Letting a property yourself without an agent

rumncoke

We became LL last year due to sale falling through. Being clueless we used a LA & so glad we did. Apart from all the credit checks etc which we woudn't have had a clue about, the end of the tenancy was a nightmare. Tenants went on periodic at end of 6 months, then started falling behind with rent. LA had to keep chasing.
They gave notice the day we were going to do the same. Moved out a week later & left place in a mess. Handover had been arranged & I assumed (naively) that they would be back to clean up. They didn't.
I would not have had a clue regarding disputing deposit etc had it not been for the LA.

So unless you want to spend a LOT of time reading up on the law I would recommend using a LA. Money well spent IMO.

Jowo_2

Also, its best using an agency that belongs to a professional body like ARLA as they protect clients money in case the business fails, have a code of ethics, trained staff, etc.

Anyone can become a letting agent - it requires no skills, qualifications, experience or knowledge of housing law. By going with an agent that belongs to a professional body (which is voluntary and probably only a quarter do), you can normally avoid rogue letting agents (the ones that serially open new agencies,don't bother to screen out bad tenants and abscond with the rents and deposits for every property on their books).

theartfullodger

I rent 1 house through an Agent (Students, England) and 2 myself (Highlands of Scotland).

Use a solicitor if unsure of forms/procedures for the tenancy & notices. Keep lurking here & at
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/
(in particular the forums)
and you'll learn a lot. Read the odd book, join a Landlord Association (worth it for someone to ask when things get really sticky). Consider going on one of their courses.

Beware slick-suited b***ards selling seminars & "training" to get-rich-quick or to sell you a mortgage.

Make sure you have a thick skin & some spare cash for when you hit the "Tenant from Hell"...

Cheers!

Lodger

Mozette

A friend of mine - total novice - did it herself. Put a 'small ad' in the local paper, got an agreement form from WHSmith, did credit etc checks; it's not turned out too badly, she's had a few different tenants, no real problems - she always meets them beforehand and goes with her instincts. As with most things, be sensible.

mlz1413

Only other option is that some agencies now do guaranteed rentals, you get a low rent in rent for 12 months guaranteed payments. Which if you have somewhere else to live for 12 months maybe an easier way to rent.

Ensure you read any contract before you sign it, ask who is responsible for gas, elec, rates etc if it's not actually got tenants in.

Although I still think you would be better off with a lodger as suggested on the last 2 threads.

Snooze

clutton wrote: »

drop the rent and stay with the agent

prospective tenants fail to turn up about 30% of the time .......

Very surprised at this coming from you clutton.

Rob

want2bmortgage3

i am going to take it off the market with the current agent as today they called me at 2pm to say they are showing someone round this afternoon (no time left), as i was driving i called back and the person who called had left the office but his colleague said there was nothing in the diary about a viewing and he would get the guy who phoned me to call back. now 8 pm and no call back so i've been wondering all afternoon whether anyone will be coming round and went out in case as i prefer the agent to show people around.

still cannot find a lodger either......

Grz.26

Is everything you need in the D.I.Y packs from W H Smiths? legal docs etc? does it talk you through it, as i am in the process of renting out my property privatly and have never done it before also, so it'll be good to know.

Nenen

From a tenant's point of view.... we rented privately from a work colleague. Now I am sure there are pros and cons of doing this but in our case it worked very well... we knew each other beforehand (not well as different departments) and both wanted to retain our good reputations so went out of our way to treat each other fairly. Colleague got a standard tenancy agreement which we all signed.

When said colleague decided to sell the house to the owner of the house next door (who wants to knock the 2 semis into one) my colleague persuaded him to let us continue with the tenancy until he wanted to start doing the work. Again we have a private agreement. This has the advantage for us of not paying out fees to agency or for credit checks, even more expensive because at the time we moved in two of our three children were over 18 and living with us and agencies wanted to do credit checks on them as well! Personally I like doing business direct rather than through an agency and we have been (as far as I am aware) model tenants. :A

Unfortunately for us, our new LL now wants to start the knock through and so has given us notice to quit. This is a shame because we were hoping to continue renting this place until we found a house we wanted to buy and this hasn't happened yet. However, this could have happened anywhere and at least our LL was decent enough to give us nearly 3 months notice (rather than 2 months required by law).

If we can find a private LL I feel I can trust I would happily rent privately again.

To the OP, if your property is in a university town/city some universities have special schemes which give some degree of proptection to landlords. I am not sure exactly how this works but it might be worth you checking this.

G_M

Grz.26 wrote: »

Is everything you need in the D.I.Y packs from W H Smiths? legal docs etc? does it talk you through it, as i am in the process of renting out my property privatly and have never done it before also, so it'll be good to know.

These are very basic and 'talk you through' the contract only. You need to know, understand and do an awful lot more.

Read up on the subject and your responsibilities before you jump in. Get a good book, go to Landlordzone, join the RLA etc etc