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first time renting - advice for me please!

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
just looking for advice really on renting a property. Me+my fella are considering renting this time next yr+then buying once im qualified+working full time, etc.

So,share your wisdom pls: advice, places online 2 look for properties, best wholesale ppl to go thru, money saving ideas all welcome!!

I know its still early,but i want to start thinking about things now!
Thanx

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    just looking for advice really on renting a property. Me+my fella are considering renting this time next yr+then buying once im qualified+working full time, etc.

    So,share your wisdom pls: advice, places online 2 look for properties, best wholesale ppl to go thru, money saving ideas all welcome!!

    I know its still early,but i want to start thinking about things now!
    Thanx

    Go to letting agents, look in local paper. I found my flat from the internet.

    You've got plenty of time and if you are sharing you should be able to afford somewhere quite nice (depending on where you want to rent!)

    Think about whether you want somewhere furnished or unfurnished, there are benefits to both.

    A flat or a house? Garden or not? Garage or not?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanx for your responce. Think the main issue is we arent sure how much we could afford to pay on rent, as we dont know a) How much il be earning once im qualified+working full time (thats if i can find a job reasonably quickly) and b) how much our bills will be.
    If we knew how much,roughly, bills each month would be,we'de be able to calculate a rough idea of how much we can afford to spend on the rent itself.

    i think we'de prefere a house, just a 1 or 2 bedroom one, and would prefere unfurnished as we'll be buying our own stuff for when we buy anyways+so we'de be able to store our stuff we buy in our place we're renting.

    Not really too bothered about a garage for renting or gardens either.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The main bill is council tax, which depends on the band of the house. For a small, not brand new house, it will probably be band A. My council tax works out about £80 a month but you'll be sharing, so allow for that. Then there's electricity, maybe gas, water, those are the essentials. Other things are optional extras such as internet, insurance etc.

    Some places include some bills, like my flat I don't have to pay for hot water or heating.

    I don't know where you live but you can usually rent small houses pretty cheaply in most places. Not many 1 bedroomed houses though!

    Someone told me you should be able to take your monthly rent (eg £200), multiply it by 2.5, and that should roughly be your monthly take home pay. Others say rent should be about a third of your income.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well, maybe a 2 bedroomd house then - just thinking of cheapness+the fact that we;de prob only use a 2nd bedroom for storage.
    i live in cheshire+we're thinking of renting in that area. Cheapest place ive found on net tho was about £375 per month and that was a dingy little flat above a shop in a very rough area :(
    i think we'de only have the essentials+wouold be very tight+careful with what we used,etc.
    Also, we were thinking by renting over the summer, gas bill would be less cos of not needing central heating - what do u think to this?
    Thanx for your advice it really helps! Nice to speak to someone who's doing the renting thing!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well, maybe a 2 bedroomd house then - just thinking of cheapness+the fact that we;de prob only use a 2nd bedroom for storage.
    i live in cheshire+we're thinking of renting in that area. Cheapest place ive found on net tho was about £375 per month and that was a dingy little flat above a shop in a very rough area :(
    i think we'de only have the essentials+wouold be very tight+careful with what we used,etc.
    Also, we were thinking by renting over the summer, gas bill would be less cos of not needing central heating - what do u think to this?
    Thanx for your advice it really helps! Nice to speak to someone who's doing the renting thing!

    Yes bills are cheaper in summer. A lot of places have a minimum 6 month contract though.

    Look around, it took me a while time to find my flat, which was a fairly good price, and in a nice area. Go to the area and look in letting agents, or email them all your requirements and they will send you details of suitable places.

