UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hey
I've scoured through this website and taken many things from it. I have just purchased my first rental property (2 bed house) and have put it fully managed with an agent as I work offshore. I want to know anything that you guys would have done differently if you could start all over again?

I would have taken more time to research the letting agents.

Your letting agent could be your greatest downfall. Do they use their own labourers? Do they take a cut? They dont!!  Wrong of course they do even if they say they dont. Have they checked out the tenant or have they just pocketed the fee? Have they given you a print off to prove it? Got lost did it?

There are so many things I would do differently. I would rather pay a trusted relative than a letting agent. Believe me they can learn it as well as those idiots can. I would keep twice the amount of money I think I am going to need in reserve rather than live from the credit card.

Every time there is a repair to do, I guarantee you can get it done whilst overseas from your phone and computer for less money and in less time than the letting agent.

Sounds like you've had some bad experiences with the agent's contractors, Jeffo. The contractors from my agent's "approved list" proved incompetent and expensive - work that they said needed doing would have cost me over 1200 pounds. I was fortunate to find an excellent website where I was able to get honest and fair priced workmen who did the work for around 400 pounds. One of the workmen was kind enough to e-mail me in detail to highlight the areas where the agent's contractors were pushing me to have unnecessary work done, plus the fact the price was horribly inflated. The agent really doesn't want to liase with the workmen I find, so I pretty much have to manage it myself which rather defeats the purpose of having an agent.
I have good tenants but a dud agent and want to change agents when the tenancy agreement ends, but as the tenants want to stay I have to keep the agents for as long as the tenants (who they found) are in residence. I didn't know that when I signed up, my fault for not reading the small print.
So yes, your agent could indeed be your greatest downfall.

Can you not give the agent notice that with effect from the next renewal date you will be wishing to manage the property yourself?  You would still have to pay them a renewal fee and keep them as the agent, but they would no longer be managing the property.  I am not certain how it stands legally, but I think I would investigate it and see what happens.

We now manage all of our own properties.  We do use agents when we need to re-market, but we ask for their "introduction only" service rather than full management. 

Also, we are now increasingly tending to use online agents (UPAD is favourite), as they are far cheaper, and we feel more in control.

I agree with a lot of the things said here ie agents do not earn their fees. It is easy to manage a rental, and the maintenance can be done a lot cheaper if you organise yourself. At renewal tell the agent you want to manage yourself, they cannot stop you going.

Find tenants online to rent privately, upad, lovemypad.com, openrent, etc - there is plenty of choice. And you can then organise referencing (and see the proof) deposit protection (free with DPS) inventories, insurance etc.

Thats what I do.

Hello carter88,

Agree with the early posters about never letting the letting agent's maintenance staff anywhere near your property.  Even if you are abroad, if you could get a friend or family member who has a few tradesmen mates, then you'll do better than via agents.