Agency or Private Landlord??

shemster

Hi all, am new to these forums, so sorry if theres already a thread on this topic, please post link if so.

Basically, my fiance and myself are looking for a property to rent out (1 bed flat) but were not sure whether to rent privately or with an agency.

We would prefer private because of the extortionate agency charges but we are having a hard time finding anything suitable.

What would you recommend? What are the pros and cons of either?

Based in south london, our budget is roughly £700pcm (exclusive)

Cheers

Gwhiz

It's a lottery really. You get good and bad landlords and good and bad agents. Basically I would keep options open .... at end of day you may not have a choice depending on the property you find.

kmmr

You will get more private landlords on Gumtree in London - but they are hidden between the scammers. The scammers are pretty easy to spot, as they play a sob story, which ends with asking for money transferred via Western Union via a very legitimate sounding setup.

The general rule is never ever pay money in advance of a viewing (or transfer via Western Union), no reputable landlord would ask for that.

Having said that, I advertise on Gumtree, and have had excellent tenants through there. You do risk less professional landlords, but then it may work the other way too. A more personal touch can be nice and mean that you work together to make the rental your home.

But as GWhiz says, you may not have a choice. Once you find your property it may only be with agents. As an aside, I sometimes advertise through agents and privately, so if you see somewhere on rightmove, might be a good idea to double check if it is also being advertised on Gumtree, and go via the gumtree ad which is more likely to be private.

Good luck.