Worth the hassle? Has anyone let and managed a property themselves?

[maggiethecat]

Just completed first year of letting property and had rubbish managing agents (rent was overdue for a month, more than once, and they did not know until I told them!). Thinking of doing it ourselves this time and we've just gone on gumtree to advertise.
Any suggestions on asking prospects the right questions, getting references, selection, tenancy agreement, inventory?
Was it worth the hassle?

Instead of having an agent manage it for us we opted for an agent to find us tenants for an approx £500 finders fee, included in that are an inventory check, contract and ref. check.

used them twice now and both times worked out very well!

Pickie I must be living on another planet - did not know this existed. How would I go about finding one? Is that a fixed fee or percentage of rental income?

Oh, do you manage property yourself? if so, how is that going?

We used martin & Co (better one) and Hutton and Parker ( ok but not as good)

One was fixed fee, one was percentage I think

Managing is fine, house is only 3 years old so not much (knock on wood) that can go wrong. Plus we live within 10 minutes driving distance
and DH is capable of doing most things himself if things would go wrong.

maggie - just posted on your other thread. It is not difficult to manage a property yourself, but it's probably a good idea to read up on it over the weekend. We let DH's old place ourselves, but I am a property lawyer so probably had a head start.

You need a really good form of Assured Shorthold Tenancy lease and to check up on the legislation surrounding holding the tenant's rent deposit in a seperate account etc etc.

Another thing to be wary of at the moment (and I am not suggesting for a second you are doing anything wrong!) is that HM Revenue & Customs are having a crackdown on tax paid on income from a rental property. They are surfing Gumtree and Loot etc and matching addresses, so you need to keep reciepts and paperwork in order.

will take all this on board - thanks much.

"Where did you get your AST from? We used the agent's (Oyez) one and it did not even have provision for the tenant giving notice if they did not want to continue tenancy at end of term. That's how we've been caught out - tenant said they would stay and then at last minute said bye."

Maggie, didn;t want to jump from thread to thread, so posted your comment here

Erm, i actually drafted the AST myself (see below) because I didn't like the Oyez forms much.

Sorry to hear your tenant's gave so little warning. You have to be careful with notice provisions - watch out if the flat rent amounts to more than £25,000 per year - if it does the lease is not considered to be an AST under the Housing Act 1988 and another notice to quit regime applies. I don't know if this was the case for your flat.

Get rid of the rubbish agent ASAP!! I had over 2 years grief, 3 trips to the Small Claims Court and had to make a Statutory Demand (the final step before liquidating the company) before I got all my money back

I now manage the property myself though still have the original tenants so haven't had to find new ones yet. When I do I will go through an reputable agent who will have been recommended (this shower took over when original agent retired)

Its an old flat and even so hasn't been too much trouble. If you are not practically minded find a few reliable people - plumber, electrian, etc

I have found these websites useful:
Residential Landlords
National Landlords Assoc

I have a house which I have let for the past 6 years - to the same tenant! I advertised locally and interviewed tenants myself. I felt I knew the type of person I was looking for. The tenants who are there were really fussy about cleanliness and even checked inside the oven. That made me think they'd be very clean and tidy, and they are. Just make sure you take up 3 references before you let the place, use a short term tenancy agreement and go round with them BEFORE they move in, making a full inventory and condition of the place. It's also useful if you can make sure you have a good plumber, handyman and electrician that you can call on. Also, remember that you need a gas safety certificate annually. That's about it really. I find if you're open and helpful and dont' charge quite as much as you could, then you'll keep them onside. Good luck.

yes it is worth while - just get the agent to take out all the security checks and references - this weeds out the people with previous rent arrears and ccj's on them. they will also do the inventory and photos which can be compared when the tenancy ends. do a tenancy agreement for you not too expensive.

have done this a lot - and there are good tenants out there who care about the property and pay their rent on time. remember it is a business and needs to be treated like one.

I self manage our properties and use the ‘Open Rent’ platform. It has all the contracts and guides you through the process. It places your advert on rightmove too. Highly recommended!

Wow, this thread is 18 years old!

Have since let and managed properties myself. Used Upad
at the start to find tenants but think they’ve disappeared and use Openrent now.

Generally satisfied with the service they offer although not so much with the change whereby they deal with the deposit as agent and I no longer have the option of depositing it with one of the schemes and dealing with it at end of tenancy. I’ll see how it pans out when the tenancy ends and how Openrent will deal with.

Generally managing has been ok for us, definitely on top of things better than agents.

So much has changed since we started out though - tax regime, RRA, getting to grip with MTD this year.

Would I do it all again? I think I would!