Tenants moving out, re-letting help!

rtho782

Loads of people manage properties without agents. Before I bought my last 3-4 rented homes were done this way.

But it doesn't work if you're not local to the property, as you can't go there for viewings, emergencies, etc.

If you want to have a property miles away, you need an agent.

Pixie5740

Lots of landlords manage their properties themselves.

The following agencies allow landlords to post adverts on Zoopla, RightMove etc:

UPad, OpenRent, Visium, LettingProperty.com, I Am The Agent

You'd then be responsible for sorting out viewings, referencing, repairs, etc yourself or rather your parents would. It seems a bit much to me to expect a friend to take on some of the landlord's work such as viewings though.

wesleyad

Can't you just get a local agent (or even Foxtons again) to do a tenant finding service but not the management? I've used agents in the past for this due to being out of the country, cost me £250, and they did everything up to check in day at which point I took over tenancy with no further involvement from them

Marvel1

Do they have money to cover their current place if a tenant voids a period?


Do they have money to fix a broken boiler?

Fuzzyness

could you not just use a tenant finding service from a local agent. they will show them round and do referencing etc.

Mojisola

apeskin wrote: »

Ultimately it's a quite an awkward situation as the rent of the property pays for the place they current live, and covers a significant portion of their income post retirement.

This is why I would get out of renting.

They are in a very vulnerable situation if they are relying on rent to pay their own housing costs.

FBaby

Your parents have been very lucky to have great tenants. Many are, but unfortunately, some are not and when you do get problematic tenants, dealing with the situation can become a full-time job.

Also, do they/you appreciate all the legal requirements that come with being a LL and the consequences of making even a basic error?

Cakeguts

Foxtons apart, my limited experience of letting in London told me that agents who do the management want tenants that don't cause them any problems. That means that tenants who are looking to rent without going to a letting agent tend to be the ones who don't want to have their references looked at too closely. So the risk is greater of getting a problem tenant. Plus if the rents from this house are paying your parents housing costs they have got "all their eggs in one basket" which is not a good idea. The point is that if you find the agents fees too high you can't really afford to let this property because the fees are going to be a lot less than refurbishing a property that has been damaged by a tenant. What are your parents going to do if the tenant stops paying the rent?

The whole rental thing sounds to me like a bad idea because it is only one property and you are trying to do it on the cheap.

To live on rentals you have to have several properties so that if one is empty then the others make up the income. You also can't spend all the income because you have to allow for repairs, voids and other expenses.

What I would suggest is that your parents sell the house and find a less risky way to fund their retirement.

GDB2222

Residential Landlords Association have a reference service. They can also help with tenancy agreement.

There's loads of palaver renting. You need to know what you are doing with the paperwork and the deposit? Do you have a checklist?

If none of you live nearby, what will you do when there's an issue at the property? That's assuming that you find a tenant!

AnotherJoe

How would you plan to manage the place remotely ?
Anything minor goes wrong, do you just trust what the tenants say and get a workman from the yellow pages out for them paying whatever?
Something major goes wrong, let's say roof, boiler, plumbing causing flooding, how do you deal with that ?
How do you check the tenants aren't misusing the place ?

I don't think you've thought this through at all, whatever Foxtons have done you've been lucky with good tenants and someone taking at least some of the strain.