Letting house through agent, what do I need to know

[raydown]

We are moving abroad for a minimum of 2 years. We don't want to sell our house so we will need to rent it out. I've contacted local letting agents and they're sending me details of their services. What do I need to think about? I think we'd have to use the fully managed service because we won't be in the country. We will leave the house unfurnished but should we leave the white goods (dishwasher, w machine, dryer, fridge freezer?)

the answer to the last question depends on the local rental market where you are. The 'but' about leaving the white goods means that you have to replace them if they go wrong.

you need to know quite a lot! The letting agency business is unregulated so shop around, and make sure your agent belongs at least to one of the associations, ARLA is one. No guarantee of service or competence but some protection.

you need to tell your mortgage company and change to a buy to let mortgage. You need special landlord insurance. You need insurance against malicious damage and legal expenses to evict non-payers or wreckers. You need a gas safe certificate renewed annually and should have an electrical check. You need a thorough inventory, check ins and check outs.

thanks specialsubject, we've had a landlords gas safety certificate issued and we got a periodic electrical test last year so that should still be valid but I'll check.

I've spoken to the mortgage company and they said it should be fine but I'm waiting for them to send written confirmation. I hadn't even thought about special insurance, there's nothing I like less than trying to compare between different insurance companies.

...especially as I don't think landlord's insurance is on the comparison engines.

be aware that Direct Line don't cover malicious damage.

other things; take copies of instruction manuals for anything you are leaving, keep the originals, leave the copies in the house. Write a quickstart guide for the tenants; the more information you give, the easier it is for them and the less hassle there is. Tell them where stopcocks and switches are, make sure everything works, finish off all DIY. Remove anything you care about.

All the above but also detach yourself from this property as much as you can as it will not be your home for 2 years and will probably need some work when you return. DH and I have let properties for 8 years, the only one I used to hate going to inspect was the one we lived in when we first got together. As soon as I detached myself (when I fell in love with the house we are in now) it became bearable. In my experience a tenant will never take the same care of a house, that is not a slur on tenants (I know some tenants that do) it's just a fact (we have properties in high turn over areas).

You need to make sure your agent will credit check any potential tenant to the standard that you want - easier than getting rid of a non paying tenant.
Decide whether you will let to someone with pets/smokers/people on housing benefit. There might not be a lot you can do if someone gets a dog once they have moved in, but you should think about it.

That's a good point about detaching myself from the house. We rented for years and whilst we were good and careful tenants we didn't care for those homes in the same way as we have done our own homes.

All the agencies I've contacted say they do credit check, I think they all use homelet and they said they'd guarantee the rent for 12 months if the tenant fails to pay.

Hate to be negative, but in my experience Agents arent that great. So dont sit back and think you can leave everything to them, payday for them is finding you a tenant - in many cases, any tenant. If it doesnt work out, so what, they can find you another one and earn another months rent for that too.
Keep on top of when rent is due, when contracts are expiring and chase the Agent. Always double check the need for any maintenance, even get quotes yourself. This is your house and no-body will care about it as much as you!

You don't HAVE to,switch to buy to let. I'm with. Nationwide and they just gave me a letter approving the change in use. You have to have a certain amount of equity.

Deff detach from the house. Mines been rented out for 6 years now and I know I cannot live in it again, despite in being in good condition. I've mentally moved on.

I shouldn't laugh but did find it funny to see your thread next to mine about being a stressed landlord! Please read mine and sort out as many of the tiny snagging issues as possible before you end up with a headache like me!
Good luck.