Letting without an Agent

leedsie

I have had good and bad experience with agents, and I want to go it alone from here on out. Has anyone had any experience using a marketing service like Homehill.co.uk or Upad. They seem like a good way to save money but I have never used them.

GAH

Haven't used them, but they are just a marketing tool, leaving you to do the rest, the viewings, references, Tenancy Agreements, other legal docs.

If you are happy to do all of those things yourself it may be worth a try for you.

leedsie

@GAH Yeah you are right. They just promote them on sites like Zoopla and Rightmove. But for £25 that's not so bad I suppose.

Werdnal

Depends on your property and the type of tenant you are looking to attract. When we marketed our own flat last year, we put cards in the local newsagents, post office and grocery shop, and a couple in the neighbouring villages, and the 'phone didn't stop ringing! Only cost a max of £1 per card for a couple of weeks and we were still getting enquiries nearly a month after we'd let it!

As you are going it alone, I take it you are up to speed with all the other requirements and legislation for letting?

cooltt

I'm renting and about to move and hate dealing with agents i really don't see the point of them everyone knows their rip off, I’d much rather deal with the landlord direct.

Ask me anything you wanted to know or provide any kind of proof i can pay the rent no problem.
If you decide to let this way and your instincts are telling you there's something not quite right with someone just politely decline their offer.

vax2002

Some local councils have bylaws regarding landlords been registered in certain areas as they think of never ending ways to party you with your money , check with them as well.
see here : http://www.leeds.gov.uk/page.aspx?pageidentifier=dca34310-fdfb-42e9-beed-ee8709fbd850&pressReleaseId=4748

serious_saver

As a tenant I would never deal with an agent again. I have had a much better experience dealing with landlords directly. We found our current flat through gumtree but have found others through local ads as suggested.

You may find that there are others out there like me who simply don't want the hassle of dealing with agents or the added cost of agency fees.

lr1277

I once used loot to advertise my flat and got a lot of applicants who I deemed unsuitable. Those that couldn't prove their income, two people wanting the flat but only one wanting to be on the rental agreement. And a couple of other applicants to whom I didn't rent the flat.

I have found a good agent (who finds tenants that meet my specifications), and because I have used them for a few years, I have negotiated their finding fee down. Once the tenant is in place, the tenant deals with me directly.

leedsie

Werdnal wrote: »

As you are going it alone, I take it you are up to speed with all the other requirements and legislation for letting?

Yeah we are comfortable with the legal side of things, even though we don't like the current deposit scheme because landlords rarely win rulings. At this point in time we just dont want to give £500 to an agent to find a tenant if we can get a good result for less.