should I manage my rented out property myself?

[Summerhillsquare]

I rented out my former home. I have had a letting agent who found the tenant and I pay 10% monthly for ongoing management. The tenant is great, she has my email address as I keep up the bigger work in the garden for her.

Problem is, the very few repairs required, the agent is not proactive. I have found out this week that a light fitting tenant reported in January has not been fixed. The last problem I had (another fitting) I went round and did it myself. I am not pleased to be paying for stuff when I end up doing it myself!

If you have the time then yes I would cut out the middleman especially when they aren’t providing the service you pay for

I do. I live close enough that I can visit if needs be and I have a long term tenant who I trust.

I manage myself as agents are often not very good. It can be time consuming but it is your investment and you wan to protect it. It also means that you have a relationship with the tenants, which if the tenant is reasonable, can be useful. (For example tenants have told me they are looking to buy, I then have early notice that the property is coming up but can also work with them to find the best vacate date and in return they are helpful with viewings.)

I really recommend joining the NRLA. There is an awful lot of regulation and they are a good way of keeping up to date. They also have a good help line.

Thanks for that tip @Needmoresleep I was wondering if there was a specialist advisor for landlords.

My husband manages a property we own. It's sometimes a real hassle - there was an issue with the boiler a few weeks ago and he had to do 10 or 15 hours or admin to sort out it getting fixed. There was also an issue on Christmas day a few years ago and he had to spend quite a lot of the day trying to get it sorted. However, he decided to manage it himself as the letting agent (first PurpleBricks and then a high street chain) were useless.

If you have spare time, I'd recommend it. But if you have small children, a hectic job, etc, it can put a real strain on your quality of life.

Yes if it was something really tricky I'd be reluctant, but then if they can't be bothered to manage basic things like a new light fitting then they'd probably avoid it anyway.

Only if you have a Rolodex full with reliable trades you can call on in an emergency and you don’t mind being called at all hours in whatever situation you are in (a friend took a call in the departure lounge of an airport for example)- that’s where the money is well spent for an agent

The house is in good nick and I have the electrician, chimney sweep, gardener and builder. And I can decorate!

I’d add that management fees are tax deductible. My management fee also includes services like renewals, tenant referencing, dealing with block management (leasehold properties) and (if needed) all the eviction admin. You are a braver landlord than I if you do go it alone!

I wouldn’t recommend it personally. Agencies can do all the checks on tenants and deal with legalities and things that need to be fixed . It’s worth it not to be stressed by all that.

I don’t but our agents are really good and organise repairs quickly and also organise all the snagging between tenants. For me it’s the unpredictability of urgent repairs- could happen when you’re on holiday, in the middle of a major family crisis or as pp said, on Christmas Day. I just like the security of knowing that the agent will be able to deal with it. I pay 6% plus VAT but multiple properties so get a bit of a discount but I think std rate is only 7.5%. I am south west. Maybe get recommendations for a different agent.

I used to do it myself but the legislation now is much more complex and I prefer to use an agent who is on top of the changes. They also have better/faster access to tradesmen. I'd look for a better agent first.

We used to use an estate agent, but only to collect rent and do tenants' checks. The agency informed us of an increase in their fees.
We then decided to go it alone.
The agent wanted to be "paid off", but as they hadn't found any of the 3 tenants (when one person moved out, the other two tenants always found replacements), I refused and they didn't pursue it further.
So do check if you have to pay a "penalty" if you want to keep your tenants.

We rent the flat out now via open rent.
We have tradesmen that are reliable and live close to the flat.
Yes, it's work, things will go wrong, and they will go wrong at awkward times.
But I prefer dealing with tenants directly and be able to react quickly when there are problems.

We have never used Agents ..I buy the Tenancy Agreements to complete with the tenants. My husband carries out repair works or instructs plumbers, plasterers, tree surgeons, etc

Another poster mentioned that management fees are tax deductible but I am not sure …? Rules have changed and I believe the HMRC tax us on all rents received and there are no longer any allowable expenses - none at all!

So mortgage payments, repairs, management fees, ground rents, etc cannot be allowable expenses, set off against Tax

Not true - I have my tax return done by an accountant and many deductions are made before calculating my”profit” which is taxed. Mortgage payments are where tax deduction is no longer available.

Agents are mostly rubbish, have a go at doing it yourself under the circumstances. The fact you visit the property regularly will help you establish a good relationship with the tenant. Your paying the agent for nothing.
I manage mine, but I do have a handy DP, so as others have said work towards building up a few reliable trade contacts.

Thank you. Yes I would have to pay 6 months fees if I binned the agents. Plus if the tenant wanted to buy the property they get a standard estate agents fee! I wish I'd been better prepared to select an agent.

@Summerhillsquare I know what you mean!
It's been a (sometimes expensive) learning curve for us too.
Our initial letting agent was great, but he left and then his replacement was a mixture of inexperienced and awkward to deal with.

Yes, awkward is often what they are, as if I'm putting them out in some way. For 60 quid a month 😆

DH and I manage our 2 tenancies ourselves, but DH is handy and I am good with admin. If DH was too busy/not handy/not around I would use an agent, BUT I would hunt around for a good one.

Having rented myself I know how absolutely useless they can be, while raking in 8%+!!

@CyclingAddict - your tax information is incorrect, most of the things you list are still allowable expenses. Just have a look at HMRC website and their incredibly dull Youtube videos for landlords!

Visited today to find there has been a mould problem, that the agent has not told me about, so I think I am giving them notice shortly! Still have to pay several months fees of course according to the agreement, but considering they havent provided the service I wonder how I can best get out of it while retaining my tenant.

I do my properties myself. I find if you do it yourself you know it's been done properly.

I much prefer doing it myself. I find it reasonably easy to get trades these days although it was a real nightmare during Covid. I am waiting on some work to be done now but it is the weather which is holding it up which agents can't do anything about. You have to keep on top of the admin but it's not arduous, you just have to be organised. You will keep your property in better order too because it's in your interest to do so when it's not really in the agent's interests. Most of the are notoriously bad at getting stuff done and then the landlord gets the blame. I think most tenants prefer it too but the best thing for me is not having to deal with letting agents who are almost without exception dreadful people!

I used to rent out a house that I managed myself. I had Landlord insurance through Direct Line and had an emergency call-out on it, so if anything happened then the tenant could call the insurance emergency line and deal with it directly themselves. I would get a text saying that they had logged a call-out. It was a really helpful thing to have. Apart from that it was very straightforward to sort out any other enquiries myself as I lived nearby.