Landlords and letting agencies = your advice please?

naisdes

naisdes

naisdes

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17 Oct 2012
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Hi all, I recently purchased a house in the South East London Zone 3 area and spent the last few months doing up the place. Now I'm looking to rent it out as we aren't looking to move into it in the near future, say 2-3 years. I've been advised one way to find tenants is to go through an estate or letting agency.

If anyone has gone through this before, could you share your experiences and advice please? I'm going to be making a few phone calls to a few agencies in the next few days but I want to make sure I don't miss out on any important questions to ask. I spoke to the same agency recently who helped us purchase the house in the first place, and they said they could get around £1200 a month on rent but their fees were around 17.5%, but there were also some other fees to go on top of that to.

Much appreciated.
 
Why do you want to go through estate/letting agency?

Why not run the property yourself? Save that money you where going to pay I'm assuming it's your first purchase?

Every people i know do the exact thing. Can't be arsed dealing with noob people, so they run it them selves.. Best way imo.
 
get a few local ones to look at it, get an idea of their fees etc and then decide if you want to go down that route....
using an agent should be less hassle but if you live close enough it might be just as easy to manage it yourself
 
Just run it yourself mate. Picking up tenants really isnt that bad. People are always looking for houses/rooms.

use gumtree, spareroom etc
 
I let in Sussex and my experience is anyone who can't get through a agent vetting process isn't worth dealing with, I advertised one privatley and the dross I got through the door was insane, no kidding I had a hooker (sorry she was an escort) who said she'd be paying in cash come to look at the place then hound me for months.

An agent will have people pre approved with deposits and a months rent up front, in work and with references, expect to pay 12% for fully managed or 3 weeks for introduction only which is my choice, so yes manage it yourself but let an agent do the leg work.
 
Sho said:
Why do you want to go through estate/letting agency?

Why not run the property yourself? Save that money you where going to pay I'm assuming it's your first purchase?

Every people i know do the exact thing. Can't be arsed dealing with noob people, so they run it them selves.. Best way imo.
Click to expand...

+1

Do it yourself, you can create the tenancy agreement and if need be use a solicitor. Get references, guarantors etc. Snoop around facebook/twitter to understand what kind of character someone who wants to rent is.

Get the rent in cash/direct debit to your account 1 month advance, and a deposit.

Letting agencies are a headache, I dislike them. They charge stupid fees and even stupider fees for maintenance work. They pretend to do the legwork, but really don't.

In short, manage it yourself. You'll only ever have problems if it's utility based/water leaks. Get landlords insurance
 
zoomee said:
don't forget the legal work - yearly corgi certificates etc ;)
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Gas safety certificate
PAT test anything that plugs in
Electrical test for houses over x years (can't be sure thought it was 20)
Carbon monoxide alarm
Smoke alarm (get the fire brigade to do it for free)
 
Thanks for the replies so far. Now I have a better idea of what I'm about to take on!

I just got a fee, although I can't make sense of some of it. This was written to me by the way, so I haven't had the chance to ask yet.

4 week rent + VAT.

Managed service.
2 weeks rent + VAT
+ 12% + VAT each month.

Rent £1200-£1300 PCM.
 
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naisdes said:
Thanks for the replies so far. Now I have a better idea of what I'm about to take on!

I just got a fee, although I can't make sense of some of it. This was written to me by the way, so I haven't had the chance to ask yet.

4 week rent + VAT.

Managed service.
2 weeks rent + VAT
+ 12% + VAT each month.

Rent £1200-£1300 PCM.
Click to expand...


I presume it means...

Just finding you a tenant would cost you, 4 weeks rent + VAT


And their managed service would be

2 weeks rent + VAT - one off up front fee

12% (monthly rent) + VAT - taken from your monthly rent
 
Find an agent who will do introduction only for 3 weeks inc VAT

That's more typical and the market in SE London is hot so should be competetive.

Don't forget an EPC and have someone independant draw up an inventory i.e. not you as if you get into a dispute your take on things is not impartial.
 
Azza said:
I presume it means...

Just finding you a tenant would cost you, 4 weeks rent + VAT


And their managed service would be

2 weeks rent + VAT - one off up front fee

12% (monthly rent) + VAT - taken from your monthly rent
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up. I was just given this piece of paper with that written up and looked like a mess to me lol. I called the guy up and he explained to me everything. With those fees and an assumed monthly rent of £1200, unless I have miscalculated, that would be a cost of £1329 for each standard tenant finding service, and £2738 for the managed service, based on 12-month agreements.

I've made some other phone calls as well, and some confused me because they offer these 'guaranteed rent' services with 0% commission where they manage everything. The question I had stuck in my head throughout the call was 'so how do they make money'.
 
Don't forget if you have a mortgagee the property then you will have notify them that is is being let, and you will likely pay a higher interest rate.
 
Having seen those fees I have even less of an idea what agents do for their money. They seem to rob the landlord as well as the tenant.
 
naisdes said:
Thanks for clearing that up. I was just given this piece of paper with that written up and looked like a mess to me lol. I called the guy up and he explained to me everything. With those fees and an assumed monthly rent of £1200, unless I have miscalculated, that would be a cost of £1329 for each standard tenant finding service, and £2738 for the managed service, based on 12-month agreements.

I've made some other phone calls as well, and some confused me because they offer these 'guaranteed rent' services with 0% commission where they manage everything. The question I had stuck in my head throughout the call was 'so how do they make money'.
Click to expand...

Assuming it's in a decent condition then just manage it yourself, offer it unfurnished and you only have basic DIY things to deal with really, if they should ever arise.
 
Didn't see how big it is but i'm guessing it's a 2 bed? Managed service can be good and bad but at the end of the day question is the service worth your hustle and time? Also will be the renting the house as a whole or split it up, even convert front room to an extra bedroom?? In that scenarios it would be 3 tenants so you'll have to chase 3 people etc..12% seems high. I would walk the high street or look for independent agents.
 
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