    Unfurnished is good as you choose all your own things and take them away with you, I suggest you start saving up or asking round for basics such as fridge/cooker/bed as it can be very expensive otherwise. Or else go to Ikea/Asda.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well we've got a bed to take with us, but cant buy other electricals such as a cooker+fridge,etc, until we found a place, as we've got no where to keep them at the moment.
    The 6month contract wouldnt be a problem, bcos we'de hopefully start looking to buy about september/october by which time hopefully we'll have been renting for about 5/6 months!
    By letting agents, what do you mean - are they like halifax, swetenhams, coulby conduct etc?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    just looking for advice really on renting a property. Me+my fella are considering renting this time next yr+then buying once im qualified+working full time, etc.

    So,share your wisdom pls: advice, places online 2 look for properties, best wholesale ppl to go thru, money saving ideas all welcome!!

    I know its still early,but i want to start thinking about things now!
    Thanx

    www.findaproperty.com

    www.rightmove.co.uk

    2 best sites....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well we've got a bed to take with us, but cant buy other electricals such as a cooker+fridge,etc, until we found a place, as we've got no where to keep them at the moment.
    The 6month contract wouldnt be a problem, bcos we'de hopefully start looking to buy about september/october by which time hopefully we'll have been renting for about 5/6 months!
    By letting agents, what do you mean - are they like halifax, swetenhams, coulby conduct etc?

    Just local ones, they will be all down the high street, there is a whole row of them here. They will have some up in the windows and more inside.

    It can take a long time to buy a house just bear that in mind. Wish I could buy somewhere!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    cheers migpilot, will check them out now! thanx again pussy catty.
    If 1 of us is earning £220 a week and the other is earning about £350 a week, how much rent do u think we could afford to pay out of that (works out as £570 a week, or £2280 a month)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Can i just say that houses tend to be more expensive to rent even if they have the same number of bedrooms. We done the privately renting for quite a while.
    Back in 2002/03 we only had a joint income of about £2000 a month and we managed fine renting a 2 bed flat for £470 a month (this is bristol!). Plus all the bills and £100 a month coming straight out of wages for a loan so i am sure you will be fine.

    Things to consider are also if propertys insist you take out your own contents insurance which will cover damage to pipes inside etc, most will insist on this as part of your contract.
    It can be less than £10 a month though.
    Also council tax you are looking at not much less than £100 a month.
    We pay set amounts each month for gas and electric which is £30 and £40 a month. We tend to be in credit come the summer though.
    Then theres water,i *think* we pay £40 a month for that too although not 100% sure as chris pays most the bills ;).
    Then if you have a car you have all those costs to consider.
    Well thats all i can think of for now.

    As for letting agents, type in "letting agents in *******" into google.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    cheers tweety,thats so helpful. just helps to put our finances in to perspective.
    You know how when you want a mortgage you get the building society to go through all your finances and they tell you how much you could afford to borrow for your mortgage, taking into account bills and earning,etc, do letting agencies do this??
    you've made me feel quite good about it, as neither of us have loans+our car insurance is cheap for the both of us.
    Hope our bills will be 1 set price, as it sounds as if it'll work out alot easier!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Letting agents will probably just ask you how much you earn to decide if they think you can afford to rent the place. If not they will ask you to get a guarantor to sigh to say they will pay if you don't.
    I think it worked out 3 times the yearly rent we had to be earning for the last place.
    That was £595 a month so we had to be earning £21420 a year. We weren't at the time as i wasn't working. We ended up with 2 guarantors!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I very much doubt your bills will be a set price but you can work out with your utilitys people how much they think you will use and set up a direct debit for that set amount each month and then adjust it if need be.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanx tweety!
    i know we aint actually gonna start looking til this time next yr (once ive done my dissertation at uni), but its nice to have an idea of things now.
    We've both started saving already+buying a few things, but obviously we'll need to save up lots to afford bigger stuff like fridge freezer, washing machine, oven...which we cant buy until we move into a place!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanx tweety!
    i know we aint actually gonna start looking til this time next yr (once ive done my dissertation at uni), but its nice to have an idea of things now.
    We've both started saving already+buying a few things, but obviously we'll need to save up lots to afford bigger stuff like fridge freezer, washing machine, oven...which we cant buy until we move into a place!

