How to rent out your house?

Siamsa Sessions

Hi all (again),

As you may have seen in the other thread, myself and the family are moving abroad in a few weeks. After a fair bit of painting, cleaning and general tidying up, we're now ready to rent out our house.

Can anyone recommend an estate agent in town who might find us a reliable tenant?

Or is it just as easy to advertise it on daft.ie (or similar) ourselves?

Thanks (again).

JPA

You can go through agents (can't recommend any personally) and they will take care of any issues tenants have, maybe the rent will go through them etc with a % obviously.

Renting out a house when you're not in the same country has obvious difficulties.

ziedth

Maybe a family member could look after it for ya? Collect the money deal with any issues etc? Pay them what you would a letting agent and you know it's in safe hands.

Out of interest how much of the rent would a letting agent take a month?

Hoffmans

they usually take the first months rent and a% on top anything from 5 to 10% also charge extra for cleaning and exorbitantly extra for maintenance issues.

sam34

having lived in Waterford a few years ago, one piece of advice I'd give is not to rent it with bookaroom. they were a disaster of an agency from start to finish when I was dealing with them-

-gave me the keys before the previous tenant had moved out
-put incorrect details for their bank account on standing order form, so when first rent payment didnt go thru they sent me a warning letter, despite the mistake being theirs
-they have a 'maintenance man'- the time I needed him it was due to discolouration on walls from faulty heaters, he left the tins of paint at the door for me to do the repair work
-when I moved out, they claimed they had no record of this maintenance call and tried to accuse me of recklessly damaging the place
-they lost the first inspection report that was done after I moved out, so had to go another one weeks later
-it took a long time and many many calls before I got my deposit back, and they did their best to deduct from it
-I left a message asking to speak to the manager, yet she never bothered to contact me

the whole experience left a very sour taste in my mouth and I would not recommend them to anyone, landlord or tenant.

nicolaed1

Avoid
Hutchinson Auctioneers Waterford:mad:

Siamsa Sessions

Thanks for the replies.

It as useful to know who to avoid as much as anything else!

Cheers folks.

Media999

If you werent moving abroad id say not to go through agency but you are. Id say keep an eye on the rent allowance rates for 2 adults and 2 kids. Rent it for exactly this and youll most likely get a decent couple in a hard spot with guaranteed rent long term.

People assume if they ask for professionals theyll somehow be guaranteed perfect tenants. From experience ill tell ya youll most likely polish who want to put 12 in a 3 bed house.

Absolutely hate seeing an ad saying rent allowance not accepted. Makes the landlord sound like an arrogant fool before you even see them. Even working id avoid them houses at all costs.

..Brian..

nicolaed1 wrote: »

Avoid
Hutchinson Auctioneers Waterford:mad:

Any reason why?

I looked into this before a while ago. For full management the charges were up to 10% for monthly rental income. Personally I would avoid any newer or smaller lettings agents in favour of the more established agents like Hutchinson's or Sherry Fitzgeralds etc. They have been there a long time and are not likely to be going anywhere too soon!

ht9zni1gs28crp

Rent it yourself......trust your instinct on Tenant vetting!

I rent two properties in UK, if you have a good electrician/plumber handyman then write their numbers into the contract...

..Brian..

Bo Zealous Veal wrote: »

Rent it yourself......trust your instinct on Tenant vetting!

I rent two properties in UK, if you have a good electrician/plumber handyman then write their numbers into the contract...

Do you travel over every time you need to let it out to get it in shape and meet tenants? What happens if you need to chase up unpaid rent?

ht9zni1gs28crp

..Brian.. wrote: »

Do you travel over every time you need to let it out to get it in shape and meet tenants? What happens if you need to chase up unpaid rent?

Flights in and out are inexpensive if needed....Text alerts set up on your banking lets you know immediately if your rent has been unpaid.

I am lucky though to have a good friend in that area for the minor stuff...

The OP sounds like she will have family/friends in the area if badly needed...