Looking for a new rental property can be a daunting task; chances
are good that if you are searching for a property online you may be
looking to move to a new area of the country for work or family
reasons. Even if you are not moving to a new area but are looking to
move to another property in the same region it can still be a big task.
What methods are there to help with the search?
There
are still the more traditional methods open to rental house hunters
which will include the local papers (if you are in the area to receive
one) or visiting the letting agents offices directly. These are still
valuable methods but can be time consuming or impossible depending on
your situation. To visit the local letting agents may take a whole day
or even worse a whole weekend, depending on where you are living and
where you are moving too, plus there are no guarantees that you will
find what you are looking for. If you set out a weekend to look for a
property it could be likely that a knee jerk reaction could happen if
you become desperate to find a property during the time you are there.
One
of the most important things to remember is that you need to take your
time, don?t leave your hunt to the last minute, this could result in
you having to accept a property that is not ideal for your
requirements. It is important to remember the more time you leave for
your search the more selective you can be when choosing your rental
property.
How do the Property Portals/Directories Help Me
In
days gone by the portal sites and directory sites that advertised
property were often found to be frustrating to use, you may have found
the house or flat that you would like to take a look at, make contact
with the agents only for them to announce that the property had already
gone and the site was out dated. The portals have now become much more
sophisticated and are as up to date as the agents own websites. Taking
feeds automatically from the agents own databases on a daily basis
often the property found is current, OK, so you may be unlucky and have
selected a property that had already gone that day, however more often
than not this wont be the case.
The Available Information
The
information on these sites is good and provide full property details,
location maps, landlord requirements (ie/ no smoking, dss, pets) and
even have the facility to download the property details so you can
review your top selections in your own time offline. The rental market
has always been a step behind the sales market when it comes to
particulars and advertising documents, this now is not the case and you
will find that rental property online is documented as well as sales.
The good sites will also provide agent profile pages which outline
their services and also give you a link through to their company
website so you can check for further information.
Are Rentals Still Second Behind Sales
A
lot of sites are focused on sales and estate agents and have the
rentals as a side issue. The rentals market is an entirely different
market and is aimed towards a different sector of people, it is
important that the marketing online and offline is aimed towards the
correct demographic group. There are specialist sites which are aimed
purely towards the rental market of which it would make sense to use
these services first. As always there are some better sites to use than
others and it makes sense to research each one and check as many
properties as you can (online) first.
Reviewing the Information be Prepared
As
stated in the earlier part of this article remember to take your time
in searching for property, decide on what is important for you. Don?t
go into this blind; be prepared as you would if you were buying a
house, a bad decision at the beginning of the process could mean you
spend 6 months (usual minimum tenancy agreement length) in a house/flat
or an area that you would rather not be in.
Rentright is a
dedicated rental property portal site and there are a number of
different articles which can assist you in making the right decision
about your next rental property, along with a whole host of other
interesting information.
View The Rentright Articles.
Chris Courtis is the co-founder of the Rentright Rental Property Portal and is dedicated to residential lettings within the UK.
