You have now found your home to rent, but before the estate agents hand you over the keys whats next?. I often get asked about agents upfront fees so I thought I could answer some of the concerns here.
It is usual to have to pay a deposit (bond) and rent in advance and agency fees before or at the same time as you sign the tenancy agreement. In most cases it tends to be 8 – 12 weeks deposit if you are renting from an estate agent and 4 weeks if you rent directly form the landlord. In addition to these most or estate agents charge agents administration fees of around.
The deposit is held by the landlord during the tenancy and paid back to you at the end of the tenancy. If you damage the property or don’t pay the rent your landlord may be able to keep all or part of the deposit. Landlords will try and avoid at all cost paying it back so stand your ground.