Liveaboards treated like tramps

[cotswoldsman]

Maybe 6 months rent would work if you personally visited the tenants every month to get a feel for what is going on?

 

 

 

Lynall

Must be terrible to spend your life not trusting people

[rubblequeen]

Must be terrible to spend your life not trusting people

 

It's not about not trusting people it's about being prudent in business. If you are a sole trader with a small portfolio there is no way you can just "trust" someone as it only takes one bad tenant to potentially tip you over into debt plus the stress of trying to get someone out who wont pay and when the do leave they seem to invariably wreck the place as some kind of retribution for having the audacity to expect them to pay the rent each month. Yes we have the deposit but that doesn't go far. Plus, and this is the bit I thankfully don't have experience with, trying to release the deposit when the tenant doesn't sign bother to sign their part I imagine would be difficult.

[lynalldisocvery]

As said above its got nothing to do with trust, its all to do with business, and you are right i dont trust many people, most people cant do their jobs properly never mind anything else in their lives, biased me?

I think of all the favours ive done people over the years that have cost me money/time/hassle/etc, old saying, (once bitten twice shy) and its true.

Buy a house then rent it out and you will see what we mean, or do the same with your boat.

 

 

Lynall

[MtB]

Must be terrible to spend your life not trusting people

 

I trust most people, but if I had to nominate a situation where the chances of a person turning out to be untrustworthy were a little higher than normal, I'd say someone unable or unwilling to produce references might be it.

 

However, if they were to come up with a UK home-owning guarantor (and one not mortgaged to the hilt), this would ease my doubt.

 

MtB

[Ex- Member]

error

Edited April 1, 2013 by Julynian

[larkshall]

All this bodes ill for me, When I bought a house I bought it cash, when I travel I pay by cash, I have never owned nor used credit cards, and utlity bills, again I pay cash. I am now searching for a good NB, for which I will pay cash, a mooring?, again I will pay cash.

I don't like people knowing who I bank with, or where I lived, when I died or got resurrected. Oh and yes I do argue for a discount when paying cash.

 

Why, cash always spoke louder than words, If I haven't got the cash then I can't afford it.

 

I bought a new motorcycle not long ago, and the dealer was agog that I insisted on paying cash, I'm not interested in the banking system earning any more than the barest minimum out of me, and officialdom can go to hell.

 

When I went to pay in a large amount of cash a few weeks ago, the bank started asking all sorts of questions, which I told them to go and stick their noses up someone elses jacksie, something to do with money laundering, I had to resort to using a safety deposit box elsewhere.

[KevMc]

When I went to pay in a large amount of cash a few weeks ago, the bank started asking all sorts of questions, which I told them to go and stick their noses up someone elses jacksie, something to do with money laundering, I had to resort to using a safety deposit box elsewhere.

It's not their decision to ask where you got the money from - the government force them to on pain of 7-14 years inside if they get it wrong and accept money from a launderer. I think the police under Proceeds of Crime legislation are also allowed to confiscate large sums of cash from people who cannot give a satisfactory explanation for carrying it -and it is then up to the person to provide the court with a reason to refund it otherwise they can go whistle... and they say we live in a free country.

[Smelly]

op I did what you want,admittedly after only 3yearsliveaboard but "look,I can prove I had a job the entire time"worked for me.

 

All this bodes ill for me, When I bought a house I bought it cash, when I travel I pay by cash, I have never owned nor used credit cards, and utlity bills, again I pay cash. I am now searching for a good NB, for which I will pay cash, a mooring?, again I will pay cash.

I don't like people knowing who I bank with, or where I lived, when I died or got resurrected. Oh and yes I do argue for a discount when paying cash.

 

Why, cash always spoke louder than words, If I haven't got the cash then I can't afford it.

 

I bought a new motorcycle not long ago, and the dealer was agog that I insisted on paying cash, I'm not interested in the banking system earning any more than the barest minimum out of me, and officialdom can go to hell.

 

When I went to pay in a large amount of cash a few weeks ago, the bank started asking all sorts of questions, which I told them to go and stick their noses up someone elses jacksie, something to do with money laundering, I had to resort to using a safety deposit box elsewhere.

 

You can get tablets for that!

