Did i just do something really stupid? Having a mild panic attack!

We need to move by next friday and have not yet secured a new place! DF and i have been arguing and arguing over what we really want and have missed out on some really good properties and we are now getting to close to be choosy! He wants small (think unit), cheap, close to the train station with no maintenance, i want a nice house and yard and am willing to spend more money than we currently pay.

We have been approved for a place which i had applied for as a back up option, but its an absolutely tiny 2 bedroom townhouse (for 2 adults and 2 small children) with a yard so small it wouldn't even fit our trampoline. So i have been putting off calling the real estate about going in to pay the deposit as i have been frantically running around looking at everything else available to see if there is something, anything that is more suitable (to my list than DF's as he has finally relented and realised he is not a single man and actually has a family of 4 to think about now)!

I saw a really nice place today, put in our application and offered $20 per week less than the advertised price! Now i am having a mild panic that i should have just said we would pay the full amount per week :(. The house has been empty since just before christmas when the new owners purchased it, and we are offering to start paying rent from Monday, which i thought might be an incentive? It has been advertised for a while now, and this week they dropped the rent by $10, so i am offering a further $20 less than that. What do you think? Are we going to miss out? This is Sydney, renting is crazy at the moment, there is always 20-30 people at weekend inspections and even at this one today on a weekday there was at least 8 separate groups looking through, but i don't think anyone took an application and one couple walked out after looking at only the first two rooms!

So, if you were an owner, would you take $20 less a week straight away or play the cards and wait and see if you can get the full amount and possibly have to wait for the other people to give notice at their previous address? The house has already been vacant for around 8 weeks and $20 a week less over 12 months is equal to around 2 weeks rent on this place.

I am worried that we are going to miss out on our back up option soon too if i don't pay the deposit on it?

If I were an owner and liked your application, I would negotiate with you and go $10 each OR I would accept but only sign for a 6 month contract thinking you would probably stay for 12 months and the second 6 months would be full rent......Good Luck!

oh gosh, I have no idea!

But... Fingers crossed for you that you get it!

(btw - the house we're in at the moment was advertised for $390, when I got the call that it was ours, they told me the owners would let us have it for $370 for 12 months, then it would go back to $390. I was so stoked. 12 months rolled around, and they only upped it to $380! Things may just work for you!! xx)

They might take it and then in 6 months or 12 months time jump your rent up the full amount again! At least you would get it cheaper for the term of your lease thought! Goodluck!

Absolutely no way of knowing as all owners are different. If they were sensible, they would talk to you if they weren't happy with that but not everyone is sensible and you can't control whether someone else puts in an offer. Personally, if I liked it and had such limited time to find somewhere, I would play it safe and offer the full amount. But that's just me, I don't like to live on the edge when it comes to housing.

Having said all that, having been a landlady myself I know the power of finding a renter and having that rent going into paying off the mortgage. I also once got a friend to offer $400 (which was the max they could pay) for a house advertised at $490 per week. The real estate agent almost didn't even take their application but I forced them to go back and submit it. They got the house.

Did they give you any indication when they would have an answer for you?

Looking for a house is always a stress time whether renting or buying.

Hope yu hear soon

Maybe not the best way to go about getting the place you really like.

But the next step is to follow through on your application. Call them and get them to give you an answer or a date for an answer.

Good luck.

I didnt know you could negotiate on rent!?

Thanks everyone! Still panicking!

Audax, it was crazy overpriced, and I just couldn't bring myself to spend $100 a week more than our current house for something half the size and nowhere near as nice!

And yep, rent can be negotiated, we got our current place for $50 less than the original advertised price.

Oh darling I have no idea! Just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you guys and praying that you get this awesome house at the $20 less!!

xx

Sorry, I have no idea either. Just wanted to wish you good luck!

I keep my fingers crossed for you! xxx

We've been in our house for nearly two years and we got it for heaps less per week than what it was advertised for (we are in northern Sydney). It had been empty for a little while, wasn't really overpriced, but I can see how it didn't work for most people. The landlord was looking for someone long-term and we offered a two year lease as an incentive (rent set to not increase during that time, although we've signed previous long leases agreeing that they could revise the rent - and never had it increased). We got it no trouble. Landlord loves us and I very much doubt he'll put the rent up in July when the lease is up.

I would always think that if you just offer what they're asking and they say yes, would you wonder if you could have got it for less? They can always come back and negotiate and if there are heaps willing to pay what they're asking, chances are they might increase the cost to see if anyone's willing to pay more.

GL!

Ah cr@p... Our back up place fell through this afternoon as we stuffed them around for too long, and the real estate agent for the favourite was away today so we couldn't get an answer. I spoke to the other RE agent there and she said we would hear tomorrow at the earliest.

Needing tons and tons of house vibes please! Should I just call and say we will pay the full amount?

Sending you all the house vibes I can muster. I think ring the agent and suss her out and make a snap decision on whether to offer the full amount depending on how she is.

I just called and said we would pay the full price, she said she had another application. More house vibes please!

~~House-vibes~~

~~House-vibes~~

:pray:

any luck?

Still haven't heard! I am going to wait till 4:30 and call her back again. I am about to explode from all of this anxiety...