Letting Agent Rant!

CrazyAngel_3

Hi All

This is just a rant really, to see what other people experiences have been. I have a property that I have let out for the last three years. I terminated my last tenants tenancy agreement because they never paid on time and they wrecked my house so much that I had to gut the place and start again.

I was too lenient on them and ive now been burnt, but ive learnt my lesson to be more stringent in looking for further tenants.

I have instructed an agent to find me new tenants and manage the property. They have been given a clear list of requirements

No DSS
No dogs
No cats
No smokers

They have come to me with two potential tenants. One single mum on benefits, and one with a dog, who wanted a reduced deposit and reduced rent!

It seems to be so difficult to find nice tenants (I once had a lady who used my house to offer her 'services' to men as well as the ones who wrecked the place)

I just dont understand why the agents are phoning me with inappropriate tenants. Why waste everyones time when they know I will say no!

theartfullodger

To become a letting agent you require no qualifications, no training, no regulation, no criminal records check. ANYONE can set up as a letting agent & be trading within an hour.

The last Labour government was going to bring in regulation & control of letting agents. Dave Cameron decided to scrap that.. so you know which political party the letting agents have supporting them.

You did instruct the agents in writing, keeping a copy?? You did instruct the agents not to let to anyone without your specific agreement?? (If not the are probably legally entitled to let the place to the next benefit-scrounger (eg a Windsor on the civil list...) who walks through the door...

Cheers!

PS There are some good agents: I have one, and take them out for lunch each year, me paying...

lime1996

Maybe the single mum on benefits can get someone to guarantee her payments? Not all single parent families are that way by choice.

On the other hand you could wait and see if another tenant comes along. A friend just tried to rent out their house again, (they have rented it successful for a number of years). One tenant wanted the garden fenced in two parts, even though there is wooden fencing all around the garden plus they wanted £200 knocking off the monthly rent and they wanted to bring in the three dogs they had. My friend said no dogs allowed.

Another tenant offered £400 below the monthly rent, plus wanted to decorate it to their taste and they only wanted a six month lease. In the end my friend said no to both. It seems common place for people to ask for reducing the rent payment and sometimes a list of demands.

ognum

I think you have to make your agent aware how desperate or not you are to let your properties.

I would rather have no tenant than a bad tenant. I also use more that one agent to advertise. It is good to have competition between them and makes them keener to let your property than another one because if they don't do it the other agent will!

You need to be aware of your property though, if it's in an area and at a price that will attract HB tenants then that it what you are likely to get. If its a family house you may need to accept pets with stipulations on the number, garden maintainence etc.

Everyone is looking for a bargain, I tend to price my rents at a position that I can drop them a little to make the tenant feel like they have a bargain. I am also happy to have a void if the right person doesn't come along immediately.

robbo1948

Hi,

I got burnt a few years ago in similar circumstances to you and trying to sell a house recently in the poor market conditions forced my hand into becoming a landlord again.

I did lots of research, and ended up reading a book on the subject. To cut a long story short, google a site called letting focus - buy the book (about £6 from amazon) and once read use the links on the website to a letting agent called upad (the link provides a 50% discount).

I found lots of suitable tenants for my property in a very short space of time at a cost of £50, I manage the let myself and only used upad for the advertising (rightmove and all other major listings covered). All the prospective tenants they found me met your criteria and gave me a choice of around 15 people to determine who I felt was most suitable.

They also reference the tenant you choose (at a cost to the tenant) so you have employment, previous landlord and financial references to hand for piece of mind.

Although it means you put in a little work, you end up with having the say on who you rent to - without having to pay managements fees and a monthly deduction of your rent to an agent... all for no particular guarantee.

I hope this helps

CrazyAngel_3

Thanks for the replies. I used to manage the property myself, but with the last set of tenants I decided it was too much hassle and I dont want anything to do with the place.

When the agent came round I interrogated him! I dont think he realised what he was letting himself in for as I fired a million and one questions at him.

They are fully aware that I would rather have the place empty then let out to someone who doesnt pay/doesnt look after the place. They also know that I am extremely picky and will not let to anyone without running my own checks on any potential tenants first (I work in debt recovery / litigation and have access to a number of referencing tools).

It is a three bedroom house, so I know I will get families looking at the place which im more than happy with. The dog thing is because I allowed a dog with my last tenants, however they left it all day when they went to work and it ruined my wooden floors, chewed my doors and door frames beyond repair, urianted all over the house, and wrecked all the carpets. They were dirty horrible people anyway, and clearly didnt do any cleaning the whole time they were there (and had a baby, which is even worse!).

So, im going to keep waiting for someone and im definately going to have a look at that letting focus website. From what you say it sounds pretty useful.

G_M

CrazyAngel wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I used to manage the property myself, but with the last set of tenants I decided it was too much hassle and I dont want anything to do with the place.

.

The trouble with this approach is that your agent, if any good, will be fine till things go wrong.

Few agents actually manage the eviction process - so you'll be paying an agent a management fee while things go smoothly, to do things you have already done yourself perfectly adequately.

But when the tenant becomes a problem (arrears, damage etc) and needs evicting or suing, you'll still end up having to deal with it yourself.

BitterAndTwisted

If these numpty agents are presenting you with precisely the kind of prospective tenants you do not want, I'd be putting it in writing right away. Why have your time wasted deflecting one tenant after the other?

In any case, I'd want to have sight of their references and credit-checks before I OK'd any tenant. Some agents just want to get the property filled so they can get their commission asap, regardless of any potential issues on the horizon. Friends of mine were treated very poorly indeed by A Certain National Agent. Who then washed their hands of the problem once the tenant they found for them defaulted on the rent the first month it was due. And charged them a year's worth of commission on the rent the day the tenancy agreement was signed.