andycrosier Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 Hi, my wife and i need to hastily rent our our property and have put it with a letting agent who have offered to just find a tenant for one months rent or 'manage' the letting for 15% a month. Does anyone think its worth it i.e do they guarantee payment of tenant defaults. Or should we just take out rental insurances to cover rent? Any advice would be great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPEEDTWIN Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 15% is a bit high you should be aiming for nearer 10%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plym77 Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 Hi Crow Sorry to hyjack the post as this is nothing to do with the letting agent fee (although I agree that 15% does seem on the higher side!) Dont forget that you and your wife will have to prepare a tax return to report your rental business (and other income). Additionally, you may like to look at the structure of your finances so that if you have unqualifying finance, this could potentially become qualifying. All depends on the figures. Regards Sherena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plym77 Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 Hi Crow Sorry to hyjack the post as this is nothing to do with the letting agent fee (although I agree that 15% does seem on the higher side!) Dont forget that you and your wife will have to prepare a tax return to report your rental business (and other income). Additionally, you may like to look at the structure of your finances so that if you have unqualifying finance, this could potentially become qualifying. All depends on the figures. Regards Sherena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkirk Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Don't know the full details but I would say one months rent and 15% is too much. Last time I had a T change I paid 50% of first months rent. You must try and shop around and do some research I think 8% would the max I would pay, don't forget all the maintenence costs will be down to you (property ins. gas cert) and no I don't think they'll guarantee any rent/void periods at that level. In my experience the rental insurance is usually as a result of the credit/profile check and tied in together. Absolute must is an inventory and a properly written AST (assured shorthold tenancy). If possible do you personally know anyone who let a property? who do they use, can they recommend. That would be my first port of call. Just read everything and don't commit until you are sure otherwise you could get caught for something that you will be sorry for in the future. I am a bit pessimistic but I've been caught before, hopefully you'll get some more positves replies as well! Good Luck. Selkirk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chesterlandlord Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Hi, my wife and i need to hastily rent our our property and have put it with a letting agent who have offered to just find a tenant for one months rent or 'manage' the letting for 15% a month. Does anyone think its worth it i.e do they guarantee payment of tenant defaults. Or should we just take out rental insurances to cover rent? Any advice would be great A lot of these agents are robbin sods.....advertise in the local rag as i have done for many many years....go for a couple who shall share the rent making it more affordable for them..look for stability of the couple, i.e, how long known each other, how long both worked in current jobs...... As for the 15%...way too high anyway...do it yourself, thats what you are paid for to maximise your return. Put the onus on British Gas to cover all plumbing and heating along with electrical and drain repairs, its only about £20 someting PCM and of course tax allowable.....let them have the agro....not you, if you leave it with a letting agent they will just get anyone in at very high charges for any repairs...don't forget to tell yr mortgage lender if appropriate and make sure you tell your insurance provider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 50% of 1 mths rent for T find is high enough 8% management is as high as i would pay (but will never use the parasitic Bxxxxxxs to manage) for a whole forum of reasons !!!!! £25 for renewing an AST is generous (and only if LA is managing ) To OP PLEASE READ T&CS VERY CAREFULLY B4 SIGNING AS WE READ TO MANY NIGHTMARE STORIES ON HERE OF LA RIPPING OFF UNSUSPECTING LL The Rodent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4L Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 As usual it's left to me to shout down the disbelievers. Simon, why didn't you use a LARGER text then maybe even the optically challenged would get your point!! haha Chester Landlord "A lot of these agents are robbin sods" Yup there are some, but A LOT?? Cmon!! It's views and statements like this that have continued to give LA a poor press. To answer croboy, I think a months rent is a little extreme, when the norm is around half of the first month for Tenant Find Only. Try and find out what exactly you get for that because there are some agents that literally just find you a tenant. You should be getting properly referenced Tenants, a full inventory (including photographs), Utility companies informed of new Tenants details, including the Council Tax department, plus installation of the Tenant (check in) and signed AST's. This is what we do, but to be truthful I haven't seen ANY other agent that offers this much on a Find Tenant Only basis. But this has to be down to you to negotiate BEFORE signing in to anything. Monthly charges are a bit static and usually sit around 10% so 15% is a little high but this is dependant on the area you live. I have seen companies charging this. For the record, I have never charged more than 7.5% and often I do deals with Landlords to get them on board, sometimes 5% for a few months and have even given lots a 0% deal for 3 months. This is not advertising for business but to show that if you get a good agent you can sometimes get them to offer you a good deal. One thing I will say is that there's a lot of Landlords out there who have grabbed the new LHA figures by the horns and want to increase their rents (massively in some cases) but don't think that LA's have an increase in their costs at all. There is uproar in the ranks if an agent puts up his prices in line with inflation. Some LL's are trying to increase their rents by up to 20% and still haggle over a 10% monthly charge. This fascinates me!!! The only way prices should be reduced is by way of competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Re rent rises................LL may put up rent ...Thas choice of whether to stay or leave........ LA may put up fees ...........LL has choice of whether to stay or leave........ Simple really ... Gareth. "Some LL's are trying to increase their rents by up to 20% and still haggle over a 10% monthly charge. This fascinates me" Rents going up ....to maybe cover mortgage payments also going up ....... LL will only pay what they feel is fair and value for money Clearly LA should be paid for his service ...at a rate ....inline with what he does.... which generally is not a lot ! We will accept that you are something of an exception Gareth !! The Rodent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4L Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Yes Simon we are an acception and if my plan of world rule goes accordingly LL's will have a Just4Let close to hand so they can also get the same service!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 You "accepting" the "exception" then by the sound of it ! pipe dreams ..........wonderful things !!!!!!!!!! Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4L Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 oops a bit of a spelling mistake there. Apologies. Not like me! Pipe dreams? Are you talking of the Travis Hit off their Invisible Land Album or the John Walsh film entitled that? my guess is NO, you are actually referring to the 'other' meaning which is defined as :- "A pipe dream is a fantastic hope or plan that is generally regarded as being nearly impossible to achieve." I'm pulling the words "nearly impossible" out of that sentence because nothing is . . . . . . . You have no idea where we're at but that's good, it means my plans are still under wraps from prying eyes . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 If i had a penny for........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Hi Crow, Pointless asking landlords (who are notorious for being careful with their money) whether a letting agent should be paid to provide a managed service although I do agree that 15% a month seem high! The landlords in this forum typically manage their own properties themselves and use the forum to gain advice from others when things "get sticky". Letting Agents provide a valuable service for those landlords that either live far away from their investment properties or are too busy to get involved in the day to day management of the property. My advice would be to stop quibbling over whether you are being charged 8%, 10% or 15% or 1 months rent or half a months rent (for a tenant find service) and, instead, focus on minimizing your void periods. If a letting agent can find you a quality tenant tomorrow then your property will start earning money tomorrow. If you use a cheaper letting agent or you try and DIY then it might take you a month or two to find a quality tenant. This means you will lose 2 months rent (circa £1,200) whilst you find someone. Losing £1,200 in rent (because you were to mean to pay the agent 15%) is not a great business decision as that £1,200 would have paid your letting agent for 13 months (if they were charging 15% for the fully managed service). In other words - the LA service would have been free for the first 13 months! In summary - no point asking the penny-pinching landlords here whether LA offer good value for money .... because the majority are too mean to use them ! Good luck, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkirk Posted August 8, 2008 Report Share Posted August 8, 2008 The price is what you pay, the value is what you get. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4L Posted August 8, 2008 Report Share Posted August 8, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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