[Ex- Member]

The Black economy is currently thriving, It's difficult to quote for work when the majority of your potential customers are asking for cash deals X vat of course. It's got so bad I now quote including v.a.t instead of listing the price and showing the additional v.a.t cost.

 

I've now applied to DE-register on 2 companies which I should have done ages ago having been under the v.a.t threshold for over 2 years now on each company. the smaller non vat registered companies locally are doing very well it seems, especially in my line of business, but very little of this generated cash is getting to the tax man that's for sure.

 

Cash if definitely king at the moment.

 

And what little money I have made isn't in a bank or building society either

[MtB]

op I did what you want,admittedly after only 3yearsliveaboard but "look,I can prove I had a job the entire time"worked for me.

 

I'd suggest you managed to get a human been to actually look at your application and make an informed decision then, as opposed to accepting a reference checking agency 'recommendation'.

 

I'd happily rent to you Mr smelly - the best informed tenants usually make very the best of tenants, in my personal experience

 

 

MtB

[Smelly]

I'd suggest you managed to get a human been to actually look at your application and make an informed decision then, as opposed to accepting a reference checking agency 'recommendation'.

 

I'd happily rent to you Mr smelly - the best informed tenants usually make very the best of tenants, in my personal experience

 

 

MtB

 

I did email the agency before I applied formally saying "this is the script" true...

 

Edit... they spent a whole day driving me round prospective premises too: )

 

Hopefully I won't need to take your offer up but after the week's docking and the consequent one to come I am reminded of the meaning of B.O.A.T and second thoughts are very much in order...

Edited April 4, 2013 by Smelly

[MtB]

Hopefully I won't need to take your offer up but after the week's docking and the consequent one to come I am reminded of the meaning of B.O.A.T and second thoughts are very much in order...

 

B.O A T ... Best Of All Time!

 

 

Are your SURE you want to rent a modern one bed house in Basingstoke??

 

(That's all I have vacant at the moment )

 

 

MtB

 

The Black economy is currently thriving, It's difficult to quote for work when the majority of your potential customers are asking for cash deals X vat of course. It's got so bad I now quote including v.a.t instead of listing the price and showing the additional v.a.t cost.

 

I've now applied to DE-register on 2 companies which I should have done ages ago having been under the v.a.t threshold for over 2 years now on each company. the smaller non vat registered companies locally are doing very well it seems, especially in my line of business, but very little of this generated cash is getting to the tax man that's for sure.

 

Cash if definitely king at the moment.

 

And what little money I have made isn't in a bank or building society either

 

I find the opposite.

 

I'm VAT registered and it projects that I run an honest, bona fide business. So far, since Tuesday, I have received 48 messages on my voicemail. Totally overwhelming as I can only fix up to four boilers a day. VAT registration is not damaging my trade in any way. Quite the opposite, according to feedback from my customers.

 

 

MtB

[rubblequeen]

Very interesting turn to this post. Those with large amounts of cash or telling us they work for cash ought to be a bit more prudent 'cos who knows who reads these posts. Tax employees also have narrow boats I would guess. Ner do wells might think "oh matey's boasting about wads of cash - must stash it somewhere, let's check out his boat, wallet" I'd sooner the bank know my business than these people.

 

As for the cash economy it has always been there especially in the building trade. But you are really talking on a face to face, personally know, recommended basis much of the time. For larger sums and business' you can't safely operate without the banking system. Despite my distaste for what they have done to this and other countries. However, internet banking (you don't have to interact with any of the bankers) has opened up the world to me. I can carry on my letting business in Spain and USA as well as here without being more than 3 yards from my coffee jar whether that's at home or while chugging along the canals or riding my bike looking for a coffee outlet.

[matty40s]

 

You can get tablets for that!

ah, yes, online banking, can never work out how to get the notes into the usb sockets however.

[Jim Batty]

I rented from private landlords, a total of eight of them, and was never credit checked. None of the other places I went to view with private landlords asked for one either. I know of one landlord who used to say he credit checked, but didn't, and just said it so that anyone dodgy would just not bother applying!

 

Before moving onboard we rented for about 30 years. (We just can't commit ourselves to a mortgage - or any other kind of large debt. It just spooks us, despite all the advice over the years to the contrary. Bloody-minded independence I suppose.) We did have credit checks run on us in the UK, but having a job with money going into (and out of!) a current account seemed to satisfy estate agents/landlords.

