UK Landlord Forum / Life

I'm going to be letting my house out soon and I am wondering whether I should be using a management company or do it myself

The problem is that I am a student with little income so I really do have to get everything right or I will be forced to sell the house

I am put off by the fees the management companies want to charge, however I am worried about what measure to take if I get a bad tenant if I do it myself

I am really asking whether the management companies can do that much for me and how valuable is a good agency? if I get a bad tenant what can they do that I can't? If something goes wrong with the home, the tenants contacts the agent and then the agent contacts me and tells me how much it's going to cost me? it seems a bit silly having the middle man.

I managed our properties to be honest because I've found most agents overcharge for trades and the work has often been shoddy. The challenge has been to find a couple of handymen/plumbers/electricians I can call on whom I trust to work unsupervised. Plus, it's also meant that I keep a close eye on the tenants, and most importantly, where the wear and tear at the properties have been.

How much would I spend getting all the paperwork if I did it myself typically, gas certificates, tenancy agreements, deposit holding etc?

depends on property size, and possibly location, but ball park figures for my own case are :

Energy certificate is around 60-100,
Gas Safe Certificate  around 150
Deposit, free with DPS
Tenancy Agreement, you can download these from the internet for around £5.  You need to review and tweak a bit but it is not difficult.

Note that you should also get the property electrically checked out (100-200 depending on size) , though you are not required to by law, IMHO you would be mad not to.

The real costs come if the gas check and electrical check reveal that something is not safe and that work needs doing.

Note that none of these costs are free if you go with an Agent you end up paying them somehow.  I would personally only use an Agent if I could not be in the area or in the country.  And even then I would expect them 100% to screw it all up.

I really dont know how some of them are in business.

Get a homeserve agreement for your boiler. Google landlord boiler care. Its <£20 a month and covers the annual certificate and breakdown.

Tesco sell the agreements for £3.

Deposit is free.

So really its going to cost you less than £25 to get stared.

Using an agent does not reduce the risk of renting to a dick head. Use your gut to decide if they seem okay. ( plus all other checks YOU deem appropriate, none are mandatory)

Putting a "to let" sign in the window is free, and I find works really well. ( not sure why, but you get local people who have family / friends in the street)

DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING IN THE HOUSE.

Any appliances remove or "sell" to  the tenant.

Be bold with your deposit. Ask for 6/8 weeks.

Make sure your place is spotless and in top condition.

Accept that it is there home

Try and find a family, preferably a "second" one, i.e. at least one has been married before, they normally last longer.

Treat tenants like friends, not like subordinates.

Good luck.

Quote from: Ellis Rimmer on November 15, 2014, 11:02:08 PMI am really asking whether the management companies can do that much for me and how valuable is a good agency?

Good Agencies would be quite valuable. Unfortunately, my personal experiences (note plural) and the experiences of many Landlords are that there a no good Agents. Well, I'm sure there must be some, but they are really few and far between and you never know until you've been burned as they're all (by virtue of their 'profession', right?) highly skilled at lying and manipulation and telling you what you want to hear.

An Agency is more likely to play both sides of the relationship off against each other (despite the Landlord, alone, being their customer / boss) and will look for every opportunity to make money - commission, fees for re-printing documents, marking-up contractor invoices. They will do the least they can to get their money.

I could not recommend more strongly that you go it alone. However, ensure you do all the research and ensure you meet all of your legal obligations in full, and on time, otherwise a world of pain awaits.

I would disagree with Martha on the electrical safety inspection - there is a reason this is not mandatory, that reason being it is not really needed for safety. Electricity is nothing like gas. To ensure your property is electrically safe all a Landlord is required to do is a visual inspection - this really means ensuring that there are no bare live wires sticking out of sockets, you don't get electric shocks when you turn on a light switch, and any appliances you provide actually work. This is perfectly acceptable. Because electrical safety is so simple I would counter that you would be mad to pay someone to check this out for you (that's, of course, on the assumption your house is not some 1920s dilapidated piece of crap). 

EPC shouldn't cost more than £45.

GSC should be got for around £65.

Deposit (with DPS Custodial) is free, as said.

Tenancy Agreement (AST)... find some on the Internet and tailor them to create your own, which you are intimately familiar with - much better than a boilerplate agreement no-one has really bothered to read end-to-end.

There is no issue from my perspective in using a Letting Agent for Tenant Find. I do that myself... but once that's over I take everything on myself. Actually, it's a bespoke Tenant Find service I get... I take the pictures for the Agent, I write-up the description, I do the viewings... they place it on the property portals for me, they handle the very initial prospective Tenant contact, they do the referencing for me (ensure you get to the see the reference report, some Agents like to think a reference report is for their eyes only - this kind of behaviour will alert you to them being numpties straight off the bat). If they offer to handle the deposit protection angle for you - politely decline (but make sure you do it yourself by the book, it's not optional). I would never allow an Agent to do viewings for me and recommend a Tenant, I'd always want to be in front of the prospective Tenants myself and make that call... as you do more and more of this, you'll get better and better.

Read, read, read... ask, ask, ask.

If you still think going with an Agent is your best bet... then haggle.

Quote from: boboff on November 16, 2014, 10:23:08 AMTreat tenants like friends, not like subordinates.

My view... subtle change... treat Tenants like customers, not like friends (definitely not subordinates).

I note Hippogriff's view on whether to check electrics, and it is a matter of opinion.  What he says is not incorrect and is a valuable contribution which you may wish to go with. 

For my own puposes I would not so much get an electrical check done for the tenant (we all know they can drop an electric fire in the bath) but for my own piece of mind (does that make me a bad person Hmmmm )

There are things you cant spot unless you are in the know and have  a few £hundreds worth of test equipment, particularly in relation insulation tests and to earth bonding. I think these do matter.  My SIL has a house whose electrics look quite modern on the face of it, but she does not seem bothered that everyone gets electrocuted turning the bathroom light on, or touching the sink taps.  Sometimes these things are harmless sometimes they need tracking down and sorting, If for peace of mind if nothing else. 

Possibly most important of all, for me, is to have some confidence that the previous tenant has not been rewiring things and running his 4KW cooker off the ring main. Hence the reason why I think an electrical check is done not anually, but before each new tenant moves in. 

Quote from: Martha on November 16, 2014, 11:32:02 AMMy SIL has a house whose electrics look quite modern on the face of it, but she does not seem bothered that everyone gets electrocuted turning the bathroom light on, or touching the sink taps.

These things would, indeed, be indicators that something is wrong and not only does the system need checking, it needs some kind of remedy.

However, I noted that the OP is planning to let out their own house, so I would expect they already know if the system is prone to giving shocks etc. and is in a good overall condition. In this situation (assuming there are no obvious issues) there is likely no need for any extra checks... just money down the drain and has no real value - you don't need to be told things are OK, you need to be told things are wrong.

The service given by managing agents varies so much that it is impossible to give specific advice. I happen to think that we offer a decent service but like any business we are in it to make money. We don't put a mark-up on contractors prices but many companies do so don't just make a decision based on the percentage charged.

If money is tight have you considered using a company that guarantees you a rent and takes care of the issues that arise? There are many rogue operators out there but also some genuine companies who offer a decent service. The rent paid is below market value but if you can't afford to have any nasty surprises that could be a good solution and the better ones will take care of all the legalities so you have no danger of falling foul of legislation. Perhaps when money is in more plentiful supply and you have a bit more property experience you can take the house back and look after it yourself?

Thanks everybody for the advice. I am taking a bit longer to think about, leaning towards doing it myself