Updating post from Reddit.
Hi all,
I am a first time landlord and I used an agency to find me a tenant. They have been absolutely terrible to deal with, they wouldn't inform me about viewings etc. (I work from home so offered to do them myself) I was going to use them to manage the property, thinking that it was 8% monthly. Apparently what they sent me was a "draft agreement", and it is no longer 8%, it is 10% + VAT.
This really pissed me off, so I am thinking instead of letting them manage the property, I will just pay a one time fee to them (like £550) for finding me the tenant along with advertising on rightmove etc. and then manage it myself.
I have the:
My tenants want to move in 2nd April so I don't have much time to have everything sorted, and I don't really know where to go from here in terms of the reference checks, deposit etc.
Any advice about how to go about this, please? I also have no idea about how to write the tenancy agreement.
From another post I made the other day:
I 100% use Openrent and vet tenants myself. An agent will charge you a month rent + more. Then even more to manage it!
Openrent charges £70 and they will advertise on zoopla/rightmove. This is exactly where most agents get their tenants. You deal directly with the advert - so talk to all the tenants and do all the showings. Tenants will reach out to you Make an advert with a great description, lots of pictures and be clear on things like needing credit checks, employee, employee refernece, previous landlord references, etc. I always start the adverts by saying 'tell me about yourself'. If they don't follow this I ignore them. I'm just looking for 'Hi, I'm Sarin - I'm a 35 year old copyrighter in the city, my current landlord is selling, etc'.
Show them around, vet them and tell them you'll be in touch. Always be clear you have a few showings to do so there will be a little delay for a day or two
When you find a tenant you like Openrent can then do credit checks (£30pp). Ask for employee and landlord reference. Try to actually speak to their old landlord to make sure it's not just a mate.
When it comes to moving in you can arrange the check in / inventory, etc through Openrent. Openrent can even take the rent for you for £10pm (they just get it from the tenant, it does not make them responsible for it). Then just work out other things like having insurance, gas certificate, some kind of landlord repair cover (Openrent do this for £20per month but I think it's up to 3 call outs a year).
So really you could spend as little as £500-600 on the whole process (inventories, checks, advertising) rather than going with an agent and spending one month rent PLUS inventory, certificates, and then 15% ongoing maintenance every month.
Edit: Don't take people with bad credit, any CCJs or really anything dodgy that sets your spider senses tingling. It's hard to evict. Normal human being, professional job, good credit, no CCJs, references and even a guarantor if you feel like it.
Hi thank you for this - can I use the openrent credit checks even if I didn't use openrent to find the tenant?
And also how would I go about creating a tenancy agreement please?
What would you do if a tenant wouldn't let you speak to their old landlord? I'm trying to leave a bad relationship, so I can't give notice because the landlord will tell my husband that I'm leaving. But everyone wants to speak to my landlord so I am trapped here.
Sorry I am just reading your comment and it occurred to me you might be open to giving some advice on what you'd want a woman to do in this situation.
I'm afraid I don't have much good advice. I personally need to speak to the existing landlord for peace of mind. If someone couldn't do that it sends alarm bells ringing in my head as it's very normal for landlords to have a reference chat (at least in my experience).
I never had to have a landlord reference before (been renting for 16 years and moved a lot) but suddenly it seems to be a thing.
I've always asked for a landlord reference letter and a chat.
Letters used to be enough but then quite a few people used to fake them. In todays world where you have to be very careful whom you rent to I take as few risks as possible.
My agent charged me £250, so way cheaper and a hell of a lot less faff than that.
You say 'charged'. How often do you use agents and can you explain what you use them for, the ongoing costs?
Finding? Maintenance?
I use them for everything. £250 initial finders fee which is taken out of the first month's rent, then an ongoing 10% . They're brilliant. Frequently win best agent awards for the area. Have contracts with local MoD, NHS, and Uni so have a good quality of tenant.
They don't add anything to invoices from any repair work etc. And they get preferential rates, which saves me money. I recently paid £30 for an electrician to visit and replace a plug socket. Prior to that, I paid £90 for somebody to go out, repair a gate, and supply and fit two locks to two gates.
They have an online portal where all documents are available, plus they put together and upload whatever is necessary for the accountant at year end.
They carry out quarterly inspections on the property which comes with a full report and pictures of everything. Noting advisories etc..
I forget I even own it 95% of the time. Zero headaches. Zero faff. Given OP is a first-time landlord, it seems a similarly good LA would be worthwhile.
I use openrent for contracts and do everything else myself.
It helps that I am personable and professional and not worried about confrontation (not that I’ve really had to, but you do have to be capable of asking / answering potentially difficult questions at viewings, being very clear about expectations and there is always the possibility of difficult tenants).
