Landlords - is it really worth using a letting agent?

G_M

As the posts above show, there are pros and cons!

Some agents are good, some are cr*p. So if you use one, make sure they belong to ARLA or similar AND research them thoroughly. Try ringing as a prospective tenant and see how they handle you! Read the contract thoroughly, understand it, and don't be afraid to change it if it doesn't meet your needs. And yes, you can pay them for tenant-find only.

DIY is perfectly possible if you have the time, the intelligence and the diligence. And it is a great way to learn. But you must learn. There's a lot to being a LL, so take it seriously. Join a LL association (tax-deductable!), read good books on the topic, and go on courses.

Do all that, and it is very satisfying, and more profitable, knowing you are not paying 10 - 12 % each month to an agent.

princeofpounds

I will NEVER rent out again, this lot has made me very ill with all the worry, so my advice is GET AN AGENT be worth it in the end.....good luck

If you are a landlord who really knows what they are doing, there is nothing an agent can do that you can not, except acting as a high street shop window and perhaps somewhere to delegate simple tasks. If you think an agent could have done more for you, you probably don't know your stuff.

In fact, agents do not have to have any kind of qualifications or expertise (which is a lower standard of professionalism asked of landlords!). Many of them don't know the law, and if you weren't aware most agents completely hand over to landlords serious problems such as long-term arrears and evictions to sort out (as my parents have found out in the recent past).

That's not to say they can't be useful - they can - but the added value greatly diminishes for a landlord who actually has some expertise and some time to deal with problems.

As a tenant, I've never found agents to be especially useful except as places to source a lot of properties and often people who can cover for the knowledge of very amateur landlords. And sometimes they introduce problems, chiefly from poor communication or behaving according to different incentives than the landlord (such as calling in unnecessary repairmen to pile on backhanded charges or issuing fake eviction notices to charge tenancy renewal fees).

deano72_2

the two people i know that have used LA havent had alot of help from them when its come to none paying tenents.basically they been told to sort it out them selfs & on both occasions it has taken my mates (not the LA) 4-6 months to get them out through the correct channels.thats the only time iv herd about them so maybe there ok,but if you can get the tennets i dont see what you cant do that a LA can.maybe get a lanlords contract from whsmiths (£10)which is ment to be binding which might come in handy

tbs624

Anyone - absolutely anyone- can set themselves up in business as an LA. The poor ones can range from incompetent through to downright criminal

You may think that you could perhaps "play it safe" by going with one of the national franchised companies, or one signed up to a voluntary code of conduct.......

However, see this report, dated yesterday:

A rogue letting agent who stole £137,000 from landlords and tenants was yesterday jailed after a court heard he was guilty of a gross breach of trust.

David Sole ran the Belvoir agency in Charing Cross, Norwich, until his arrest in December 2009. He handed himself into the police after evidence began to emerge that he had taken rent and deposits from tenants but never passed it on to landlords or deposit holding agencies.

He was jailed for 21 months at Norwich Crown Court after admitting theft. But the court heard he has few remaining assets and only £10,000 is likely to be recovered from the sale of his house. This will be confiscated but must be shared between about 65 victims, meaning there is little hope they will ever be repaid in full.

Prosecutor John Farmer said Mr Sole had taken over the Belvoir Norwich franchise in 2002 and had no previous experience or training. “The defendant should never have been in this business at all and it ran at a loss from day one,” he added. (my bolding)

ans this one from 2009:

Another Martin & Co franchisee hits trouble

Monday 28th September 2009

A letting agent has gone into liquidation owing nearly £200,000.

A creditors’ meeting in Chester heard that Geoff Lavery, who had the Martin & Co franchise in the city, owed over £98,000 to landlords and tenants, and a further £86,000 to others, including Homelet and Rightmove

Most of the money owed to clients is thought to have been tenants’ deposits, which may not have been covered by a tenancy deposit protection scheme.

The firm was a member of the National Approved Letting Scheme. (my bolding)

Sign up to Tessa Shepperson's LL Law site - tax deductible membership fees, much useful guidance and discounts on LL insurance premiums.

Read up on tenant & LL rights and obligations on Shelter's website.Familiarise yourself with the tenancy deposit regs (if Eng/Wales) and be proactive on checking rent payments.

Properly screen your Ts and bear in mind that a current LL may be pleased to be getting rid so may give an ambiguous or generous reference.

JayZed

In my experience, Letting Agents serve no useful purpose at all. They simply pass problems onto the landlord and do absolutely nothing to earn their fee. Most of them are totally unqualified and incompetent. They are no help at all in dealing with problem tenants (or, conversely, with problem landlords).

If you're going to be living reasonably locally to the property, I would say there's absolutely no reason to use a LA.

bris

La are useless, I have used a few different ones in the past and all they do is take 9% every month. If a repair needs done they don't care how much it costs and even add a cut on for themselves. Once the problems with a tenant start they don't want to know and if you want them to help with the eviction they try and charge a fortune for the help, even though they are the ones who put them in in the first place.
If you live local do it all yourself, just read up on some of the links posted and you will be ok. The biggest thing I can tell you is make sure all your paperwork is served correctly because if a problem starts the wrong documents can be a nightmare to sort out.