r/Glasgow Tools

Title
Author	SirPanic
Comment	1. You are meant to offer the advertised PCM. if they ask you to "make an offer" then they are shady. if you offer too much they accept, if you offer reasonable they haggle you up, if you offer too low they just say no. 2. "Self employed" tells a landlord that your income is potentially unstable. You may wish to clarify with them why they can be comfortable knowing you'll always be able to pay the rent on time. Being single or a couple shouldn't really make a difference if you are paying your rent on time. 3. If you've got competition then yeah, kind of. You need to think about how you brag though. It's one thing to cement the idea that you're a quiet tenant who pays bills on time and causes no trouble, versus flexing. 4. Govanhill, really, is pretty bad. I wouldn't look for property there if I could afford not to. That said if you have no other options, you probably won't be killed. Probably. 5. Agencies aren't all that bad. There is an overhead to the cost since they aren't going to work for free, but renting privately has its own risks involved. For example your landlord may not register your deposit with a third party escrow service that an estate agent would, then fuck you when you ask for it back at the end of your tenancy. They might also be absolutely useless. An agency like countrywide knows the time limits to get work done once reported in writing, and may press the landlord for decisions and action more aggressively than a tenant who wants to stay on his good side. They also have a fixed business address you can walk into and physically talk to a human. But, yes, there will be an overhead to your rental costs. 6. You can avoid it, however that's also going to have the trade off that if you're in competition, they'll give it to the person who does sign. That's really putting you between a rock and a hard place. Once again, an issue you will not have with an agency because it's in their best interest to do everything by the books. 7. Depends how much you actually need for other things and how much you actually earn. If you want a bargain then don't rent at all. A mortgage of £500 a month is easily £800 a month in rent for equivalent value property. After all when you rent, you're paying someone else's mortgage plus profit. That being said though, you need to work within a budget that is comfortable for you. 8. the single person discount knocks 25% off the base rate for council tax. [yearly rates here](https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/counciltax). Bands are not intuitive and based on data scaling back 100 years. you can get a prestigious property in merchant city in band D, or a fucking dive in Tradeston in band F. 9. Asking for bank statements is very common and totally normal. They aren't interested in how much you spend on your dildo collection, they want to know that you have a stable monthly income or deep savings to ensure you'll give the no problems, and aren't lying about it. having a lot of money but no bank activity is also a fairly sure sign of someone getting paid through illegal activity, like a drug dealer. 10. Could talk all day about this and it's msotly about preference and personal tolerances. Aside from checking everything is in working order, I'd say the basic "gotchas" would be making sure you can get a decent internet connection, water pressure in the shower isn't a light trickle like an old man with prostate trouble, there are transport links and shops within walking distance, and going outside after dark isn't going to turn you into a statistic. 11. Depends where you are. A wet-electric boiler is a fairly modern concept and quite cheap. Still nowhere near as cheap as gas but some areas, particularly near the city center, just don't have gas. As far as those wanky heating panels on the walls that aren't fed by a hot water source, avoid them entirely unless you enjoy paying £3 a day in the winter for heat.
Reddit Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/ci0c4e/renting_in_glasgow/ev06pur/
Created	Fri 26th Jul 2019 10:19am
Status	()

1. You are meant to offer the advertised PCM. if they ask you to "make an offer" then they are shady. if you offer too much they accept, if you offer reasonable they haggle you up, if you offer too low they just say no.

2. "Self employed" tells a landlord that your income is potentially unstable. You may wish to clarify with them why they can be comfortable knowing you'll always be able to pay the rent on time. Being single or a couple shouldn't really make a difference if you are paying your rent on time.

3. If you've got competition then yeah, kind of. You need to think about how you brag though. It's one thing to cement the idea that you're a quiet tenant who pays bills on time and causes no trouble, versus flexing.

4. Govanhill, really, is pretty bad. I wouldn't look for property there if I could afford not to. That said if you have no other options, you probably won't be killed. Probably.

5. Agencies aren't all that bad. There is an overhead to the cost since they aren't going to work for free, but renting privately has its own risks involved. For example your landlord may not register your deposit with a third party escrow service that an estate agent would, then fuck you when you ask for it back at the end of your tenancy. They might also be absolutely useless. An agency like countrywide knows the time limits to get work done once reported in writing, and may press the landlord for decisions and action more aggressively than a tenant who wants to stay on his good side. They also have a fixed business address you can walk into and physically talk to a human. But, yes, there will be an overhead to your rental costs.

6. You can avoid it, however that's also going to have the trade off that if you're in competition, they'll give it to the person who *does* sign. That's really putting you between a rock and a hard place. Once again, an issue you will not have with an agency because it's in their best interest to do everything by the books.

7. Depends how much you actually need for other things and how much you actually earn. If you want a bargain then don't rent at all. A mortgage of £500 a month is easily £800 a month in rent for equivalent value property. After all when you rent, you're paying someone else's mortgage plus profit. That being said though, you need to work within a budget that is comfortable for you.

8. the single person discount knocks 25% off the base rate for council tax. [yearly rates here](https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/counciltax). Bands are not intuitive and based on data scaling back 100 years. you can get a prestigious property in merchant city in band D, or a fucking dive in Tradeston in band F.

9. Asking for bank statements is very common and totally normal. They aren't interested in how much you spend on your dildo collection, they want to know that you have a stable monthly income or deep savings to ensure you'll give the no problems, and aren't lying about it. having a lot of money but no bank activity is also a fairly sure sign of someone getting paid through illegal activity, like a drug dealer.

10. Could talk all day about this and it's msotly about preference and personal tolerances. Aside from checking everything is in working order, I'd say the basic "gotchas" would be making sure you can get a decent internet connection, water pressure in the shower isn't a light trickle like an old man with prostate trouble, there are transport links and shops within walking distance, and going outside after dark isn't going to turn you into a statistic.

11. Depends where you are. A wet-electric boiler is a fairly modern concept and quite cheap. Still nowhere near as cheap as gas but some areas, particularly near the city center, just don't have gas. As far as those wanky heating panels on the walls that aren't fed by a hot water source, avoid them entirely unless you enjoy paying £3 a day in the winter for heat.