It’s worked out perfectly for me so far.
I would NEVER let an estate agent choose my tenants, not in a million years. I want to meet them myself and make my own decision.
Absolutely! Go with your gut feeling when meeting prospective tenants. Openrent will do the checks and get the full amount you can. I always get a previous landlord one and ring up. You will get the truth verbally as landlords cannot give written bad references in case they are sued for libel.
I used openrent too. So easy and much cheaper than using an agent.
What did you use openrent for? Everything? Including tenancy agreement etc.?
Finding tenants, referencing, tenancy agreement. They collected the deposit and put it in a deposit scheme and collect the first months rent. They let you upload the gas safety, electrical, EPC and PAT test documents for the tenants too. It was £69 and £20 for each tenants referencing that includes credit check, employment check and landlord references.
Sounds good thank you for the info. I didn't find the tenants through openrent but I think I can do this through them anyway so will give them a go thanks again.
Never use an agent, don't reward mediocrity and mediocre people
Indeed, i've always found any agency to be sup par.
One month rent for finding tenants, 10-15% ongoing fees with which I still pay for every call out, never remember anything, have to pay for checks. Agents are dire unless you do not live anywhere near the property.
Agents should have stayed in school or not studied media studies degrees. I wouldn't even want to be friends with one
Is rent paid via openrent or via bank transfer
Openrent can collect the rent. It costs £10 a month. My tenants pay me by bank transfer.
unfortunately I went to view a flat in Northampton and the LL wanted everything sent via bank transfer he only used openrent to advertise.
He wanted me to send £1000+ via bank transfer to secure the property. I had just met him at the viewing.
For this reason I avoid openrent. He sent me a story saying he was knighted by the king, my only experience with openrent and I have avoided it ever since.
It was just a major red flag. If I sent that money, no AST, nothing I could never see the money again
They advertise on rightmove / zoopla, do credit checks, inventory reports, check in and outs, collect rent (they don't chase, it's just people are a lot more liekly to pay when a company is asking for it), they even have a maintenance service where tenants can contact them directly and they go fix things
and I'm 100% managing agent.
I've been with my managing agent for 25 years
I pay a fee to find a tenant and another to manage, so if the tenants stays I'm paying only for the management.
why?
I don't get hassled by tenants (I'm short tempered, I should never be speaking to fee paying customers)
I'm a NRLA member but the EA is also on top of changes to legislation and licensing
They monitor and renew certs such as EICR, Gas Safe and EPC
They have easy access to trades with easy key collection (I'm 2 hours from my properties so half day round trip to visit)
They can deal with issues when I am away/ busy
They have way more experience and so advice when it comes to tenants issues.
but mostly it is to reduce hassle in my life, so its a bit of a choice which you prefer; less hassle or money.
You could use an agency as your a first time landlord. Once you use them you’ll learn the ropes and then can go it alone. That’s my plan, I also work 9-5 so when I entered buy to let I didn’t have much time or effort to manage it while juggling my full time job. However now I’m at the point I know what my letting agent does and once the current tenants leave il do the process myself using open rent. There’s a lot of ity bits involved and if you get the wrong tenant plus not doing your process properly and need to evict it can be a nightmare so agents aren’t bad as you think if you have a plan to eventually leave them.
Can you afford/accommodate the taking of calls in the middle of the working day and deal with a tenants issue. If not, you want an agent.
Yourself mate. Most agents are complete shite and when shit happens they will call you anyway. Save yourself the fees and just do it yourself. Have trades people on your phone contacts, build your contacts and you'll be good.
Good agent is worth the money and a bad one not. I think if you invest in doing the training on regs then fine otherwise use a better agent
Join the National Residential Landlord’s Association who have a telephone helpline and great website. Manage it yourself. I had an agent once that allowed the gas boiler to go unrepaired for six weeks. Criminalising me as well as themselves.
First year will most likely be loss making. Being a landlord isn’t for everyone. If you don’t like dealing with people or confrontations then it isn’t for you and let an agent handle it. Renters will take you for a ride. Do not trust anyone.
Trust me use an agent. So easy. They vet tenants well. No hassle from tenants. Agents will only contact you if work needs done and you say yes or no. That’s all. For the sake of a small fee I would say it’s worth it.
Manage it yourself would be my advice. Perhaps use an agency for tenant finding and background checks as you’ve suggested. I’d also do your own accounts. It’s not that difficult to do in my opinion. Hopefully you bought in a LTD company and not your own name which might be more beneficial for tax purposes, depending on your current situation