Letting agent or rent privately?

jo2509

Morning everyone,


I'm in the process of moving in with my partner and planning to rent out my own house in the next few months (with some trepidation i might add, having read some of the horror stories here).



At the moment i'm leaning towards the idea of using a letting agent however i've had a friend suggest a few potential tenants who are looking to rent in the area.
Obviously if i were to 'go it alone' it would all be above board, registered with PRTB etc.


Can i ask any fellow landlords if they would advise using a letting agent, especially since this my first time renting my place.


Thanks in advance!

Springfields

Both myself and my other half rented out houses back in the day and initially both used agencies. They are good if you don't want the bother of.finding a suitable tennant (check8ing references etc) and also for following bad tennants for rent (if it's an an going service from the agency you're talking about )
In my case I realised my tennant was very low maintenance and I was basically paying the agent for nothing so I got rid of the agency after a year. Rent is paid directly into my bank account and tennant contacts Me if there is a problem on the rare occasion. But I am very lucky with my tennant.
My oh continued to use an agency and they were invaluable when tennants changed and one bad one in particular was bad in paying rent. The agency looked after all of that.
So basically boils down to if you get a good tennant or not. Luck of the draw sometimes. If you are going with agency just check the time frame of contract. You can always canx the agreement when term is up if you Think tennants are reliable. Best of luck

jo2509

Thanks for your reply!


As you say, it's probably going to be a case of pot luck as regards the tenant either way.

Springfields

jo2509 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply!


As you say, it's probably going to be a case of pot luck as regards the tenant either way.

Yep you'll hear good and bad stories from both sides. A good letting agent might be more skilled in picking out a reliable tennant but there's no way of telling I guess. Hope it all works out for you.

Samuel T. Cogley

Either way meet the prospective tenants and go with your gut.

jo2509

Thank you both - now that i have made the decision to let the place out i have to start the decluttering process, which is filling me with even more fear

machalla

A letting agents fees should be tax deductible, assuming you have income to deduct it from.

iwilldare

Recently rented out my house and decided not to use a letting agency.
Why pay the equivalent of 1 months rent when you can do it yourself?
I advertised on daft and invited about 10 people to view (had 400 responses in a week) In the ad I asked people to tell a bit about themselves and advise on references. When it was time for viewings it was easy to pick out the serious candidates from the messers, just by going through the reference checks, employment history and social media etc.