Here’s a question: how important is it for landlords to use an agency? What do they get out of it?
If you’ve ever tried to manage your own properties, you know how stressful it can be. Having a good local letting agent take care of things like contracts, credit checks, inventories, and all the legal issues that come with renting is a big help.
In the last few years, the private lettings market has grown a lot. This makes it more important than ever for landlords to not only find the right local letting agent, but also know what services they can provide. And getting along well with your agent is important if you want to get the most for your money.
Photo by Mike
Why Do I Need A Local Letting Agent?
The goal of a good local letting agent should be to make renting a home as easy as possible so that both landlords and renters don’t have to worry about it.
As a self-managed landlord, it’s very important that you know about all the important laws, like the recently passed Tenant Fee Ban, deposit protection, and the Immigration Act. You should also know about health and safety issues, like making sure your gas certificates and electrical checks are up to date. If you don’t follow a law, you could be fined or even put in jail.
By hiring a letting agent to take care of your property for you, you protect yourself, your property, and your reputation. You can also rest easy knowing that they worked hard to find the right tenant and that the rent is paid on time.
And from the tenants’ point of view, they know that they are protected during their tenancy, that they know what their rights are, and that they have someone to talk to if something goes wrong. So you won’t have to answer the phone late at night when your tenant has a problem.
What Should You Look For In A Letting Agent?
You should know from the beginning what you want from your agent. Most agents offer a number of services for landlords, such as finding tenants and taking care of everything. Be aware that if you don’t pay an agent to fully manage your property, you as the landlord will be in charge of making all the necessary paperwork, like inventories and contracts, and making sure you follow all the laws and rules. If you don’t have time to learn all of the laws and rules about letting a property or don’t want the stress or responsibility of setting up regular checks for things like gas safety, electrical checks, PAT testing for appliances, etc., you might want to look for a service that will take care of all of that for you.
A fully managed service also means that the agent will take care of all the day-to-day issues, like general maintenance, complaints, and rent collection. So, if something goes wrong, your local letting agent will be the person your tenants will talk to and will be able to fix any problems on your behalf.
Once you know what level of service you want, you can start looking into letting agents in your area. If you know other landlords in the area, ask them for recommendations. You can also look for reviews online. Compare what they offer and how much they charge, and make sure they have the right memberships and money-back guarantees.