Taking the Step

[GrosAve]

Hi there,

I'm about to embark on letting my flat out that I've lived in for 13 years. I've bought a house that I'm going to live in. I've put both properties on interest only and released the majority of the equity from the flat, giving me a high mortgage which equals the rent. The mortage on the house is lower due to the hefty deposit I'm putting down on it.

Anyway that's the background but as you can imagine I'm so nervous as I've heard horror stories and read about them here, along with good successful stories. I understand that I will be emotionally detached from this flat and will look at the house as being my home then treating this as a business.

My main aim is to get out of here asap to rent it to save a contingency in the bank. I've advertised at work on the notice boards as we have a large influx of graduates and they're always looking for places to rent. Unfortunately this happens around July/August and I have to be out of here before that. So, I'm contacting Letting Agents in my area to see what they have to offer. I have been advised to go with an agent the first time around at least as they will do all the legal documentation etc.

So, really I just wanted to introduce myself and ask if you have some advice for a virgin Landlord??

many thanks.

[Trenners]

Hi,

What value is a letting agent going to add ? You can get all the legal documentation that you need to establish an assured shorthold tenancy either a) on the web or from WH SMith.

You have already started to market your own property at work and it would be fairly simple to run a "lineage advertisement" in your local evening paper.

Once you have found suitable tenants - make sure you follow up their employment, character and previous landlord / letting agent references before you even consider letting the property to them.

If you need any further advice - use this forum or contact me directly - mark.trenfield@btopenworld.com - for more advice.

In summary - why give agents 12.5% + VAT (or more) when you can do it your self ?

Good luck ....

Mark

[GrosAve]

Hi Mark,

Thanks very much for your advice here, I completely understand what you mean about the value add of a letting agent. I've already bought a "Lawpack" Unfurnished rental Agreement for Assured Shorthold Tenancy from WHSmith. Apart from work where else can I advertise privately? I'm advertising on Gumtree as well.

In regard to the obtaining references - is there a standard form one uses or do you just ask set questions? I'm glad you mentioned about this as I hadn't thought of this previously. Of course, I realise the letting agent would do this for me if I went on that route.

Is there a place on line to advertise? I will send direct to your email a copy of the add I put on the notice boards at work for you to look at. PLease feel free to advise where to improve.

Cheers,

Paul

[Trenners]

Hi Paul,

I have sent some a sample application form, holding deposit agreement and inventory document to your personal email address.

The best place to advertise property is in your LOCAL, evening, newspaper - in the lineage ads - under Houses and Flats to Let (or some similar heading).

Letting Agents charge tenants upto £250+VAT to perform referencing checks and create paperwork. This is outrageous and very greedy.

Many good, hardworking, rent paying tenants do not want to pay these fees (that boost letting agent profits) so use local newspaper adverts to try and find their "landlords directly".

If you want to advertise online then http://www.letalife.co.uk offers a free service but, I must admit, I have never managed to find a tenant via this web site.

Tenants look for property locally. Local adverts are best.

Mark

[Letitgo]

Hi

I've not been on here before, but I wanted to comment as I work as a Property Manager for a reputable agency. I must say, the costs Paul quotes are incredibly high and I would wonder who would pay £250 + vat for a reference. We charge £35 + VAT?

We have many a landlord come in who tried to do it themselves and for varying reasons it fell apart and went wrong. I would recommend finding an agency thats ARLA regulated, as we are, and in the long term, although there are fees involved, it would be far more likely to have a happy ending.

I'm not saying not to try to do it yourself, however, speak with Agents and get advice first. Look up the ARLA.co.uk website and see what you get for your money.

Hope this helps.

[Trenners]

Hi Letitgo,

The £250+VAT that I was referring to (in TENANT fees) would be made up of around £50+VAT per tenant (usually 2 tenants form a tenancy) for a reference and a further £150+VAT to provide the tenancy administration ie: create a tenancy agreement, write an inventory.

The irony is that the LANDLORD is also being charged £150+VAT for tenancy administration and, often, a further £75+VAT for creating the inventory PLUS anything upto 15% + VAT of the monthly rent for a "fully managed" service.

On top of this - some Letting agents charge both TENANTS and LANDLORDS for "extending the tenancies" and have even, recently, started charging landlords for references relating to previous tenants !

My point is that the business value delivered by Letting Agents does not always equate to the high fees that many of them charge - hence why I advise to try and manage the tenancies yourselves.

Mark

[GrosAve]

Hi to all,

Just to clarify Letitgo, I wasn't quoting any costs. I'm on here to research at all angles and I appreciate all your input as I do like un biased experiences shared.

I have 2 agencies visiting tomorrow and i will certainly ask if they are ARLA regulated and also see if I can negotiate their fees.

Will report back here soon with my findings...

Thanks for your help so far.

Paul