Renting house without estate agent

jessiebean

We are hoping to go and live in our house in france and rent out our home we own in Surrey. I have had a few estate agents come and have a look and they are all equally confident they can rent it. We have never done this before and when I realised that they charge 10% a month for as long as the tenant stay I was appalled. We will have to hand over £100 per month for ever. I naively thought it was a one off payment.... The question I want to put to you is what are the negatives about doing it ourselves? From what I can work out, all they do is take some good photos and advertise on all the main sites like right move, zoopla etc. Well I can do that can't I...
Advice is welcome...

pcgtron

You can get the agent's on a tennant finding service and checks only at which point you pay them to find the tennant then you manage the property yourselves.

Just remember, they may be taking 10% a month, but if you are not even in the country, what will you do when something goes wrong in the house and have to fix it. Can you be there to let tradesmen in. Can you arrange for a plumber to come out and sort a leaky pipe? can you get the pest control people to attend, and let them in if necessary.

A lot of people on here don't like agents for charging for doing nothing. I only live about an hour from my flat that I rent out but I pay an agent 10% to manage it because my work takes me all around the country, and I cannot be there or sort out problems for my tennants.

Yes, it seems expensive, but for some people it is an expense which is necessary, and in your case, not being in the country even more so I would say.

da_rule

Something else to consider as well is that the agent will (or at least should) manage the deposit and ensure it is held in the correct sort of account and deal with vetting tenants. Also, depending on your tax situation, the fee is tax deductible so that might be of interest.

As pcgtron said, very few LL's want to be woken up at 2am by a tenant with a water leak and and then have to arrange an emergency plumber, with you being out of the country this would be even more inconvenient. If you are letting a property there are various yearly tests that need to be carried out (gas etc), the agent will also arrange these for you in most cases.

Some agencies also offer to ensure the property is brought up to a good standard between lets (i.e. repair any little marks etc on the walls etc). Some even offer to keep paying you rent whilst the property is empty (I assume this works through some sort of insurance policy which part of your fee goes towards).

G_M

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