Seriously hunting a new home to rent

[welsh dragon]

That would have summed up my success nicely.

Still does or so I've heard.

 

[stephec]

Still does or so I've heard.

I've still not given up hope with you though.

 

[welsh dragon]

I do hope you find somewhere to live saluki. Good luck on the home hunt.

 

[Saluki]

That's a real shame for both of you Saluki.

Hope that things are much brighter for you both now & good luck.

Thank you.

Things are fine. We have a Housing Association flat that we are trying to do an exchange to somewhere South with. We have each other. We are vaguely healthy and we have 5 bikes and 5 guitars between us. Its all good from where I'm looking. Being homeless is 2 years in the past now. Struggling to pay storage when you are on chuff all money is tricky but the storage people were brilliant and didn't sell our stuff. They couldn't have been nicer or more understanding if they had tried. We paid them what we could and as soon as we were working again, caught up the backlog in a couple of months

I honestly don't miss owning a house. There was always something to fix or pay out for with it. When our guttering fell off over the winter, the HA sorted it (it now needs weeding Its a real garden up there now), when the loo broke (don't laugh) the HA fitted a new one and so on and so forth. Much much cheaper than owning. After paying my rent and council tax I have more disposable income than I did owning and if my work goes belly up or something happens with my health, I get help with the rent while I am sorting myself out again. It seems like I'm in win-win situation. I never knew that renting was preferable to owning. I had been brought up with this 'must own property' mentality when in truth, its much more stressful than renting.

I am still finding my way around the exchange website. Seems that I can put more than one 'target location' in. We finally went live at about 5pm last night and I was tired and grumpy so finding my way about and getting ratty with it wasn't helping. An exchange would be the perfect situation for us but private renting is an option if a place pops up.

 

[stephec]

It's quite a wide area you're looking at, are you able to register with different HA's in each county that you're interested in?

 

[Saluki]

It's quite a wide area you're looking at, are you able to register with different HA's in each county that you're interested in?

I register my interest in an 'area' so, for instance, I would put Exeter and a 50 mile radius. Or Southampton and 50 mile radius. I can go down to a 2 mile radius but feel that wouldn't be so helpful We'll sit down later, with a proper map and a pair of compasses and draw some circles and then plot the perfect 'target locations' for maximum coverage. I will also write in the notes for each one, that I am flexible about distance so if it's just outside the radius to give me a call anyway.

 

[Doseone]

If you're thinking of renting privately the dogs are going to be a stumbling block and you will get a lot of knock backs The best way to get around it is to offer a larger than normal deposit and to have it written in to the contract that you will pay to have carpets professionally steam cleaned when you leave. I know that's not great news, and it all involves extra expense but unless you get very lucky it's about the only way you will pursuade a landlord to take 3 dogs.
I wish you all the best in your search and hope you manage to find somewhere.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I think the issue with the dogs isnt just the potential damage to furnishings etc, but the noise from three barking dogs, especially if ever left alone. New carpet can be deducted from a deposit, barking dogs causing a neighbourhood revolt can't.

 

[Saluki]

I understand people's worries about dogs that bark. We have a couple of Staffies next door that are bark bark bark all day. Sometimes they even stop our dogs sleeping as they are so loud. We have taken a lot of time and effort with the behaviour of our dogs.
Ours do get left alone as we occasionally feel the need to go to work for up to 4 hours a day or to go shopping or bike riding. We web cam ours sometimes. The other Wednesday the Greyhound got up and had a drink before going back to sleep. That was the highlight of 3 hours webcamming. Our dogs are seriously dull. One is really lazy, one is really old and the 8 year old Jack takes her cue from the others. Bless her. She does woof for all of 30 seconds when we are getting her lead on for a walk. Our HA came and put a timer on the times that our dogs make noise (her downstairs insisted). The average was 97 seconds a day of dog noise over 4 walks. HA told downstairs neighbour to get a bit of perspective.

We are planning on an exchange and might make a move South-ish and then try for a closer to where we want to be move a year later if we can't find anything in the areas that we are looking for. We are in the position to be able to offer a larger deposit and to have the carpets professionally cleaned too. We have a friend in the pro cleaning trade too. Plan A is an exchange, Plan B is private. Someone surely must want to come to lovely Wymondham, especially as her downstairs is moving and nice people are moving in, people who work normal hours.

 

[stephec]

Do you still need to move now that the wicked witch of the east is going, or is it just a coincidence?

 

[CopperBrompton]

Much much cheaper than owning.

Only in the short-term. Rent is just lost money, mortgage payments are acquiring a valuable asset.

 

[Saluki]

Only in the short-term. Rent is just lost money, mortgage payments are acquiring a valuable asset.

I am 50 now. I would need a 20 year mortgage which would mean that I would have to work until I am 70. With what I do for a living and supporting my husband with renal failure and one or two other health problems, I cannot see it happening somehow. Not without a lottery win anyway, and as I don't do the lottery that's not likely to happen.

 

[Saluki]

Do you still need to move now that the wicked witch of the east is going, or is it just a coincidence?

I would still like to move as I want to be closer to friends in the South. We all meet up as often as we can but its easier for me to go South than for a dozen of them to come East.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Have you tried www.spareroom.com
?

 

[slowmotion]

How much is a reasonable monthly rent for you and your dogs if you chose Cornwall?