Landlords finding tenants without an agent

G_M

Thanks guys. If you go the agent route to find a tenant, and have them do the background checks, tenancy agreement and inventory and then leave it to you, how much do you pay for that?

allthingsmustpass wrote: »

Of course but typically what does it cost? Ballpark figure?

Impossible to say as depends on your skills, the agent's desire for business etc: half a months rent? Or go for a fixed fee if the rent is high.

Bear in mind though:
* the agent will point prospective tenants (especially the 'good' ones) at other properties first (ie the ones they will be managing which a) they earn more from and b) they have a greater interest in finding 'good' tenants)
* Their background checks may be superficial unless you a) specify and b) review them yourself. Any future tenant problems will be yours todeal with, not the agents, so how much will they care......?
c) comprehensive inventory (see b) above!

I would use them to find the prospects, but do the checks myself. And if you DO delegate the checks to the agent, then don't leave the final decision to the agent - ask them to pass you all the references/checks etc so YOU can make the final decision

camptownraces

London Agents typically charge 10% of a year's rent to the landlord for finding a tenant, doing some kind of referencing, and setting up a tenancy agreement. They almost certainly charge the poor tenant some extortionate amount too.

Doubt if there is any point in you arguing about this, as they can get all the business they want. Probably different in other parts of the country.

Mylo_The_Moggy

Well I know our ex landlady isn't doing much to get tenants for our old house.
We moved out in January this year, after renting from her for 13 years, as we bought a house, & she only advertised it on Gumtree, never saw it in the local paper or any other websites. It was empty for 9 months, then she found someone & they lasted around 2 months & now it's up for rent again. (I still live local to it) And it's on Gumtree once again.

In my opinion it sounds like she just can't be bothered as she's not advertising it very well or letting an agent sort it for her. She always managed it herself when we lived there, but was very lackadaisical.

In 12 months she's lost a fair bit of money with it being empty, apart from the 2 months.

Now that's how NOT to be a landlord lol. :rotfl:

whalster

Mylo_The_Moggy wrote: »

Well I know our ex landlady isn't doing much to get tenants for our old house.
We moved out in January this year, after renting from her for 13 years, as we bought a house, & she only advertised it on Gumtree, never saw it in the local paper or any other websites. It was empty for 9 months, then she found someone & they lasted around 2 months & now it's up for rent again. (I still live local to it) And it's on Gumtree once again.

In my opinion it sounds like she just can't be bothered as she's not advertising it very well or letting an agent sort it for her. She always managed it herself when we lived there, but was very lackadaisical.

In 12 months she's lost a fair bit of money with it being empty, apart from the 2 months.

Now that's how NOT to be a landlord lol. :rotfl:

So lucky you had this , if you were renting through an agent I'll bet you would not have been in 13 years you would soon have been sick of renewal fees never mind all the other associated hassle you get with the inbuilt disconnect from the landlord you get with an agent.
And your rent would have been higher and they would have been constantly conspiring to get you out probably without the land lady's knowledge just to create churn and make more fees .
My longest tenant was eight years ,I have a lot at five and six years how many who use an agent can say the same?