Real Estate Investment : Letting Agents: "V" Landlords
By Chris Courtis 
Round 1 – Finding a Tenant
Letting agents will have a number of marketing initiatives in place and tenants waiting for property, therefore it is likely that the letting agents will be able to get a tenant into the property quickly. A downfall, but this is not the case with all letting agents is that they may charge a finders fee. However in balance if you are a landlord then you will still need to either advertise the property to get the tenant or use the letting agents tenant finder scheme.
Letting Agents Win the Round
Round 2 – Referencing a Tenant
All tenants that are housed with a letting agency will be referenced and credit checked, this should give the peace of mind that a tenant will pay their rent in a timely manner. If you are advertising your house for private rent then you will either have to pay to do the credit reference check or take the risk that you house a tenant that has not been checked, this is a big risk.
Round Drawn
Round 3 – House Viewings
In order to get a tenant into the property they will have to view the house, this can be a task that takes sometime, it can be the case that it can take 2, 3 or 4 viewings before a house has tenants. If you are renting this out as a landlord the time taken can be fairly considerable, especially if you no longer live in the area where the property is being rented out. A positive as a landlord is that you can meet the tenants, this can still be done even if you are renting the property out via a letting agents, however often landlords do not attend the viewings.
Round Drawn
Round 4 – Paper Work
Once a tenant has viewed the property then paper work needs to be drawn up a tenancy agreement needs to be made and a date that the tenants will move into the property needs to be arranged. If however you have never had a tenant in a property then the landlord will need to source the tenancy agreement and make sure that they are aware of what to include in the agreement and any legal side to the agreement.
Letting Agents Win the Round
Round 5 – Safety Checks
Often a good letting agents will take care of the legal requirements of a house, this includes a gas safety certificate which should be done on a yearly basis, as well as this often an electrical safety check is completed too. These will need to be arranged if not in place already for when the tenants move into the house. This again takes time to arrange and cost, letting agents do normally charge for this (Not all do) and this will be included in the initial charges and could work out more expensive doing this through a letting agents, especially if they have a mark up on the work. Landlords can provide their own gas safety certificate as long as it is done via a Corgi registered gas company.
Landlords Win the Round
Round 6 – General Maintenance
Over a period of time a house will pick up problems and require maintenance. Some of the more common issues include boilers, heating systems, water and general building maintenance. The letting agents will have emergency contact numbers in place for tenants should any urgent matters need attending too. If you are a landlord of a property then it would be essential to make sure you have a 24 hour emergency plumber and electrician that you can call upon. Problems can occur at anytime and you will be the first point of call if you are privately renting out your property privately, be prepared.
Letting Agents Win the Round
Round 7 – Trouble Tenants
It happens, what appear to be good tenants initially, can become trouble tenants and you are not prepared for this. You have a house with tenants who are not paying and are not communicating with you, there are laws that need to be followed and this is where the letting agents should come into their own. They will know the law (especially the certified agencies) and be able to deal with this problem with the correct procedures and get the situation dealt with, within the right side of the law. If you privately rent out a property this is where it can be very stressful and where the letting agents should come into their own.
Letting Agents Win the Round
Round 8 – Checking the Payments
Checking the tenants have paid their rent, chasing up rent payments, gathering in shortfalls, ensuring that all rents are up to date. This may not be a problem if you only have one property, however what if you have 4 or 5? This can be a long task in its self and this will be out of your hands, just wait for the statements and payments to come into your account from your chosen agent.
Letting Agents Win the Round
Round 9 – Continual Process
When one set move out another set move in, this whole process is ongoing throughout the time that you have your property rented out. Do you have the time to do everything that is required, sorting the problems, checking the payments, fixing the problems. There is more to letting a property than it first appears. Instructing a letting agent to do the work will reduce your rental income as they will charge a fully managed commission, however this will reduce the uncertainty and the pressure on you as the landlord.
Contest stopped, Letting Agents win after round 9.
Chris Courtis is the co-founder of the Rentright Rental Property Portal and is dedicated to residential lettings throughout the UK.
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