When it comes to renting your property there is a lot to consider. One of the main questions (that you have to ask) is whether or not to use a letting agent. Using an agent to just find tenants tends to be a very simple decision. An agent has far larger resources when is come to marketing properties and therefore finding suitable applicants tends to be quicker and more efficient. They are also able to reference the tenants and draw up the tenancy agreement for you. The tenancy agreement is an integral part of renting, and landlords often opts for an agreement created by an agent as this includes all of the relevant clauses to safe guard the landlord and their property.
After the tenants have checked in many landlords chose to pay the agent a find only fee and manage the property themselves. The question that we often get asked is “What do you do for your management fee?”
A monthly percentage of the rent can seem like a waste of money to a landlord when it is perceived that all an agent does is collect rent and arrange for any maintenance that is due. In a very small percentage of rentals this is the case, however more often than not a tenancy can be littered with issues that a landlord would potentially be ill- equipped to deal with.
In the last six months alone there has been an influx of new regulations that are changing what a landlord can and can’t do.
One of these for example is the way in which a Section 21 notice can be served. The earliest a notice can be served is now 4 months and 1 day into a tenancy. If a landlord was to serve notice prior to this date then it would be invalid and you may not be able to get your property back when you require it.
There are also stricter rules on how maintenance must be dealt with and penalties for landlords who do not comply with the new rules regarding smoke and Carbon Monoxide alarms.
Throw into the mix a landlord’s responsibility to deal with Legionnaire’s disease and the potential rollout of the Right To Rent act next year and you can see that it is legal minefield for landlords.
Letting agents prepare and deal with these changes for you. We make sure that your property is compliant with changes to regulations and help you negotiate such things as serving the correct notices at the right time.
The honest truth is, whilst everything is going well you probably don’t need an agent but when things do go wrong, like they so often do, an agent will have the experience and knowledge to resolve the issues for you.