Any advice for renting your property? Post Reply

[btcmum]

We are thinking about putting our property (four bed family house 'between the commons') on the market to let and was wondering if any of you lovely lot have advice, tips or expertise in this area?

It's a new process to us so just wondering if it's the norm to pay the agents to manage the property during the rental period or whether this is do-able yourself? We are staying quite local so potentially we could take care of things. Also, any personal recommendations of local agents for this would be great.... rather spoilt for choice here!!!!

Thanks so much,

BTCMUM X

[AbbevilleMummy]

We have an investment property and tried to manage it ourselves but it became quite stressful! Now we pay around 8% per month to have it managed which is more than worth it!

[AJ2012]

we have an investment property and rent it. We use Urban Lettings. They do get slightly less rent than other agencies but the fees are enough lower that it makes up for it. They have provided a very good pretty personal service for us. We haven't had any void periods. Ask for Christian.

[NYE31]

We too have an investment property. Don't use Realm Estates, do get several quotes, do consider that even if a property firm manage it for you, they will still be bothering you whenever your tenants do & you pay a hefty % for v.little.

[hjpm]

I offer a pay as you go management service across SW London. I set this up 6 months ago to offer an efficient and high standard of service alongside a fair pricing structure. I manage several family houses between the commons and would be very happy to speak to you regarding using a management agent for your house, both in general, and using HJ Property Management specifically. Please do visit my website www.hjpm.co.uk for more information or call 0208 355 3532.

[tinkerbellmummy]

We have a flat that we rent between the commons - for last two years we let and managed it ourselves by putting an ad on gumtree and also on this website. We had to re-rent it before Xmas and weren't so successful - probably due to time of year so we ended up using Rampton Baseley to let it - but we manage it ourselves. I personally don't think it's worth paying for it to be managed as the agents just ring you up anyway to ask questions and if you know your own house then you probably already know what is likely to go wrong and how to fix things. Just make sure you have a good plumber/electrician/ gas certificate man etc all lined up so when things do need fixing you know who to call.

Using agents takes hassle away from doing credit checks etc for peace of mind, but we're a bit gutted that we are now down on rent and have to pay agency fees too. Might be worth trying yourself first especially as between the commons you are likely to attract nice professionals who will hopefully be trustworthy and look after the house.and if its a disaster then you'll be happy to pay agency fees next time! Good luck!

[dudette]

Coming at this from the other side, I'm currently renting a house which we moved into last September. I signed on with all the agents on Northcote Road and they were all pretty good except for Cluttons. I found a house through them I wanted to offer on, but I had a special condition (not that special - I had it on my previous rented house and have it on my current house) I wanted to put into the lease. The agent then became really aggressive and said the landlord would definitely refuse and when I asked how he knew he said all their landlords would refuse it as it was so unfair. We ended up having an argument (I've dealt with a lot of agents during the last few years and never got close to an argument with any of them) and I told his manager that I still wanted to offer but didn't want to deal with him. They sent me through a form to fill in but I got cold feet as I thought if they were that difficult during the offer stage they could become a nightmare later. They never chased me up on the offer and the house was empty for several months after. I wouldn't touch then with a bargepole. I also found Edmund Cude a bit insipid and not very helpful.

My current house is rented through Douglas and Gordon. They have lovely, helpful agents and their maintenance department has been fine so far.

[dizzymum]

We have lived abroad for just over 2 years now and have rented out our family home in Balham.
We didn't use a letting agent/management company for the first year and although we got slightly more money it was horrible dealing with nasty tenents. It all get rather stressful and they ended up moving out without giving full notice period as they'd bought somewhere and didn't want to pay rent and mortgage. We had a contract, but there's not a whole lot you can do to enforce it and financially it's just not worth chasing it.
We've now used Jacksons for a year and they have been brilliant. They deal with everything, quite often come to us with a problem only when they have a solution (tenents didn't have good enough credit rating so they agreed 6 months rent up front before they came to me with that). We are not really contactable by phone and go for long stretches without internet access, so are not in the same position as you, but would now always use an agent as it makes life so much easier. They use the builders/plumbers that I want them to, organised inventory, safety certificates, cleaning etc etc. Not to say all agents are great, but Jacksons have earned every penny I've paid them as far as I'm concerned.
Just one word of advice, I hadn't appreciated that even when people make an offer, they often then have to give 2 months notice on their current property, so make sure you put it on the market well before you want it rented.

[Pc1008]

It's doable to manage yourself , just let through an agent. I have the British gas landlords cover on my property that takes care of most day to day issues as tenants can ring direct for plumber etc via this cover. Also worth having a good handyman or be willing to pop round yourself for small jobs. Agencies charge a fee and get jobs down without thinking of cost so not really worth it in my book.

I let through kfh but my flat is in wimbledon.

Good luck

[callaghansmith]

I think it all depends how much time you can potentially devote to managing issues. We have an investment property that we manage ourselves and have had the same tenant for about 3 years now so relatively stress free. Although we do have boiler and plumbing insurance so if there are any emergencies she has a number she can phone up and get someone out to fix it without needing to get hold of us first. Without that insurance I think I would have been reluctant to manage it ourselves. Also we pop round about every three months to just check in on things to see how things are going and to get a list of things that might need attention before they become big issues. It also means that she knows she can't let the place go completely to pieces as we will be visiting.