[staticmeltdown]

Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise me on how much I could expect to barter off the rental price of a city centre flat (if anything at all).

I'd hope that the current situation with high mortgage repayments and oversupply of flats would mean bartering was possible..

So how much could I expect to bring a £600/month rent on a 2 bed, or £900/month on a 3 bed down by?

Any personal experiences?

Thanks for any help!

 

[bank street]

In the current financial climate I would say make a silly offer, whats the worse they can say... there's plenty of other apartments on offer.

For the 600 flat i would say it wouldn't be unreasonable to make an initial offer to pay only 400 maybe and for the 900... perhaps 600??

I don't think there's any set amount that you can, or cannot expect, but its pretty obvious that there's a lot of desperate people out there, some of whom would rather have a reduced income than nothing at all.


Never before has the rental market been so much in the favour of potential tenants!

Would be interested to know how you get on, so keep us informed if you could!

 

[jonathand]

Yeah start low, the worst that can happen is they say no (and you up the bid) or they will offer to meet you in the middle.

Would be interested in hearing how you get on too

Any developments or areas you are looking at in particular?

 

[MacAndrews]

I agree, start low - nothing to lose in doing that!

However, a couple of my friends recently got an apartment in the city, eventually managed to haggle the grand sum of £50 a month off the asking price. The reason - all the agents said that although there is a bit of a property slump, the rental market remains reasonably healthy and they expect it to actually grow a fair bit over the coming months because nobody can get a mortgage to buy - so everyone will have to rent. Whether that's just salesman's bs or not I don't really know, but they all seemed to be saying it and clearly didn't want to give much away.

It'd be interesting to know how your experience goes.

 

[Comdot]

the rental market is doing ok nationally so don't use that to barter but do tell them you know this fact because that will impress them and make them realise you actually know something.
other than this, there is so much to say about how to negiotate and why an agent would let you negotiate that most of it you need to learn the hard way and you need to know your stuff. for instance, i managed to negiotiate a much lower rent (900 to 750) on skyline central but probably only for the following reasons:
1) it has just been built and many apartments weren't rented and i wanted to move immediately
2) i was prepared to live in the lower block
3) i am businesslike about where i live and do not let friends/ other half come with me and blurt out about just how much they love the place
4) i was being honest about the price i could afford and would have walked away
5) i was looking to rent at a time of year that students were not, added negionating capital
6) i knew enough about the apartment beforehand that when i was given a tour they could tell me nothing i didn't know already about its specification, the building, the pool, etc
7) i actually knew the going rate for apartments all over the place and knew how to use them and their location to my advantage e.g. 'hmm, 900, but i can get a 2-bed in the former national express building for 650 and that's in a nicer area and closer to town' - do not fear putting their apartment down. if you are going to get emotional about it then they will tell you where to go but if you can use logic to negiotiate then they won't really have a choice.
those are just a few ideas. there is no formula. there are tons of other things.
one more thing, you might like to do your research on east mancs/ north ancoats (victoria mills is it?) and find out which ones have failed their investors in bringing returns- perhaps there is also a difficulty for them in finding tenants at *advertised* prices but i think they may be above your budget to start with, mr. staticmeltdown man.

welcome, jonathand.

 

[staticmeltdown]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll report back with my success or failures..

 

[jonathand]

There is a free toolbar download for Firefox browser called 'Property Bee' which remembers details from listings on rightmove.co.uk

If you run similar or saved searches over a few weeks then you will be able to see which places have been on the market for a while and also if they have dropped in price

 

[Comdot]

that sounds really good!

 

[staticmeltdown]

I don't anticipating doing much bartering - I've found that three beds are an absolute scarcity, and that the agents tend to leave them on their websites way after they've been let.

Only found one to view so far!

 

[Comdot]

there aren't that many in the city. also, i think students might be trying to snap them up at this time of year, which won't help.
a lot of agencies leave stuff on their websites for ages. see if you can find how long the longest 'imaginery' flat is left on a website. i'd be interested to know.

 

[jonathand]

What would be considered the 'best' apartments to rent in Manchester at the moment.

The best being - features, location, security, value for money I guess.

I find it ridiculous that apartments built just a year or two ago didn't have the forsight to install simple thing's such as two satellite sockets, meaning you can't get Sky+ for example.

 

[Comdot]

where highriser lives!

 

[andysimo123]

where highriser lives!

you want to give a hint?

 

[Comdot]

you want to give a hint?

south of the city centre.

 

[andysimo123]

south of the city centre.

that narrows it down :yes:

 

[Comdot]

it's a big hint! :bowtie:

 

[andysimo123]

it's a big hint! :bowtie:

St. Georges? Around that area.

 

[Comdot]

St. Georges? Around that area.

City South, Manchester
Client: Bellway Architects: Leach Rhodes Walker Value: £13m

http://www.shepherd-gilmour.co.uk/residential.shtml

south of the city centre.

:lol:

 

[andysimo123]

Is that really the best through?

 

[staticmeltdown]

What makes City South so good in your opinion? Wondering as I'm still looking - given up on three beds, now down to two:

Did our first viewings today, my opinion of developments:

Express Networks Building Extension -
Just completed, high spec (dual satellite points, dishwasher etc) , quality apartments (on admittedly a very short look-around).
However stupid "wet room" (a toilet and shower in a with no door in little box in the corner of the master bedroom), tiny second "double" room, window onto corridor (!) in second room instead of onto outside.

City Gate (Castlefield) -
Decent size rooms, medium-quality feel to it.
However, on a roudabout, shit architecture, Castlefield is far more isolated than I ever realised.

City Point II (Chapel Street)
Very generous sized rooms.
Student vibe to the whole place, low low quality feel - horrible carpets, doors lifts, dirty walls etc in communal areas. Furniture packs people got sold there look shit.
This place was down for 650, the estate agent told us he wouldn't pay 450 for it (I'm not sure he'd quite got the hang of sales patter yet!), we offered 530. Can't see any chance on earth the landlord will accept that.