Letting - Can you get round an Estate Agent ?

LeapOfFaith

Hi All,

Further to my previous thread, I am now in the process of speaking with various letting agents and also looking at direct lets through OpenRent and Gumtree ...

I have found two gorgeous properties that tick a lot boxes in terms of location, size and style.

The only problem is the estate agent that is advertising both has some terrible reviews online and I have a friend who has experienced a lot of issues with them.... there letting fees are also atrocious (£540 per tenant plus additional costs for an inventory etc) ... whilst I expect to pay fees, this does seem high. I would have been able to forget this cost if they had an amazing reputation.

Maybe this is totally unfair, but I thought of popping a letter or card through the door of the property and seeing if I could get in touch with the landlord directly ? :eek:

No doubt the estate agent probably has the keys and would just bin my letter but thought it may be worth a try ? Or am I being completely unreasonable...

theartfullodger

Spend £3 with land registry and get deeds with owner's name & address, then contact them directly.

But the landlord may be well p+ss+d off at you doing this.

NB you don't have to own a place to be landlord

LeapOfFaith

theartfullodger wrote: »

Spend £3 with land registry and get deeds with owner's name & address, then contact them directly.

But the landlord may be well p+ss+d off at you doing this.

NB you don't have to own a place to be landlord

Thank you, I could give this a go, although I think I would feel a bit shady :rotfl:

DaftyDuck

The landlord has chosen to use this agency. He probably has his reasons, even if they don't suit you. If the property has been on the market for months, it's possible he would change agent or deal directly, but there's a risk it would cost him heavily. If you really want the property, go through the agent, but be forewarned of the difficulties.

dinkylink

Could be the landlord has only employed the agent to get the property let rather than manage it once let. So if you can get over the initial pain/expenditure of dealing with the agent it could be worth it. Worth asking the agent who will be the point of contact on a day to day basis.

Regardless, I wouldn't bother trying to contact the landlord. Even if you can bypass the agent somehow it will just make the landlord suspicious. And they will no doubt still have to pay the agent for 'finding' you through their advert.

Pennywise

There's a reason why the landlord is using the agent. Perhaps they don't have the time, inclination or ability to do things directly, i.e. advertise, draft legal documents, do inventories, take references etc. If they were happy to do it all themselves, they wouldn't have appointed the agent.

Marvel1

I would not be happy if I was the landlord, I'm using the agent for a reason.

ancientofdays

You might find that the landlord is not local, in which case he or she might have chosen to use a local agency for convenience

Mela322

For future reference, our last house that we rented, the estate agent had a horrible reputation, for us, it wasn't. Fees were outrageous but they maintained the property.

New house we are renting, agent has excellent reviews. They have been a nightmare to deal with and I actually question how they feel they are qualified to manage lettings! Yes, it's that bad.

My point...I wouldn't base how good an agent is off the reviews.

LeapOfFaith

Thank you for everyone's reply! Much appreciated.

I can totally see it from a landlords perspective and will have to go through the agency, should I want to setup a viewing. I now see it isn't a good idea to approach the landlord as there's a reason they have advertised through the agent

PhilE

theartfullodger wrote: »

Spend £3 with land registry and get deeds with owner's name & address, then contact them directly.

But the landlord may be well p+ss+d off at you doing this.

NB you don't have to own a place to be landlord

A landlord using an agent would most probably be upset, by a prospective tenant tracking them down and invading their privacy. I wouldn't want to rent to such a person.