Don’t get fooled by letting agents’ lies. Letting Agents can be the scourge of student of housing the high street is fall of them all claiming to be “student friendly” don’t get me wrong some of them can be very nice. However these letting agencies are few and far between in today’s rental market. Be very careful with letting agents they are a slippery bunch they have many tricks up their sleeve, which they will use against you to dupe you into renting mould and rodent infested houses and charge you the earth to rent there.
In the following post we have listed five common lies you will hear this house hunting window often used by letting agents to get you rent s*** holes.
1.) Interest in this property has been extraordinary
I’m going to start this list by covering the most commonly used line, which shouldn’t be taken anymore serious than the student union elections.
“There’s been a lot of interest in this property- we’ve had 3 viewings already after 1 day of being put on the market. So if you’re interested, you should act quickly”
At this point you should simply node your head and asked be shown another part of the house or simply leave for the next viewing.
2.) Everything will be repaired
“Oh that, yes, that will be fixed before you move in. It’s all been arranged. Don’t worry about it.”
HAHAHA If I had pound for every time I heard this line I would not be rich but I would have enough money to recoup losses I made from letting agent taking money out of my deposit for repairs. Don’t believe them.
3.) Property will be cleaned
“The property will be professionally cleaned before you move in”
Does that include all the mould in the bathroom and bedrooms or do you mean the landlord will vacuum the house once and say it has been professionally cleaned.
4.) There is never a shortage of ideal properties for our tenants
“We’ve just had this amazing property put on the market it’s a 10 minute from here. It’s amazing. I thought of you as soon as I heard about it”
*Arrives at the “amazing property”* Only to find out no one can afford it and it’s a 45min walk from university.
5.) We are a student friendly letting agency
“We pride ourselves on being a letting agency that look out for the student community we have many years of experience working with them.”
What they really mean is they have years of ripping students off but who am I Judge. Read student reviews on letting agents on at www.WhichPad.com to confirm whether the letting agency is “student friendly”.
