Letting my property

[PPS]

I'm thinking of letting my house out but am unsure as to whether to do it privately or through a letting agent. Can anyone advise? I have never let a property out before. How do letting agents work? Do they charge a fee or just take a cut of your rent each month? Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

[Buenchico]

This should help:
http://www.arla.co.uk/info/landlords.htm

Chris

[Kanewood]

Best to use a letting agent unless you want to deal with the tenants yourself. They will find you a tenant, do the inventory, collect the rent and send it to you minus their fee (usually 10% of rent plus VAT). You should also take out Landlords Insurance and Legal Cover (about �75 each).

[Twenty20]

You can pay a finders fee to an agent for simply finding you a tenant or you can ask the agent to manage the property for you, which will include finding the tenant, credit references etc plus collecting the rent.

You should be able to negotiate a one off fee for the finders fee whereas the management is usually a percentage of the rent.

There are a few organisations of agents of which ARLA is one. Some might say that it would be better to use an agent who is a member of one of these.

Go around several agents and get quotes. There's no need to necessarily go for one of the big 'high street' agents.

If you dont know what your doing as far as letting goes then its best to use an agent and perhaps think about doing it youself a year or two in the future when you see how things are done.

[PPS]

Thankyou very much both of you!

[dundurn]

Are you going to be leaving the country? If you can "drop by" the property every once in a while (by agreement with the tenant(s)) then it helps to ensure that it's being looked after. If you're not around, however, then an agent is very much the better option. We let a former granny annexe out for just under 4 years. Initially we used an agent but latterly did it ourselves. When we had the agent I begrudged every penny I spent on him, judging it money for old rope. When I didn't have an agent I reminisced about the "good old days" when we could just fire off a letter to the agent and spare ourselves any awkward interviews with the tenant! Human nature, I suppose.

Other things to consider are

1 mortgage - do you have one? - if so,you need to tell the lenders that the property is let - they may very well increase your mortgage rate as a result - usually only by 1/4% or 1/2% but it needs to be factored into the cost effectiveness of the letting.

2 House insurance - again you need to get in touch with the insurers - your current policy may not be suitable and you may need to take out a new or a supplementary policy.

3 furnishings - if you are letting the property furnished then fabrics, materials, beds etc need to be fire certificated - not all older materials are.

4 appliances - you will need current testing certificates for things like gas fires

5 You should have smoke alarms fitted for your own safety in any case, but if you are letting you have no choice.

Points like 3,4 and 5 are areas which make involving an agent at least initially a good idea.

Final point - if an agent finds you a good tenant and you want to continue letting to this person but "cut loose" the agent - you may find that the agent will require an additional fee on termination of the contract.

Good luck!