FAO anyone letting out their house

rilou81

Hi

After having our house on the market for 5 months, our circumstances have changed and we are now left with no option than to let it out. We can no longer wait for a sale. Ive done lots of research and the only thing I am unsure about is if 'full management' packages are worth it??

Any views? I cant see that the yearly cost would be worth it in the long run just for them to be the point of call and deal with any issues. If anyone see's it a different way pls give me your views. Thanks

poppysarah

Why won't it sell?

rilou81

FTB house...........your guess is as good as mine!

G_M

Are you going to be living locally to the property?
Are you confident you can mug up on the responsibilities?
Do you have time to deal with rent collection/arrears, repairs etc (should be fairly limited if things go smoothly, but be prepared for the worst too)?

And if you go down the 'full management' option, are you confidant you can select a professional, reliable and trustworthy agent?

Join a LL's association so you have resources/support to fall back on.

rilou81

No re-locating hense why its now our only option as the husband has already left and started his new job. We will be living approx 1.5 hours away, although will be back a lot due to fmaily/friends.

The husband would take responsibilty for any issues, we have a local electriction (SIL's boyf) and gas fitter (hubbys friend) if needed.
With rent arrears what would an EA do differently to what we could do? Is it worth the % fee for this alone?

Yes there are a few agents well known for great lettings in the area. Thanks

rilou81

Are there any current LL on here to give their personal views on my questions?

BitterAndTwisted

To my knowledge a couple have responded in this thread already.

If your property won't sell then there's a reason for it. You should address that reason and get it sold. Becoming landlords when you have no particular understanding or experience is absolutely not to be recommended.

rilou81

Yes the reason is the market is very slow for FTB's and its urgent that we move. There is nothing wrong with out house or the price. Its now not an option to sell and we will be letting it out. As kind as everyone is I do not want advice on selling our home as we are not doing that.

I have not yet had my questions answered by anyone. I am asking about management % fee's.

I have a very good understanding and if peoples views in life were not not do something unless they have experience then not very much would get done.
Despite this there is plenty of experience of letting in my family. Although their views differ slightly to mine, hense my question on here.

80schild

We are considering letting our house out of our current sale falls through. We have limited time and no experience so will definitely be going down the fully managed route. A good tip when chosing a letting agent would be to ask around people who you know who are tenants which agency they rent from as well as people who are landlords themselves. That way you can get a perspective from both sides. As if you chose an agency who are expensive and treat clients badly then no one would want to rent through them!

property.advert

If you are not going to pay for full management then you can help yourself and make sure you know tradespeople you can trust (ha ha !). I might advise one or more of those quasi insurance schemes which cover water leaks, electrical breakdowns etc. I used to have one through one of the utility providers and it was fine. I suspect that landlord insurance companies would have similar.

How much are you being charged for full management and can you get suitable tenants and reference them ? If you have a desirable property, then perhaps one of the more upmarket agencies would get a better price for it, somewhat offsetting the management charges.

Using an agent to find a tenant and then not using the management is a bit daft IMHO. Either you do it yourself or you do not. Can you get a website together quickly or does Gumtree work for your area ? What do adverts in the local paper cost ?

If going down the agent route, make sure you understand what happens after the end of a tenancy. You do not want to be paying for a second year's fees when the same tenants remain and there is not need to invoke a new tenancy agreement as a periodic tenancy will automatically come into being.

G_M

rilou81 wrote: »

Are there any current LL on here to give their personal views on my questions?

I've already hinted at my views! There's no 'right' answer - it depends on your circumstances, contacts, time and abilities!

Good that you've got some local contractors (the gas guy IS GasSafe registered yes?). An odd job man and a plumber is useful too.

1.5 hours is a long way when you get a call at 10 pm to a problem that turns out to be re-setting the trip switch on the fuse box, or re-washering a tap.

But it all depends on the points above.

Personally I self-manage.