Letting agent or letting house out by myself

kazire

Hi all first thing thanks for reading!

I am considering moving in with my boyfriend into his house and letting my house out I was looking at using an agent to let the house through but reading some local agents sites they want to charge for all sorts of things which I thought a little extortionate so am thinking if it would be a good idea to try and do it by myself! What's the pros and cons I would be greatful for any advice and shared experiences

Thanks kaz:)

tbs624

Do you have a residential mortgage on your property and if yes, have you sought your Lender's Consent to Let?

G_M has a monumental post on this board with suggestions for those new to renting out property, which you may find useful.

Even if you did decide to use an LA you still need to "gen up" on all the obligations involved. (Bear in mind that anyone can set up in business as an LA - no quals, training or specific knowledge required)

Yorkie1

Here is G_M's thread. Read it and all the links carefully.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

Irrespective of whether you use an agent, join a landlord's association. It will be invaluable in providing advice, access to cheaper LL's insurance, and guidance if / when things go wrong.

jimjames

Personally I would do the rental myself. Hearing the horror stories of poor letting agents that find bad tenants and then have no responsibility makes me think I can't do any worse than them.

lynneinjapan

If you can get a recommendation for a good agent and are very nervous about doing it yourself then go ahead and use them, but bear in mind that the buck stops with you; if the agent fails to meet any of the LL's legal obligations then you're the one who gets done for it. So you need to know what your obligations are regardless of whether you use an agent or not... in which case, if you're staying local, you might as well manage it yourself. If you get good tenants in to start with (don't skimp on the referencing!) and the property doesn't require much maintenance then the management side is money for old rope.

Remember you'll need buy-to-let buildings insurance as well as the lender's permission to let. We've been using cia up to now but are thinking of going with Simple Landlords' Insurance for the house we're just buying, partly because they have the option of an extremely competitively priced emergency cover add-on. Emergency cover for the boiler etc. is worth having unless you already have a list of local tradespeople you can call on - and again, you'll need a landlord's policy, which usually costs a bit more than one for an owner-occupier.

As well as from the LLs on here you can get lots of useful information on Landlordzone and Property Tribes. Membership of a landlords' association costs about £80pa (the ones that I know of are the NLA, RLA and Guild of Residential Landlords) and is especially worth having if you're not using an agent. It's also useful to attend local landlord forums if you can - they're held twice a year where we are.

Notmyrealname

Don't give the leeches any of your money, not a penny. You will not have any less aggro using a LA than doing it yourself. The chances of the rent not being paid are just as high but the chances of ending up being dropped in it because of incompetency by the LA are very high.

G_M

The advantage of using an agent, assuming you have a good one, is that it takes much of the time and responsibility away from you (though you are still ultimately responsible of course). If you are new to letting, this can be helpful.

But of course it costs. And there's the risk of ending up with a rubbish agent, which is worse still.

If you DIY, you save the fees. But you need to ensure you have the time, and more importantly, have a good understanding of what is involved.

Oh- and being local helps!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12