Great property but bad vibes about the landlord

pow wow

I went to view a fab room in a house share last night but although I haven't met the landlord (only met the housemates) he is really giving me the impression that renting from him would not be a great idea...and having had one hideous rental experience once I am keen to try and avoid it again!

Basically he owned and lived in the house but was seconded to the other end of the country so is renting it out. The first conversation we had was all him saying how amazing he had decorated his house and how it had to stay just so and be taken care of etc. which I can understand to a point (i.e. I'm not out to wreck the place) but he was fanatical about how amazing his house was and also how I was evidently unworthy (implied not directly said). Anyway I went to view it and loved it, and call him back to see what we could arrange.

First of all he magically upped the rent by €70 a month compared to what the room was advertised for. I'd rather not say exactly where the property is but the town has an abundance of rental properties and this room has been vacant for 5 months and the extra money overprices it compared to similar places I viewed. Then I found out that none of the current renters have rental agreements, but when I brought this up the landlord said his solicitor had 'just' drawn up the agreements and they would be ready to sign any minute now...

The other smaller issue I have is that I would like a couple of things in the room before I could/would rent it (i.e. a curtain rail and a double bed instead of a single) but I get the distinct impression that the landlord would not be willing to agree to this and would object to me putting up my own rail etc on the basis it would interfere with his 'tasteful decoration'. I'd be happy to sign an agreement and pay a deposit before these improvements were made by the way!.

I'm really in a quandry because location wise the house is the best I've seen and only for the rent increase and bad feeling I'm getting about the landlord I would have jumped at it.

Is there a delicate way to raise my queries do you think? And in a town where it's more of a renters' market than in others am I being unreasonable expecting it to be rented at the price advertised?

Supercell

First impressions are often rightin these things.
Problematic landlords are really really not worth the stress and strain of it.
Find somewhere else and forget about this one.

mikemac

Not trying to be harsh OP but do you not think it's unreasonable to want the single bed replaced? Not many landlords would do that for a prospective tenant.

You don't say the town (certainly ain't Dublin ) but surely the town can't be so big that location is critical.
Move on, you'll find somewhere nearby

the_syco

Knock by the house, and ask the tenants about the curtain rail, etc, as they may have found a way around it. Also mention the rent agreement, and see what they say.

pow wow

micmclo wrote:

Not trying to be harsh OP but do you not think it's unreasonable to want the single bed replaced? Not many landlords would do that for a prospective tenant.

You don't say the town (certainly ain't Dublin ) but surely the town can't be so big that location is critical.
Move on, you'll find somewhere nearby

He mentioned at the beginning that it should be a double bed and though it might sound weird the bed would be a major issue for me. It's a double sized room so its unusual it didn't have one to begin with really....to me anyway. But then I'm not a landlord lol.

I asked the other renters about the agreement while I was viewing and none of them had one but they seemed fairly ok with it...

Victor

Who cares about curtain rails? :rolleyes:

pow wow

Victor wrote:

Who cares about curtain rails? :rolleyes:

Do tenants usually blu-tak up their curtains then?

K_P

He sounds a bit odd with the obsession with his decorating and all that. That wouldn't necessarily put me off. The unexplained €70 increase in rent would. My advice would be to avoid it.

Victor

ellscurr wrote:

Do tenants usually blu-tak up their curtains then?

Apologies. I got the impression first time around that there already was a curtain rail and you were replacing it.

pow wow

K_P wrote:

He sounds a bit odd with the obsession with his decorating and all that. That wouldn't necessarily put me off. The unexplained €70 increase in rent would. My advice would be to avoid it.

Thanks. I emailed him today saying I could pay the original price but the new one was out of my range. I was secretly hoping he'd come back and meet me on the price as it's a great house but he hasn't replied. The search continues :rolleyes:

Duckjob

sounds like a bit of a chancer. I would trust your instincts and leave him be.