Do you really need to use a letting agent?

[purplez]

Hiya
In the next few months im planning on renting out my whole flat- never done this before, so everyones telling me to give it to an agent to sort out. I know its not quite the same but for the last 2 years ive been letting out my spare room to help with the mortgage and have had no problems - did the credit search and everything through all the links from this site - thanks landlordzone by the way! - and ive had no problems, so far im slightly reluctant to hand it over to an agen, always seam to hear such bad stuff about them and am thinking it may just be easier (and cheaper) to carry on doing things myself! - any tips / opinions?
Thanks a lot
PZ :confused:

[Poppy]

Well, how much do you know about renting property on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement? If you know your rights and your prospective tenants' rights - then you can find the tenants and manage the property yourself. If you don't know much - then you can commandeer a lettings agent to find and reference your tenants and then manage the property yourself. If you don't know nuffink - then hand everything over to a lettings agent.

You say "In the next few months im [sic] planning on renting out my whole flat". I would strongly suggest that you use this time to learn everything you can about the property rental industry. Good luck.

[Paul_f]

Look! When you see how landlords continue to cock it up then you should know what to do.

What Poppy and many other keep failing to advise is to use a regulated agent thorugh one of the main three professional associations.

[islandgirl]

agree that if you dont feel you can do it get a good agent. However it is not impossible to do it yourself. You will make mistakes (it took us 4 years to make a big one - getting a tenant in with not enough checks who we had to remove via the court) but from what I understand bad agents will also let that happen and agents in general do not help you when it goes wrong! Vet the tenants properly and trust your instincts and you can do it.
I have used an agent in the past at another property and the tenant (found by the agent) made a big mess of it, left owing lots of rent etc etc - the agent had got his (large) % for a year and done nothing for it!

[Poppy]

No dear, I have not failed to advise using a regulated agent through one of the main three professional associations - I simply chose not to make it part of my reply.

[dhphoto]

Look! When you see how landlords continue to cock it up then you should know what to do.

What Poppy and many other keep failing to advise is to use a regulated agent thorugh one of the main three professional associations.


This is the typical response of a letting agent. It's the landlord's fault.

A letting agent will be nowhere to be seen when the s@#t hits the fan because they simply don't care beyond their commission. If you don't believe me just check the threads here - oh and his rude response to another of my answers.

If you value your property (which I am sure you do) let it yourself. Common sense is your best ally, it really isn't that hard. Don't believe one single word an agent tells you.

David

[Paul_f]

Okay, so I know nothing!

The only thing is if an agent cocks it up and you as landlord lose out then use the courts for redress, it usually works believe it or not. And, if you do use a regulated agent, as from 1 June all complaints will go to the Estate Agents Ombudsman where landlords and tenants can obtain redress for free from any agent who has transgressed!

This attitude that all agents are Charlatans is misconceived; let's face it plenty of landlords do use agents and there is no compulsion for them to do so.

Nobody (that's me folks) suggested it's the landlord's fault, it's just you do have protection from a regulated agent which just isn't there from others.

By all means let a property yourself but don't cry woolf if it goes wrong! There's no avenue to cite anybody else then for your loss!

[Goyambokka]

Hi Purplez,
I'm fairly new to letting as well and wasn't sure about using agents as it seemed expensive and I'd heard bad reports.
What I did eventually was to use the agents to find the tenants and set it all up and am now doing the management myself.
I may just have been very lucky, but the agents found me tenants in two hours and were extremely efficient and helpful in doing checks etc. So far the tenants seem great.
I think it was the right decision for me and if I find I can't cope with the management, I can go back to the agents.
Good luck with your flat!

[mjpl]

I have noticed a far greater number of Landlord coming through our doors are only after a tenant introduction service. I personally believe that this approach can work very well if the Landlord is prepared to be hands on, however too many of them do nothing and when everything goes wrong they come straight back to the agent with cap in hand.

[great2rent.co.uk]

This is message is for all Landlords across the UK looking to Let their property to quality tenants.

We are Great2Rent.co.uk; a new internet based Lettings & Property Management Company. Our head office is based in London City. At present we provide full Lettings and Property Management Services to Landlords with properties in South East and East London regions.

However, we have recently formed Partnership deals with Residential Landlord and two other major property portals. As a result, we can now offer Online Lettings Services to Landlords who wish to manage their own properties but are looking for the initial assistance in getting quality tenants into their investments!

With the above in mind, our Bronze Service would be the most suitable package. For a small fixed fee, Great2Rent.co.uk in conjunction with our partners can provide the following service under our Bronze Package:

• We will market the Landlords property on 2 of the UK’s most visited property websites, until Let! That’s exposing the marketed property to well over a million home movers a day!
• We can include up to 12 photo’s, floor plans and even virtual tours of the marketed property with unlimited text!
• We will provide the Landlord with his/her own personal Lettings Advisor who will respond to any queries the Landlord may have via email in relation to Letting his/her property.
• Live viewing statistics and reports emailed to the Landlord at his/her request.
• We can act as the ‘middle man’ between the Landlord and Tenant with respect to any negotiations.
• All incoming call and emails with respect to the marketed property will be handled on behalf of the Landlord by his/her Lettings Advisor and passed on to him to respond to at a convenient time.
• For an additional cost (applicants will pay) we will carry out full credit and reference checks on all applicants.
• We will provide FREE Rental Guarantee Insurance!
• We will provide a FREE Tenancy Pack which will include all the necessary documents for the Landlord in Letting his/her property from start to finish!

All of the above for £99 per property!

However, in order to celebrate our Partnership formation with Residential Landlord, we are offering all Landlords the opportunity to purchase the Bronze Package at 50% less! That’s £49.50! This offer is limited and is only available until 30 April 2006.

For more information or if you are interested in purchasing the above package, then please email us at: advertise@great2rent.co.uk or call 0845 337 2519.

[Paul_f]

So sorry to spoil your promotional ads but as soon as the Editor gets hold of this "free" advertising he will remove the thread.

I want to know how these sites are going to comply with all the HA 2004 Regulations. Watch some of them fail, especially the newer ones.