Holding Deposit for rented house.

littlemissteach

hi,
I am renting out my house(for the first time) and am looking for some clarity on how deposits work.

I have a couple that are coming for a second viewing today and are very interested and mentioned last time they visited about a deposit to hold the property.
So I have on my daft ad that a deposit of 750 is required(this is a also my monthly rent),so if they give me the deposit of €750, then how long should I hold the house for them before they actually start paying rent, or should they pay me the deposit and the first months rent together??

If they give me the deposit only and then in two/three weeks time change their mind, do I give the deposit back???

Thanks a mill

Cookie_Monster

littlemissteach wrote: »

so if they give me the deposit of €750, then how long should I hold the house for them

holding would only be a matter of days or weeks. Would not let them move in in this time and would agree a length beforehand. Essentially they want to spend x amount of time looking for alternatives but keep yours as a fallback.

littlemissteach wrote: »

before they actually start paying rent, or should they pay me the deposit and the first months rent together??

Rent will usually be monthly in advance from a move in date or agreed date each month, ie first. this will likely be independent of deposit and based on when agree to move in and sign lease etc. holding deposit can then become the "normal" deposit

littlemissteach wrote: »

If they give me the deposit only and then in two/three weeks time change their mind, do I give the deposit back???
Thanks a mill

Depends. You can tell them you'll take it if all refundable, partly refundable or not refundable. If they ask for it back them it kinda defeats the purpose its intended for. Usually if you pay a deposit and pull out you lose it, whereas if the other party pulls out they pay it back.

Cathmandooo

How long til they can move into the property? I'd only hold it for them for a couple of days max.

The deposit and first months rent should be paid the same day they sign the lease and the keys are exchanged. Getting into 'holding deposits' gets needlessly messy.

Doop

I think your getting mixed up with a 'holding deposit' and a 'security deposit' (easily done!)
A security deposit is what you hold for the duration of the tenancy as security against damage etc (generally the equivilant to a months rent).

If someone wants to hold your rental property as in give you a deposit but agree with you that they will move in in 2 weeks time... and you are happy with the situation. Then you could take maybe 150euro in advance, and they know that they have it (as in you wont show other people around).

When they do move in you should take a security deposit and a months rent in advance (750x2) and give back the 150 euro (or just knock it off the total).

If in 2 weeks they turn around and say actually we're not going to move into the property I would keep the deposit, as thats the general idea of giving a deposit to secure the property. But you should explain this clearly to them so you are all on the same page!

Same idea as when you pay a deposit to book a hotel room, if you dont turn up you dont get the deposit back.

littlemissteach

Doop wrote: »

I think your getting mixed up with a 'holding deposit' and a 'security deposit' (easily done!)
A security deposit is what you hold for the duration of the tenancy as security against damage etc (generally the equivilant to a months rent).

If someone wants to hold your rental property as in give you a deposit but agree with you that they will move in in 2 weeks time... and you are happy with the situation. Then you could take maybe 150euro in advance, and they know that they have it (as in you wont show other people around).

When they do move in you should take a security deposit and a months rent in advance (750x2) and give back the 150 euro (or just knock it off the total).

If in 2 weeks they turn around and say actually we're not going to move into the property I would keep the deposit, as thats the general idea of giving a deposit to secure the property. But you should explain this clearly to them so you are all on the same page!

Same idea as when you pay a deposit to book a hotel room, if you dont turn up you dont get the deposit back.

thanks Doop- I was totally confused and was calling a holding deposit and security deposit the same thing- so I'll tell them if they want me to hold it for a week or two give me €150, then if they cancel, I'll keep the €150, if they go ahead with the rental I'll return the 150 and they just pay me security dep and months rent on hand over day-have i got it right now?!!

Cookie_Monster

littlemissteach wrote: »

thanks Doop- I was totally confused and was calling a holding deposit and security deposit the same thing- so I'll tell them if they want me to hold it for a week or two give me €150, then if they cancel, I'll keep the €150, if they go ahead with the rental I'll return the 150 and they just pay me security dep and months rent on hand over day-have i got it right now?!!

yes. but make sure they know you definitely won't give holding deposit back if they pull out, just to cover yourself.