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What are your thoughts on the value letting agents provide?


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Hi all,

I've been thinking recently about the value letting agents provide, given the ever increasing fees (specifically for finding tenants instead of managing properties). Has anyone had any particularly bad experiences, or come across letting agents that they think provide good value for money?

Interested to hear everyone's views!

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I think the question you. should be asking yourself is “do I have the knowledge and skills to manage a rental property myself” If the answer is yes you would have an idea of the work involved that letting agents do. But it is all about getting the right one

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I probably have a biased viewpoint because I've been with the same lettings agents for over 15 years.

The arrangement i have with them is they find me tenants that meet my criteria, they deal with referencing, provide rent guarantee insurance and handle 70% of the documentation including the AST and deposit protection. Because they handle all my properties i am able to get a discount on the normal fees.

Am I happy with what they do ?.....generally yes. I have had the occasional dissagreement.....but all very amicable. We bounce ideas off each other and it's probably fair to say we have helped each other many times. I appreciate their knowledge and experience, they welcome seasoned landlords who are on the same wavelength.

Over the years I've learnt that nothing in life is perfect and it's not worth searching for perfection. So, when, for example, I find a new junior member of their staff has made a mistake I don't get to upset because of the overall value that they bring to my property lettings business. 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Grampa said:

I think the question you. should be asking yourself is “do I have the knowledge and skills to manage a rental property myself” If the answer is yes you would have an idea of the work involved that letting agents do. But it is all about getting the right one

This is more about the process of searching for tenants rather than managing the property. I'm just interested to hear people's pain points with these letting agents / how you think the service could be improved

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2 minutes ago, Richlist said:

I probably have a biased viewpoint because I've been with the same lettings agents for over 15 years.

The arrangement i have with them is they find me tenants that meet my criteria, they deal with referencing, provide rent guarantee insurance and handle 70% of the documentation including the AST and deposit protection. Because they handle all my properties i am able to get a discount on the normal fees.

Am I happy with what they do ?.....generally yes. I have had the occasional dissagreement.....but all very amicable. We bounce ideas off each other and it's probably fair to say we have helped each other many times. I appreciate their knowledge and experience, they welcome seasoned landlords who are on the same wavelength.

Over the years I've learnt that nothing in life is perfect and it's not worth searching for perfection. So, when, for example, I find a new junior member of their staff has made a mistake I don't get to upset because of the overall value that they bring to my property lettings business. 

 

 

Thanks, this is interesting! Sounds like a good set up. Do you think lower fees is the only way they could improve, or are you just happy because they manage to take away a lot of the hassle associated with renting out the properties? Intrigued to figure out what makes a good letting agent so I know what I'm looking for...

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As with most things in life....Landlords receive benefits from their lettings agent in direct proportion to the effort they expend.

An example:

A landlord who has a detailed tenant criteria, meets potential tenants, maintains the property, keeps up to speed with legal requirements, follows recommended procedures, is familiar with best practice, provides quick response & is hands on when issues arise, works closely with his lettings agent etc etc.

Is not gonna have to many pain points with his agent compared to....

A landlord who has a lettings agent choose his tenant, has others maintain it, expects his agent to do all the legal and procedural stuff, isn't interested in a quick fix when problems arise and just contacts his agent at the start and end of the tenancy.

Landlords, just like lettings agents, come in all shapes and sizes. Problems are not always down to their agent.

I think you are asking the wrong question and are likely to draw the wrong conclusion from the responses.

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2 minutes ago, Richlist said:

As with most things in life....Landlords receive benefits from their lettings agent in direct proportion to the effort they expend.

An example:

A landlord who has a detailed tenant criteria, meets potential tenants, maintains the property, keeps up to speed with legal requirements, follows recommended procedures, is familiar with best practice, provides quick response & is hands on when issues arise, works closely with his lettings agent etc etc.

Is not gonna have to many pain points with his agent compared to....

A landlord who has a lettings agent choose his tenant, has others maintain it, expects his agent to do all the legal and procedural stuff, isn't interested in a quick fix when problems arise and just contacts his agent at the start and end of the tenancy.

Landlords, just like lettings agents, come in all shapes and sizes. Problems are not always down to their agent.

I think you are asking the wrong question and are likely to draw the wrong conclusion from the responses.

Agreed that you only get out as much as you put in.

It may be that I'm asking the wrong person, as you're clearly very happy with your letting agent! It sounds like if I asked you 'how could you make your letting agent even better?' there wouldn't be much you could think of (which definitely isn't a bad thing for you!).

Having a few bad experiences with letting agents recently, I was just intrigued to see the main issues people come up against / how others think the experience of finding the best tenants could be improved.

What do you think the right question would be?

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