How much do landlords pay letting agents.

ikorodu

I'm thinking of letting property out and would welcome others views on letting agents and their costs.

I'm interested in how much landlords are paying letting agents for managing their property and what the landlord gets in terms of service.

Thanks

somethingcorporate

Full management for 9.6% including VAT. Its a decent service, I know the LAs through them being managing agents when we lived there so they know if they get something wrong I will be quickly on the phone to them!

Previously had full management for 10% including VAT through Baistow Eves - utter rubbish, never did anything and were criminally negligent (failed to do the gas safety certificate despite constant reminders) so terminated the contract early due to a major breach. I would NOT recommend these guys.

ikorodu

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Full management for 9.6% including VAT. Its a decent service, I know the LAs through them being managing agents when we lived there so they know if they get something wrong I will be quickly on the phone to them!

Previously had full management for 10% including VAT through Baistow Eves - utter rubbish, never did anything and were criminally negligent (failed to do the gas safety certificate despite constant reminders) so terminated the contract early due to a major breach. I would NOT recommend these guys.

Thanks for the info.

Can I ask what is classed as 'full management'? You mention gas cert, would the cost of that be included in full management or just the arranging of it?

Pixie5740

It's not just fees for managing the property that letting agents charge. There are tenant finder fees, tenant referencing fees, check-in fees, tenancy renewal fees, fees for charging fees, the list goes on and on.

As a landlord your goal will be to find good, long term tenants. Probably a 6 to 12 month AST (assuming England or Wales) and then a periodic tenancy (either contractual or statutory). The letting agencies goal will be to extract as much money out the you and the tenant as possible which will mean charging you both for signing new fixed term agreements every 6 or 12 months, or charging you for evicting the tenant and more tenancy finder fees.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

The service from letting agents to both tenants and LLs can vary wildly; there are no real industry standards or basic professional training (ie knowledge of housing law). If possible get word of mouth recommendations from other LLs in the area. Read the contract carefully. Do they have an in-house handyman?

G_M

Fees should be a secondary consideration.

* Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

tea-bag

Full managed I pay 8% all in but have used the agent for years.

somethingcorporate

ikorodu wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

Can I ask what is classed as 'full management'? You mention gas cert, would the cost of that be included in full management or just the arranging of it?

They look after everything, if the boiler goes they will get it repaired without contacting me and can spend up to £250 without contacting me first. It's a fairly common clause in full management contracts but lots of agents call you about every little bit of spend - I would rather they kept the tenant happy and fixed things quickly than bother me over a £50 repair.

I pay for the gas safety cert (they just take it off the rent) but they arrange it.

They also don't charge me any tenant finding fees (or any other for that matter) but perhaps this is due to our relationship developing over a few years now. They also know we'll be using them as the EA when we come to sell in a couple of months time.

breaking_free

A typical tenant finder fee here in Hertfordshire is the first one and a half month's rent - management fees are added on top of that.

To demonstrate how much this can vary though, I have a property in Ireland that is fully managed as I live in the UK. The tenant finder fee is included in the management fee (so it's effectively zero). The property management fee works out around 12.5% - worth every penny if you have a good manager.

theartfullodger

Too much usually: And many of those agents are not that good - there are some otherwise, I have a good one.

somethingcorporate

theartfullodger wrote: »

Too much usually: And many of those agents are not that good - there are some otherwise, I have a good one.

Me too, but only after going through a god-awful one first.

If you find a good one then grab them with both hands and don't let them get away!!