Baffled, Very Pleased, but baffled

So this house I posted about before, the one with the great price and the 4 bedrooms. Well, we're moving forward on it and solicitor sent us the rental agreement today. No credit check, husband has not provided any salary info.  I keep telling myself it's a small town and he's (solicitor) bound to checked in with the headmaster at the high school to verify and that's good enough for him etc.  But...this is weird, right? I told my husband our dogs are going to be finding bodies buried in the back garden!

That's really odd.  Have you seen it in person?  Usually estate agencies have high fees for each applicant (£150-£200 per person) plus want a letter from your employer, etc.  Something smells fishy.  You'll have to let us know how it all turns out!

Yeah, I'm always a bit wary of signing anything without being there in person. Especially as the rent seems very low for what you are getting.

I almost got scammed a few years ago when I was looking for student accommodation - I had made contact with a girl online about a room in a house and the information she had just seemed a bit fishy. The landlord wasn't even in the same country and she wanted to email me a copy of only the last page of the tenancy agreement for me to sign and asked me to send money.

I pulled out at that stage - I wasn't going to sign anything without seeing the whole agreement or without seeing the property and meeting the people in person.

Normally, you would have to pay the letting agent an application fee, then go through referencing and credit checks and finally pay a deposit. I just started renting a new property and I went through all of this, plus had a tour of the property and went through the inventory before I signed the tenancy agreement.


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I keep telling myself it's a small town and he's (solicitor) bound to checked in with the headmaster at the high school to verify and that's good enough for him etc. 

That's certainly possible, so I wouldn't be too worried, but I would still recommend you check up on it before signing anything.

If he hasn't already, I'd recommend your husband get in touch with the Head Teacher, or another contact he has at the school/council, and just ask if they're aware of this solicitor and/or the property. 

If it's a small enough town that the solicitor already knows everything he needs to know...then it's small enough that the people who know your husband is coming, should also know about the house, or at least about the solicitor.   And if they don't, then I'd recommend digging a bit deeper.

But as far as ksand's point about application fees, I'm not sure they're actually allowed to do that in Scotland anyway.  So I wouldn't let that worry you too much.

If he hasn't already, I'd recommend your husband get in touch with the Head Teacher, or another contact he has at the school/council, and just ask if they're aware of this solicitor and/or the property. 

That's exactly what I said! He hasn't been able to do it yet. And he is going to ask if his folks can take a drive down to have a look at the house. I'm not sure they will be able to but we're going to give it a shot.  I will feel much better if we are able to get these two things accomplished.

That's really odd.  Have you seen it in person?  Usually estate agencies have high fees for each applicant (£150-£200 per person) plus want a letter from your employer, etc.  Something smells fishy.  You'll have to let us know how it all turns out!

I did forget to mention that my husband has met the soliitor in person when he was there visting his new employer he made an appointment with them and went to their offices.  They have offices in three or four different places in that area of Scotland. So at least there is that much that pans out, but still.   

Yeah, I'm always a bit wary of signing anything without being there in person. Especially as the rent seems very low for what you are getting.

I almost got scammed a few years ago when I was looking for student accommodation - I had made contact with a girl online about a room in a house and the information she had just seemed a bit fishy. The landlord wasn't even in the same country and she wanted to email me a copy of only the last page of the tenancy agreement for me to sign and asked me to send money.

I pulled out at that stage - I wasn't going to sign anything without seeing the whole agreement or without seeing the property and meeting the people in person.

Normally, you would have to pay the letting agent an application fee, then go through referencing and credit checks and finally pay a deposit. I just started renting a new property and I went through all of this, plus had a tour of the property and went through the inventory before I signed the tenancy agreement.


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It's such a catch 22 because if he'd have found a place while he was there in June he'd have had to pay rent for several months he' s not living there and that wasn't feasable so the other choice is to rent something sight unseen which is scary as hell.  Sigh.  I've never lived anywhere that didn't require a credit check.  They are asking for a deposit and first months rent but that's it.

Well, the head master must be out on his holidays because my husband can't get a hold of him BUT my in-laws are making the trip down to Castle Douglas from Crieff on Sunday and meeting with the solicitor at the house for a walk through, so that is good news and I'll be very relieved once they've done that and given the all clear. Hopefully my husband will be able to get in touch with the head next week.