Application Denied…Again!

We get a lot of pleas like this and it seems that you have to treat efforts to find a home as if they were job applications. 

Put together a portfolio with little biographies of who you are and what you do (with pictures, if you can) and attach testimonials from employers, colleagues and previous landlords and agents (if you can get them). 

Make it look as professional as you can, and generic so that you can print it out whenever you need to and attach it to the next application.

Also turn up for the inspections looking like you mean business – again, think job interview – not like you've just rolled out of bed on your way to brunch.

Don't forget that British backpackers have a terrible reputation in the rental industry, mainly for turning flats into de facto hostels, so you have to overcome that largely unfair stain on all young Brits' characters.

It's a very crowded market out there so you are competing with people who may look better than you on the basic forms (and you don't know what exaggerated claims they are making).

So you have to stand out.  Attach your “pitch” document so, at the very least, the agents and landlords notice you.

Other tactics are to offer a bit more on top of the asking price or several months rent in advance.  Be careful with the latter, though, as there are no clear-cut  mechanisms for getting it back if it all goes pear-shaped.

struggler said:

Totally agree with Jimmy.  It is a tight rental market out there.  I am not currently renting but have friends who do (and those who have rental properties) and alot of people offer more than the going rate to get a rental property.

I did rent in the early 80's when the rental market was very tight  and 40 people would show up to apply for every property for rent.  I can say that myself and my partner  dressed as if we were meeting the queen, had all the details and had no problem getting a property (infact, were successful at two at once and got to pick from them).

It really is like a job application!

I disagree.

I currently rent my place of residence (long story) and have good tenants in my other place.

For the tenants I have they were a young couple in their mid 20s, one self employed, one in a professional job. I never saw them, but they hadn’t trashed their last place, got their full deposit back. Their application was a simple fill out the form, copy of payslips (which made me a bit jealous of what the guy was earning) and 1 week rent as a holding deposit. No bio or anything like that. They had good references and got in first so it was theirs.

For me I did it the same way. Fill out the application form and then submit it with a one week deposit.

I would laugh if I ever received a bio with a rental application.

JimmyT said:

You might laugh, Drew, but would you reject an application solely because the applicants had made an extra effort?

I’d still say,  if it’s not likely to do the applicant any harm and it might do them considerable good, why not do it.

No – but I wouldn't give them favour over a person that had filled out the required info, provided all required documents and handed over a 1 week holding deposit.

First in first served.

I own and rent. I move around a bit in my rentals. Even in this supposed tight market I have never paid extra and I have never provided a bio. I just fill out the form and make sure I am there first. First to the estate agents is the most important thing.

Here's a long-running saga story with a happy ending.  Furryball contacted us last week with this message.

Thanks JimmyT. We have actually found a place now! When we went to our viewing we had a good long chat with the current renters and asked for some hints and tips for our covering letter, something the owners would want to hear. They suggested a whole load of stuff specific to their property and it worked! I got along really well with the agent as well who I had a few chats with prior to the viewing – so we're all good now. Feel free to update on your site  …

I'm not saying “told you so” to everyone who poo-pooed the idea of making an extra effort … well, OK, I am. It's an isolated case, I know, but it worked for Furryball. People like people who try just a little bit harder, whether it's looking for work  or somewhere to live.

However, I have to hastily admit that talking to the existing tenants wasn't my idea … but it's a good one.

Come on, Drew.  Maybe you’ve just been lucky in both your landlords and tenants. It's just not that easy out there  … course, the rest of us don't have your inimitable charm.

These things move in cycles, Drew. In a few years there could be a glut of rental properties and then it'll be the landlords doing the eyelash fluttering