Flat to Let in Weston Super Mare

jacqhale

Hi, my tennants have just given notice after 1 year. They were fabulous - 2 lovely Polish girls who never gave me a day of trouble so I am sad to see them go
I normally pay an agency to find the tennants for me and apart from one hiccup they have been very good ........... but very expensive! :eek:
Does anyone have any top tips for 'going it alone' I know plenty of people do it and now the interest rates are so low I could afford to take a risk that I won't fill it as quickly as an agency.

Would be interested to know of anything/anywhere that really works or if you think I would be best calling the agency straight away?

Thanks for reading!

PasturesNew

You'd need to know all the laws, rules, legislation ... it's as much about how to get a bad tenant out as it is about how to check them before they move in.

To get them in you'd just need to have a credit check, but if you get somebody iffy then they might be working the system, serial landlord abusers. That you can't tell easily.

Which agency are you using? (clues, spaces in the name if you don't want to name them).

You have to know what to do, what your obligations are, in the many scenarios tenants can get themselves into. e.g. what if above floods, what if people complain about your tenants, what if they don't pay, what if ... well, there are 1001 things they could come up with. On the other side of the coin, do you know how to be a reasonable landlord, when you would be breaking the law etc. e.g. tenant harrassment, protection of deposit, saafety for electricity, gas certificate, buildings insurance, EPC.

Fire_Fox

Ask the Polish girls if they have any close friends or relatives that they could recommend?

jacqhale

Thanks Pastures New - I am using Westcoast and they have always been brilliant, I think I probably will ring them and get them to sort it as the hassle probably isn't worth it. I did try to find a tennant last time but after 5 appointments and 5 no-shows it's the time as much as anything and I rang the agency straight away and they normallly fill within a couple of weeks!!
I have 2 flats and over 5 years experience of being a good landlord(lady!), up to date with the legalities etc. and have always had good relationships with my tennants so I'm more worried about picking a wrong'un than anything else.

Thanks FireFox, great idea - I will call them now just in case!