Online Letting Agents

rent_and_buy

Just a quick update, i put my house on gumtree to see what response i would get and ive had 2 responses already asking about my property, and thats in two days.

We are not ready to let out yet, but its nice to see there are people out there looking for houses to rent.

Oh and Gumtree is free, ive had one person ask me to call them about the house and one to ask for a viewing, i was thinking, if i do a viewing i will ask for picture id, either a passport or photo id driving license, before i let them look around.

ill report back if i get any more interest.

follyfoot

rent_and_buy wrote: »

Yes 1 to 8 i will organise and do myself, most of its already aranged, ive got the rent gaurantee arranged for 99 pound for the year, this means that if the people i rent to stop paying endsleigh, will pay my rent if the tenants dont(hopefully they will though)

Included in the rent gaurantee they will do all the legals to remove the tenants, which is in their best interest has they are paying the rent if the tenant dosnt, and if the house is unliveable when the tenants leave they will pay up to three months rent until you can do thre repairs.

Most evictions take no longer than 3 months if the correct procedure is done.

The only thing ensleigh require is that the people you rent to, pass a comprehensive reference, which i will be doing through rentchecks.com

homecare, gas certificates through bristish gas and landlords buildings insuance through endlseigh.

i will collect the deposit and put it in the https://www.depositprotection.com/Public/FAQs.aspx?bhjs=1&fla=1&section=general

and give the tennant a copy and the login information within 14 days.

I know my house better than anyone and any letting agent, so when i do the inventory i will take photos and get the tenant to sign and agree the condition of everything left, and i will also get them to sign the readings for gas and electricity metres

On a personal point of view looking at urban, i would not bother with them, just do your homework, ive been looking into this for thast ouple of months and im not even in a postion to do it yet has we have not found a house to buy.

I feel letting agents are okay, but they charge a lot for what they do, people will say try it yourself then, i will, ive heard of horror stories with people who use letting agent and people who dont, if you can get rent gaurantees and comprehensive references done, this eradicates the risk of you losing out on rent.

Im not saying you wont get a tenant that wont pay the rent, but if you do you will still get your rent, form a personal point of view if i had rent gaurantee and the tenant didnt pay and the insurance company did, i would have no issue with the tennant, it will be all down to the rent gaurantee people to remove them and i would leave it in theor hands.

Bottom line if you have a letting agent or not the book stops with the landlord when theres a problem.

for the tenant's deposit i used the following:
http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/
do you know what the differences are between that and the one you use?

rent_and_buy

follyfoot wrote: »

for the tenant's deposit i used the following:
http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/
do you know what the differences are between that and the one you use?

The one that i will be using is the one the government recomends and is free, your one above you have to pay to use.

heres the link to the government information on the deposit scheme i will be using

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_066391

Ive been looking into doing this the last couple of months, heres a good guide and it tells you a fair bit.

http://www.howto.co.uk/property/renting-out-property/

Anything you are stuck with just ask, if i can not help you or point you in the right driection theres loads of other people who will.

the one thing i have learnt is its no good cutting corners, when you are a landlord, and thats even bofore i have rented my property out, im looking forward to doing it though, and from what i have been told if you get good tenants, and you look after them, they will be okay with you.

My friend who lets out a lot of properties, said to me the tenants want to keep the landlord happy and vise versa, especially if they have a good credit rating and pass the references, because has soon has they get CCJ'S and bad references, no landlords will touch them and they will end up paying through the nose and have to stop in dives.

BlameTheGame

Ive always used Gumtree for letting my houses out. No problems at all and its free.

rent_and_buy

BlameTheGame wrote: »

Ive always used Gumtree for letting my houses out. No problems at all and its free.

How do you deal with the viewings, i had one contact me to say to call them and i thought this was a agent and i had another ask to view, its only been on 2 days, but i suspect you get a lot of agents going on there saying they have got tenants, who would be interested in the property.

When i find the house i want, i will advertise on discount lettings and see what happens, just to get the right move coverage, as most of the houses in my area on right move have been let.

tbs624

follyfoot wrote: »

for the tenant's deposit i used the following:
http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/
do you know what the differences are between that and the one you use?

rent_and_buy wrote: »

The one that i will be using is the one the government recomends and is free, your one above you have to pay to use.

TDSL/mydeposits is one of the two insurance based schemes and allows the LL to hold the deposit. The free one that rent_and-buy is going to use - DPS- is a custodial scheme, ie you have to hand over the deposit itself to the scheme administrators and interest on the deposit is used to fund the running costs .

As for what the government recommends - all 3 schemes are approved.

tbs624

rent_and_buy wrote: »

.....homecare, gas certificates through bristish gas and landlords buildings insuance through endlseigh.

Homecare/British Gas is an expensive way of doing it - check out local CORGI firms who can complete the annual checks/safety certs and offer their own version of this cover at a lower price.If you join one of the national LL associations (or a local affiliated one) you can get discounts on LL insurance premiums.

rent_and_buy

tbs624 wrote: »

Homecare/British Gas is an expensive way of doing it - check out local CORGI firms who can complete the annual checks/safety certs and offer their own version of this cover at a lower price.If you join one of the national LL associations (or a local affiliated one) you can get discounts on LL insurance premiums.

Ive got it for 34 pounds a month and thats with anual services and gas certificates, the only reason i was going to use these, the tenant can contact them direct and they have a 24 hour 7 day a week hotline.

I know there are cheaper ones, but for 34 pound a month is will give me peace of mind, and hopefully the tenants will be happy to have a reputable company to call on incase of problems.

Complete peace of mind for your central heating system, including:

• Annual Service of your central heating system
• Unlimited call-outs
• 24/7 customer helpline
• Parts and labour

Also provides a Gas Safety Record:

• Yearly inspection of your gas pipework and boiler
• Completion of your gas safety records
• Professional advice on any work required or defects found
• Access to our dedicated landlord's advice line

and ive also had these added for 34 pound

• Plumbing and drains
• Fixed electrical wiring
• Gas appliances

Ill see how it goes in the first year, maybe after my first year i might look for a cheaper option, but i want this to be has less stressful as i can make it.

follyfoot

BlameTheGame wrote: »

Ive always used Gumtree for letting my houses out. No problems at all and its free.

Is Gumtree anything like Loot because I always found my relative was getting a really poor quality of tenant when she advertised on Loot? Can individuals advertise on Rightmove?

georgeLL

I'm not sure but I believe that individuals might be able to advertise on Rightmove but I think the fees are very large for an individual person to do it.