Letting agents can be helpful for the Landlords. If you are a new Landlord, the chances are you have been advised to use a letting agent. You have the choice to go for it, but you also can get yourself educated with the whole process of finding Tenants on your own. Marketing your rental property can be an easy task if you know what to do. Once you have gained enough knowledge in the process, you may not have the need to use a letting agent’s service.
Finding Tenants and managing your property can mean a lot of hassles. That is the common reason why Landlords opt to have letting agents do the job, but consideration should be given that you may have to pay a sizeable amount of money for the services.
Letting Agents’ Job
Basically, a letting agent’s job includes finding, interviewing and vetting Tenan
ts. They also do the paperwork, and they take care of the deposit and the rent for the first month. They do these tasks for the payment of 10% of the agreed rent. This kind of letting agent is one that offers the let-only service.
Some agents offer full management services, and this usually means paying then 15% of the rent (or in some cases more). In this service, the agent will be responsible for running the management of the property and the collection of rent. This is the ideal scheme for Landlords whose properties are far from their own residences, or those who are managing too many properties.
New Landlord’s Best Option
For a new Landlord, using a letting agent can be ideal if they want to avoid the hassle of finding and interviewing Tenants. However, if you want to really test the waters, it would be best to just do those tasks on your own.
By doing everything – from advertising the property, to interviewing and accepting the Tenants, to collecting rent and to managing the property – you will get to understand the whole process. The additional benefit is that you get to keep all the incoming payments.
The important thing that a new Landlord should bear in mind is that struggles and problems are always going to be significant parts of the whole rental process. Therefore, you should be ready to deal with all potential dilemmas.
It is recommended that new Landlords do their homework vigilantly if they do not want to fail. Failure is always a possibility. Even seasoned Landlords can fail – whether they are using letting agents or not.
The rental industry is not a very secure sector. No one can ever predict if the Tenants are going to be easygoing. The same thing can be said with the letting agents. Although some can be trusted, you can never expect everyone of them to be reliable.
In conclusion, trust your gut instinct and educate yourself. If you have a good feeling that you know enough, take the plunge and try to do what you think is best.
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