    Look around, you don't have to buy everything brand new.

    Check the back of the local paper or bargain pages, people sell home appliances a lot, for cheap prices.

    Asda is good too, I got a microwave there for £25, and a good hoover in the sale at argos for £20.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yep i second asda being good and cheap for the things like fridges etc.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well for things like microwaves, kettles, irons, toasters, etc, il buy from tescos cos i know someone who works there so can get me staff discount. Also, will check them out for the bigger things.
    Although, looking in ikea - cookers and fridgefreezers seemed quite cheap in there.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    would you not consider staying at home for those 5/6 months till you're ready to buy? renting is throwing your money away a bit imho if its only for such a small amount of time. if you would be paying at least £400 on rent a month, if you stayed at home and saved it as well as the money you would be spending on bills, you would have over £2500.
    just a thought, i know you are looking forward to moving but for only 6 months is it really worth settling in to somewhere new only to move out and have to settle in somewhere else, you're waiting a year anyway.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's true..but maybe they want to live together before actually plunging and buying a house. It's a huge step.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    pussy kattys kinda hit the nail on the head - we both really want to live together, and already spend virtually everynight over at either my house or his, but need practice on fending for ourselves (cooking, cleaning, money, etc).
    Also, we would move out today if we could, but we cant while im at uni cos of money issues, so we want out asap - thats why we're gonna rent for abit until im working full time!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ok, was just a thought :)

    first of all, i would speak to people you know and get a rough idea of how much your bills are going to be, you need to budget more if you want sky/broadband. as someone said before, council tax is your biggest bill so before you buy find out how much that would be so that you know how much to budget. you need to think about how much you'll need for food too, we budgeted about £200 a month for both of us which i think was about right.

    good luck :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    we wont have, will prob pay £25 for a free view box, and may have broadband once we buy+have settled in.
    £200 a month for food is good (£50 a week for both of us)! i was thinking it'd be way more - but maybe thats bcos wen i go food shopping with my parents they end up spending way more than normal bcos i see lots of stuff i like, he he. We'll be living of value baked beans for a while anyway!
    and as for council tax,fingers crossed we'll be in a lower band!
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    Hi sugar mouse - these guys know their stuff don't they!
    Shelter has a really good article on Finding a place to rent which you might find useful :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    thanx helen, and may i just say that ive read all TheSite's articles on homes,money,etc+found them to be very helpful!
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    Brill - glad to hear it :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    we wont have, will prob pay £25 for a free view box, and may have broadband once we buy+have settled in.
    £200 a month for food is good (£50 a week for both of us)! i was thinking it'd be way more - but maybe thats bcos wen i go food shopping with my parents they end up spending way more than normal bcos i see lots of stuff i like, he he. We'll be living of value baked beans for a while anyway!
    and as for council tax,fingers crossed we'll be in a lower band!

    i always imagined food to be such a big bill, and i know £200 is still a big bill but you dont even have to spend that much! we could have lived on normal food and spent alot less. Meals actually arent that expensive if you eat sensibly. for instance you can have mince and potatoes for next to nothing, mince you can get for about £1 from asda, add some gravy and onion. potatoes are about £1 a bag. so all in all its about £2.50 to make mince and potatoes for dinner for two people, if that! its not as expensive as i imagined food to be!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah, just spoke to my mum+she said she spends that a week on 4 of us in my house (although 2 of us are only home for tea!), so food sounds good. Gonna look around for cheap easy meals now, getting the urge to cook!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my mum said the same before i moved out, she spends a fortune on food shopping but i notice alot of things go to waste and she buys tins and things that go in the cupboard never to be seen. these kinds of things dont happen when you're shopping for yourself, or they dont have to anyway! my friend spends £150 a month on food for her and her partner, and neither of us lives on cabbage, i promise! lol.
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