Renting out our house in UK while on temporary visa overseas - what to look out for?

[HighFibreDiet]

We are trying to decide on estate agents to find tenants and manage our house while we are away. It's very hard to decide - does anyone have any insights or stories of your experiences that might help us decide?

Also, one of the agencies seems to detail loads of different cases where we would incur additional costs (e.g. visiting the house while during an empty period). Is it likely that the other agencies would charge extra for various things but have not specified this up front, or would you usually expect 'management fees' to include everything?

Thanks

When we rented out our house, the management fees covered everything. Obviously, once tennants are settled, it is just a case of collecting rent. But there is a lot of work getting the house ready, so it all balances out.

The most important piece of advice that we weren't given was insure for tenants who don't pay their rent. We had nearly a year without money and no recourse.

Thanks v much. I am very dubious about the company that seems to charge lots of extra fees - as dp pointed out, it's almost as if they get more money for not renting our house out! We want to make sure they are trying to keep it occupied as much as possible. Thanks also to kreecher. I need to hunt around for good landlord's insurance.

Also, have a clause in the lease, if it's not standard, that you can give them notice if you need the property for your own use.