 

Back in Canada, where it is normal to rent (my grandparents rented their entire lives), our norm was to walk around a neighbourhood we liked looking for 'For Rent' signs, contact the landlord directly via a phone number, and go have a look. Invariably a character judgement is made by both parties, you write a cheque for a month's rent as deposit and trade it for a one-page 'agreement'. Sometimes we were new to the city and had yet to find work. But explaining the circumstances was usually enough. This seems a MUCH better set-up than a system involving middlemen/women (estate agents, credit checkers, separate agents who scrutinise a flat the day you move in and out.). Of course, with that Canadian system, you can be asked to leave at a month's notice if you abuse the place. We almost always improved the place and could get excellent references as a result -- which we never needed.

 

I think you're right, private landlords are the way to go. Keep it human and personal.

[nbfiresprite]

ah, yes, online banking, can never work out how to get the notes into the usb sockets however.

 

That's because your using the wrong socket, You need to fold the notes and push them in to your floppy drive slot wrapped round your card. to pay in.

 

I actual did remove a client's card from a floppy drive, when she pushed it in when the website displayed 'insert card details'.

[ceryni]

 

My deepest sympathies.

 

 

 

This sounds like a scam, or taking the pee. The time for putting down a deposit is after someone has offered you a lease on a flat that you have looked at and like. Estate agents aren't doing you some type of special favour by contacting landlords for you. They are taking an opportunity to gain a nice commission. I think most estate agents now hold deposits at arm's length with clear paperwork so that they can be straight forwardly returned when you leave a premises (minus the cost of any damage you do to the place).

 

Does the fact that you live on a boat need to enter the conversation at all anyway? If you have a month's or six-week's deposit available and can show some type of income (if it's not a housing authority place), that should be all that's needed.

 

Or have you been CCing without an address and that's the problem. Could you not use a friend's or family member's? Or hire a postbox address in the nearest town for three months or so?

 

In our experience most people - even estate agents - are kind of thrilled by the notion of someone living on a boat, and you possibly need to find a more sympathetic estate agent. They're not exactly thin on the ground!

This is rubbish. Everyone who has short term leases (12-48 months) get treated like absolute dirt. I would get tired before I finished the list of people I knew that had their landlords try and screw them for most of their deposits when they leave, despite the money being held 3rd party. The "3rd party" doesn't argue, just hands you a massive bill, and any time you want to take arguing is time that you are without that money you need. The 3rd party deposit holding company care about agents and landlords using them, not the tenants that are going to lose hundreds. It's a SCAM, and next year when I move out, I'm not taking any S**T this time.

 

 

edit: P.S. angry Tom is sick of renting, and taxes and bill money sent to energy companies. Wants a boat to live on. ASAP

Edited April 17, 2013 by ceryni

[lynalldisocvery]

Several tenants have been and gone, never any bother with deposit, rent to right people no worries.

Dont forget from your list of people you are only hearing their side and as everyone knows there are two sides to a every story, im sure they were all impeccable tenants

Every time i hear a tail of woe i always ask questions and the answers are always vague so that alone tells you all you need to know!

In fact a couple a while back, agent said carpet damaged do you want to charge them?, had a look iron burn mark, real faint, cheap carpet, excellent tenant so why upset the apple cart for 50 quid?

I reckon every tenant has caused some minor damage, but thats part and parcel of anything involving people, in every case they have repaired it to a good standard, probably hoping i wouldnt notice, but repairs were good so i didnt say anything.

I could go on about the paint damage, doors, even ceilngs but i wont.

So Tom thinks its going to be cheaper to live a on a boat?

 

 

Lynall

Edited April 17, 2013 by lynalldisocvery

[Grace and Favour]

I've been a tenant several times, so have both of my children, a number of times (and still are!)

 

Non of us have ever encountered any difficulty with any of the landlords, neither have we ever had difficulty with the return of our deposits.

 

 

And Tom, with regard to paying energy bills - - you're in for a shock! - Creating power on a boat is somewhat dearer than buying from a utility company!

[onionbargee]

i get treated like a tramp, but i am one so i can't complain.