Any landlords out there? Do you use an agent or do it yourself?

[janeybooks]

I have been letting out a flat for the last few years and using an agent. Beginning to resent the monthly fees they take but nervous about the logistics of doing it myself, especially finding new tennants. Could you tell me your experience of this and any advice? Thanks!

I haven't tried it myself, partly because our agents have found us very good tenants and I am a bit of a coward about going it alone. At the moment there is a rental glut in many areas and I do think you would have to make an awful lot of viewings to secure a tenant unless your property is an absolute corker.

With agent as I am abroad. She is fab - like a scary headmistress. She scares me, and I'm rapidly approaching 43!

I do it myself but its for two flats in a good area in london so easy to find tenants. Otherwise.. its very easy and great being able to keep a handle on costs

I did it myself for years but now I use an agent and I've been very pleased with what they have done so far. I think they save us money, all things considered, and they got us much better tenants.

Thanks for replies. It's definitely getting a food tennant that worries me. What are the absolute 'musts' you should look for when choosing tennant?

Meant good obviously!

Checkable references and spotless credit history; if you can meet them and get a feeling for them - my arsehole radar is pretty good. Sounds mean but we have had the most trouble from young tenants - just out of college - who don't know how to run their own home and get extremely stroppy if you won't carry out all maintenance for them (we have had requests to change lightbulbs/open windows; one even wrote to the agents claiming we had taken away the fridge - it was integrated...). So ideal tenant will be mid-20s or older, have rented before and have immaculate references and credit history.

Don't be too put off by someone who asks for certain upgrades before taking a lease unless they are, iyo, ridiculous. Putting in a new carpet or buying a new fridge might be worth it for the right tenant.

would agree with lala, gut feeling is as good as anything, as anyone can fabricate references etc. your real protection is in a good contract, reasonable sized deposit, and as much rent in advance as possible.

with agent when we were abroad - they were crap!
ourselves when we came back, 1st tenant only stayed 3mo but v appologetic about moving, her job got transferred to scotland. 2nd tenant stayed about 5y, she was FAB!, and we kept the rent lower than it could have gone as a good tenant and no gaps made it worthwhile.
Sold house when she moved out.

we did 1.5mo rent as deposit.

We use the 'tenant find' service provided by a local agent, but don't use the agent for managing the property. That way we pay a big whack out of the first month's rent, but no ongoing costs after that. The management fee seems like money for old rope tbh - they would basically just go round and check the property once every 3 months or so, and will call an electrician etc if needed. But our property is near to where we live, so we do that side of it ourselves.

I have had tenants who have successfully managed to fabricate and/or bullshit their way through professional credit and landlord checks. So I think it's a lot more random than you think. Using a good agent means there is a layer between you and them, so more inspections take place and if there starts to be any funny business with the rent, they come down on the tenants like a ton of bricks. I also have landlord insurance which covers legal costs in case of people doing a runner (which has only happened once).

I found bankers and IT professionals were the best paid but the worst tenants in the long run. Doctors and postgraduate students who have owned their own home in the past have been the best. But it's so hard to tell.

We do it ourselves and advertise on gumtree.
I'd agree you need a pretty good instinct about people and, touchwood, all our tenants have been brilliant so far.
I have been approached by 'vetting agencies' on behalf of agents for references for my previous tenants, and tbh I could have told a whole lot of lies and they wouldn't be any wiser, so wouldn;t really trust agents to do reference checks as thoroughly as I would myself.

One of the reasons it;s easier for us to do ourselves is because we only live round the corner.

Don't have the flat anymore but it ourselves. We were really lucky that anytime we were looking for tenants we just put the word out through friends and family and usually found someone that way. Also people you know won't recommend you someone they think will mess up in case it reflects badly on them!

My mum only lived down the road so it was easy to check that they hadn't burnt the place down or anything.

Did have one disaster though but suppose that could happen even through an agent.

Would be more inclined to let to families as they're less likely to do a runner or damage the property as they have children there.

Mostly would put it down to instinct. Just try to be there when they're viewing the property to see what you think.

We use an agent, but a private style one, not a real estate firm. For me it's better as I don't like to deal with people if we have issues, so there is someone else to do the confronting/evicting if need be.