that the fees for me were for 2 people sharing and so 2 credit checks needed to be done. You may have to pay slightly lower fees if you are by yourself.

 

[tris-]

is 6 weeks rent a pretty standard affair then? so if im taking a £350 a month flat im looking at the following

£300 fees
£350 first months rent
£525 deposit
initial outlay in total of 1175.

i take it once youre in with an agent, you wont be paying so much in fees if you move into another of their properties?

 

[Bugz]

Most places I looked at only wanted one months rent as deposit and they were around the same price bracket as you and fees really should not amass to 300 quid if its just you and its a small flat.

That said - Cadelin did you have to push to get copies of the bills etc. to start ringing around or did the LA supply them to you willingly? My LA have been less than helpful and I haven't eve begun to look at setting up DD's for utility bills. How hard can it be anyway - the place I'm moving into has been vacant for a number of weeks/months so hopefully no bother!

 

[gunner440]

That said - Cadelin did you have to push to get copies of the bills etc. to start ringing around or did the LA supply them to you willingly? My LA have been less than helpful and I haven't eve begun to look at setting up DD's for utility bills. How hard can it be anyway - the place I'm moving into has been vacant for a number of weeks/months so hopefully no bother!

I've always got the landlord/agency to notify the utilities / LA on my behalf. They end up sending a named (to me as opposed to The Occupier) bill very quickly. It takes about 5 minutes to do it yourself though?

Oh, you don't have to pay any of the bills unless they are addressed specifically to you and not The Occupier.

 

[gunner440]

I did a bank transfer but they won't give me the keys until it has cleared which takes 5 working days.

With the Faster Payments Scheme introduced last year, 1 working day/same day is standard amongst most banks and you can check with the bank to see whether both parties are compatible with the new scheme or go to Faster Payments Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and have a look (some banks aren't listed it seems).

If they aren't, I strongly recommend paying the extra to process the payment via CHAPS for peace of mind.

 

[Bugz]

Aye - 5 days for a bank transfer is very long indeed!

 

[tris-]

these fees are bullshit!

ive got 7 viewings next tuesday with full upfront fees from £100 to £250 odd.